How to properly freeze fresh parsley for the winter in the refrigerator, is it harmful? Methods for preparing parsley and keeping it fresh for the winter. Can parsley be stored in the freezer?

During the fresh greens season, I try to make as many preparations as possible. Today I want to tell you how to freeze parsley for the winter in various ways, each of which is good in its own way.

Finely chopped frozen parsley leaves and ice cubes are added to various dishes a few minutes before cooking, twigs and stems are used when cooking broths, and the leaves are used to decorate salads or aspic. These freezing methods will help preserve all the tastes and smells of fresh herbs.

Prepare fresh parsley sprigs.

Wash them well under cold running water, shake and place on a paper towel. The greens must be completely dry.

For the first freezing method, you need to carefully tear off the parsley leaves and place them in a food container, cover with a lid and place in the freezer.

There is no need to pack the container tightly so that the leaves do not lose their shape during freezing. Do not rush to throw away the stems that remain. They can be wrapped in cling film, frozen and then used when preparing broths.

For the second method, you will need whole sprigs of parsley. Sort them into small bunches so that you can use them at a time. Wrap tightly in cling film and freeze.

Finely chop the remaining parsley.

Place some of it in ice boxes and fill with cold boiled or purified water.

The water should completely cover the greens. Place in the freezer. When the ice cubes are completely frozen, take them out of the cells, put them in bags and put them back in the freezer.

The last freezing method is also very simple. Place the chopped greens in small ziplock bags, close tightly and freeze.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to freeze parsley. Choose the one that will be more convenient for you.

Parsley occupies a special place among spices. Its aroma adds flavor to any dish, making it more beautiful and healthy. You can use parsley in any form. That is why many people use it for cooking all year round. It can be frozen, salted, pickled and used for cooking even in winter.

How to select and prepare raw materials?

Parsley should be beautiful, bright and free of dried stems and damage. Don't forget about freshness. It is very important. If parsley is picked and left for at least three days without pre-treatment, then half of the beneficial elements and vitamins will be lost from it. Also, you should not buy greens in supermarkets, as they use special substances to process them so that the product remains attractive in appearance for a long time.

Before storing, greens must be rinsed well under running water. This can also be done in a container. But it is worth changing the water in it several times. It is not recommended to pour boiling water over the greens, as they will lose their beneficial substances.

After washing, the leaves must be dried and then placed in a container with holes in the bottom. You can use a regular colander. After the mass becomes dry and there are no droplets on it, it is placed on a soft cloth so that moisture is absorbed from the plant. Such greens should be left for an hour and a half, and it is recommended to spread them in one layer so that they dry faster.

Then the parsley should be finely chopped, similar to how it is cut into a salad. Then this composition will be more convenient to use. In winter it can be used for salads, soups and other dishes. It is necessary to place the chopped greens on a soft napkin and let it rest there for 1-2 hours.

Experienced housewives prefer to cool parsley before freezing. This point is important because the plant must go through a preliminary cooling stage before freezing. Therefore, after drying, it should be laid out on a tray and put in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours.

Refrigeration is also important because it gives the parsley the opportunity to be stored longer in the freezer. The resulting product will become crumbly, which will make the housewife’s work easier when preparing dishes in winter.

Methods

Experienced housewives say that it is better to freeze parsley. It can also be dried, but freezing in the freezer is the best way to preserve the nutritional properties and elements in the product over a long period. This parsley is then used in winter for various dishes, including salads.

There are certain freezing methods that will help preserve nutrients.

Freezing is carried out using the following methods:

in bundles;
in molds;
in polyethylene.

In bundles

The easiest method for freezing parsley is to place it in bunches in the freezer. This should only be done if the greens are completely pre-dried. The twigs are folded into small bunches, which can then be used once or twice.

Such bundles are wrapped in polyethylene or film. The finished product will form small rolls that can be stored for a long time and do not require additional packaging.

This composition is suitable for preparing various dishes. If necessary, you can use it fresh in winter. The product will be stored until the next harvest.

In molds

To preserve the product in ice trays, it is necessary to prepare a mass. To do this, you need to dry it, grind it, and then fill it with water. It is also recommended to thoroughly rinse the greens before the process and chop them in order to better pack them into molds.

Then the resulting mass is placed in cells and compacted. After this, the containers are filled with chilled water and then placed in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Then these molds are taken out and put into a bag, which is again placed in the freezer for storage.

In polyethylene

If you need to store greens in a bag, you need to pay attention to their preliminary high-quality drying. It is important to ensure that no moisture remains on the leaves. Otherwise, the greens will stick together and look like a solid lump. In this case, before using it, it will be necessary to split this mass, and it will also be difficult to cut it.

Drying

For those who don't have a freezer, there's no need to despair. There is a way out of this situation. The product can be dried. This is a way to help preserve beneficial components in greens. To do this, it must be dried using one of the methods listed below. The resulting product will retain all its beneficial properties and aroma.

Drying parsley is done in the following ways:

in the microwave;
on air;
in the dryer.

If the necessary conditions exist, you can dry the raw materials in air. The stems are cleaned of rotten elements, washed well and dried with a soft cloth. Next, the greens are chopped and laid out in a thin layer on paper. You can cover it with gauze on top to keep insects out.

The raw materials should be dried in this way in places that are protected from direct rays and well ventilated. The composition must be turned over regularly and stirred so that rot and mold do not appear in it.

Storage is carried out in a place that is protected from dust and there are no heating devices nearby. Parsley dried in this way can retain its beneficial properties and taste for 2 years.

Stages of work:

checking greens;
removal of rotten and damaged leaves;
root pruning;
washing and listening.

The resulting mass is laid out on a baking sheet and placed in the oven, the temperature in which is set to 50 degrees. When exposed to heat, it dries and its properties are preserved. In order for the resulting mass to dry evenly, it is necessary to stir it from time to time.

But it is recommended to resort to this method only in extreme cases, when it is not possible to freeze it. The latter method is different in that it helps preserve more useful and nutritious substances in the product, as well as its appearance.

Preparation recipes

There are other ways to process parsley. You can prepare the product with dill, salt, and tomatoes.

In the marinade

In some cases, you can store parsley in a marinade without first freezing it. To do this, take a bunch of parsley, water, sugar, salt, garlic and vinegar. The washed and dried parsley is finely chopped and placed in jars.

The prepared brine is poured into the container and everything is tightly closed with a lid. Ingredients should be taken at the rate of 100 grams of parsley per 5-6 grams of ingredients. All this should be simmered over low heat at 90 degrees for 15 minutes. After this, the jars cool and are placed in the cellar. In this way, parsley can be stored for more than six months.

Pickling

To store the seasoning salted, you need to take jars of any size. It is recommended to use small containers, which will simplify the process of using the product in winter. The amount of parsley salted in this way should be determined by the housewife.

The main thing is to take into account the necessary proportions, which should not be violated, as this may affect the shelf life. The optimal recipe is when there is 5 times more greens in the jar than salt. It is necessary to choose coarse salt for the process.

For pickling, you usually take a kilogram of parsley and 200 g of non-iodized kitchen salt. The parsley is chopped, washed well and sorted to remove damaged leaves. And then all this is tapped so that no moisture remains in the greens.

Then the leaves are finely chopped and mixed with salt. The greens must be slightly mashed so that the salt is distributed over the entire surface of the mass. Then the composition is packaged in a jar and a little free space is left under the lid so that the juice can be released there. For sealing, you can use ordinary metal lids or nylon ones.

It is possible to preserve the entire plant. To do this, you need to select young shoots and get rid of large and coarse stems. The components are not chopped, but used entirely. The branches should not be lush or long. Before harvesting in this way, it is necessary to sterilize the jars. Also, greens should be placed in containers in dry form.

With dill

Some housewives pickle parsley with dill. This allows you to get a tasty preparation for the winter. The ratio of components is determined in each specific case individually by the housewife, depending on preferences. The prepared raw materials are washed under running water several times. Next, the leaves are tapped and cut.

The mixture is placed in a large container, sprinkled with salt and thoroughly mixed by hand. Next, the composition is packaged in jars, which do not need to be sterilized.

With vegetables

Parsley is also prepared with vegetables. This mixture will be a good addition to meat dishes, salads, soups and others. The vitamin mixture is usually added at the end of cooking.

To prepare the composition, it is recommended to pre-rinse and chop all ingredients. You can use various vegetables, for example, peppers, celery, tomatoes, carrots, radishes.

Since not only the green stems, but also the roots, are usable in parsley, you can freeze them too. The roots are frozen in the same way as the stems, but they must be blanched.

The peeled roots are cut into pieces and can be added to various dishes in winter. When preparing, blanch the roots for 5 minutes in a small amount of water. They are then dried and frozen. The package is placed in the freezer.

Oil is poured so that it covers all the greens. It is also important to leave a distance of 1 cm from the lid. And the oil should be poured in small doses so that it is evenly distributed among the greens. Next, the jars are closed with plastic lids and stored in a refrigeration unit at 7 degrees.

If you don’t have the opportunity or time to prepare your own parsley and pickle it, you can buy the product in any supermarket if you wish, but it’s worth remembering that such greens will not be of the proper quality, since they were grown in unnatural conditions. Those products that are grown in winter and sold fresh contain nitrates and do more harm than good.

This is the reason that many housewives try to prepare parsley on their own. As you can see, there are many ways to do this, and therefore everyone can choose the most suitable one for him.

Fragrant greens are a tasty addition to any dish. Summer and spring plants contain more vitamins than their “brothers” from greenhouses. The bright sun and suitable conditions give the greenery many useful substances, so housewives think about how to properly preserve the crop. Before freezing parsley for the winter, it is important to understand what recipes exist and how to “conjure” it in order to preserve the fragrant harvest.

Product Features

Scientists find the first mention of the spicy plant in ancient Greek treatises. People wove them into head decorations and used them as an insect repellent. In the Middle Ages, aromatic culture began to be added to dishes. Today it has been proven that greens have beneficial properties and contain many vitamins:

group B.

The plant has a mild diuretic effect, so it is often used for diseases of the bladder and kidneys. The presence of substances such as potassium, sodium and phosphorus helps with cardiovascular problems. To ensure that the spice retains its properties, the herb is added fresh to first and second courses. After heat treatment, useful elements are destroyed.

The plant is prepared in different ways for the winter, but freezing is considered the safest. The taste, aroma and consistency of the leaves remain unchanged, and much less time is spent on processing than when salting and drying. Parsley is often stored together with dill, after which it is used for its intended purpose.

The raw materials are of high quality and fresh. Branches with bright leaves should not have dry elements or damage. Before processing, you cannot store the workpiece for a long time, and it is better to send wilted specimens to drying. The torn bunch will remain unchanged in the refrigerator for three days, after which the vitamins will begin to break down and putrefactive processes will be activated.

Methods for freezing greens

To ensure that fragrant greens are on the table all year round, it is important to start preparing the preparations on time. Freezing activities are best carried out in several stages. In this case, the procedure is not as tiring as mass storage in the refrigerator.

Greenhouse specimens from the store do not smell as intensely and contain a lot of water, which will negatively affect the taste of dishes and the appearance of raw materials. The harvest from your own plot is first sorted out, thoroughly washed and dried, laid out on a towel. Products ready for freezing do not shine under the lamp and do not contain droplets.

Classic version

It is easiest to prepare parsley whole. The hard stems of the prepared bunches are cut off and the yellow leaves are removed. Greens cannot be left at room temperature for a long time; after three hours they will begin to wilt. Form tight “bouquets” from the grass, wrap tightly in cling film or baking foil, and place in the freezer. It takes no more than 30 minutes for a small bag with a plant to freeze.

The spice takes the form of a thin sausage, and the branches do not stick together. To use the spice, just cut off the required number of stems with a sharp knife. The shredded product is immediately added to the dish and is not left to defrost, otherwise the semi-finished product will lose its taste.

If there is not enough free space in the refrigerator, then the plant is prepared in a different way. Clean greens are cut into small pieces and allowed to dry thoroughly. If the product is poorly dried, the stems and leaves will lose their elasticity and darken. The raw materials are placed in plastic boxes with a lid and sent to the freezing department. This is an excellent option for vegetable or meat stews and aromatic broths.

Housewives use the roots of the plant as a garnish. The underground parts are thoroughly washed and the top layer is scraped off. Leave on a towel for a couple of hours to evaporate the water. Chop into small slices and put into a plastic bag. All the air is released from the bag, tied tightly and sent for storage.

Cubes in molds

If the harvest is not very large, then at home it is better to make preparations in small containers. Silicone baking dishes, yogurt packaging or candy containers are suitable. Finely chop the parsley and dill, fill the molds tightly and press down with your fingers. The finished dishes are filled with filtered or boiled cold water, and then sent to the freezer.

The product will be ready the next day, so carefully remove the cubes and put them in a bag. This product does not like temperature changes and sticks together when re-frozen. The semi-finished product is used in first and second courses. The taste and consistency are no different from fresh herbs.

By the way, raw materials can only be stored in plastic containers. Metal in the cold releases substances that negatively affect the shelf life of the starting material and spoils the taste. If by chance the workpiece is defrosted, then repeating the procedure will make the parsley dark and slimy.

Portions in oil

Frequent power outages have a negative impact on the quality of food in the freezer. To protect the greens from regular thawing, housewives advise storing the herbs in oil. With this method, plants are not damaged by low temperatures and maintain an attractive appearance. The semi-finished product has a muted smell, which does not allow the aroma to spread throughout the chamber. Cubes are added to hot dishes or spread on sandwiches.

Raw materials with dense foliage and without hard stems are suitable for freezing. The branches are washed, sorted and thoroughly dried. Small greens are left whole, and large ones are chopped. Fill two-thirds of the ice cube tray with the product. Carefully pour olive oil or melted butter and freeze.

The aromatic herb can also be stored in fat in puree form. The semi-finished product takes up less space in the drawer and is very convenient to use. The prepared raw materials are thoroughly crushed with a blender or passed through a meat grinder twice. Spices take twice as much as liquid fat. Slowly mix both components and pour into molds or special bags.

Preserving the harvest for the winter is an important task for a good housewife. Properly frozen parsley smells great and retains a pleasant taste. The preparations are easy to use for cooking.

When you have a seasonal source of fresh herbs grown without pesticides, you need to think about how to preserve them for the winter. Vitamins, macro- and microelements are best preserved by freezing, which will save time compared to drying seasonings and herbs. How to freeze parsley in the refrigerator for the winter, so that it is also convenient, read below.

Parsley is a garden plant with a specific smell and taste. It is used in cooking as a seasoning for various dishes. All parts of the plant are used, including the roots. But the most common use in cooking is parsley leaves.

They contain a large amount of useful substances. First of all, it is ascorbic acid, the content of which this plant leaves far behind many vegetables and fruits. If you eat 100 grams of fresh parsley, the daily requirement for vitamin C will be exceeded by 150%, and vitamin A – by 101%. These vitamins are responsible for normal metabolism, the functioning of bone and connective tissue.

But there is no need to overdo it with parsley. For example, 100 grams of vitamin K contains almost 13 daily doses. It helps absorb calcium, plays an important role in the functioning of bone tissue and helps in the synthesis of proteins: the structural connections of some tissues cannot do without the participation of vitamin K.

At the same time, an excess of this substance increases blood viscosity, which leads to vascular diseases. Eating parsley every day will not be harmful if you follow reasonable rationality. It is enough to put it at least once a day in a prepared dish, it will bring considerable benefits.

Parsley is also a source of minerals: iron (34% of the daily value), potassium (22%), copper (15%), calcium (14%), magnesium (12.5%), zinc (9%), manganese (8%). ), phosphorus (7%). Regular consumption of it helps improve metabolism and improve the health of the whole body.

Benefits of freezing greens

Parsley is an addition to dishes. But its fresh greens are available only in season. As a rule, this is only a few months a year. There are ways to prepare aromatic leaves for the winter: with salt in jars, in the freezer, or in dried form. Each of them has pros and cons. Let's look at the advantages of frozen storage:

Freezing, unlike drying, takes much less time. All you have to do is choose the packaging, the grinding method and place the product in the freezer. Drying is possible only under certain conditions of temperature and humidity and requires attention for several days in a row.
Preservation of vitamins. During freezing, beneficial substances are preserved almost unchanged.
The aroma and color of the seasoning remain unchanged. It looks more aesthetically pleasing in various dishes. And the original taste of parsley reminds of summer.

Some may object to the relevance of storing frozen greens. However, greens sold in supermarkets all year round are fertilized with mineral supplements. And they, in turn, are harmful to health.

By freezing greens from your garden, you can be sure of their safety. This way, not only will vitamins be preserved as much as possible, but there will also be no harmful chemical impurities.

Preparation of the main ingredient

In order not to be disappointed in this storage method, you need to properly prepare the greens. It is enough to follow a few rules:

Greens should be as fresh as possible. If it has lain indoors for 2 days and has lost most of its nutrients, then there will be no point in freezing it. You need to calculate the time so as to transfer it from the garden to the freezer with minimal loss in time.
It is better to collect leaves early in the morning, so they will be more juicy.
If there is a lot of greenery, you can soak it in water to remove dust and dirt for a few minutes. A small portion can be washed under running water.
The washed leaves are laid out on a towel or napkin to remove excess moisture.

Parsley is an unpretentious plant with strong immunity, which is practically not affected by diseases and pests. But still, it doesn’t hurt to inspect the greens while washing and drying.

Freezing methods at home

Sliced in bags

Preserving parsley in bags is a classic way of harvesting. To ensure that the greens do not stick together, but are crumbly, you need to first freeze them on boards and then put them in a bag.

To do this, the greens are washed and dried. Only the leaves are cut off for freezing. They need to be finely chopped and placed in a thin layer on any surface (wooden or plastic board, container). After half an hour, the layer will be frozen, and the leaves can be sent to the bag. This is done several times until the bag is full.

Freezing cubes in ice cube trays

A method used by many housewives. Indeed, it is very convenient to dissolve the cube at the end of preparing the soup and not have to worry about how much greens to add. The recipe itself is labor-intensive, but it pays off in the future.

For this purpose, the parsley must be finely chopped. This can be done using a blender or meat grinder. The resulting puree is compacted into molds and then filled with water. You can also store cubes in bags or plastic containers, taking out from there in winter as many cubes as you need.

Freeze sprigs to decorate dishes

For especially special occasions, you can freeze whole branches, which will be used to decorate dishes. This procedure will require care. The twig with leaves is spread on a small piece of food foil and pressed with a second layer, and then wrapped.

Store flattened in small flat squares of foil. When defrosting, do not unwrap the foil until sufficient time has passed. Otherwise the branch may break.

Parsley in oil

Preserving parsley in oil for the winter is a good option for preserving valuable nutrients. The recipe only requires leaves. They are washed, dried and finely chopped. The jar for greens must be washed, sterilized and dried.

Fresh parsley from the garden is an unforgettable aroma of hot meat and vegetable dishes, a spicy addition to salads and marinades. When the warm days come to an end, the plants produce less and less green, fragrant leaves, and soon they are completely buried under the snow. How to keep parsley fresh for the winter so that the vitamin-rich diet does not become scarce, and the menu remains as varied and healthy as possible even in the cold season?

In a refrigerator, at temperatures up to +6 ° C, parsley can be stored for no more than a month. At the same time, the foliage gradually loses moisture, turns yellow and withers. Parsley rhizomes are hardier.

If the root crops, cleared of the remains of foliage and soil, are immersed in clean sand, a constant flow of air and a temperature of +1 to +5 ° C are provided, then the parsley will successfully overwinter. True, not everyone has a cellar, and during wintering the rhizomes lose quite a large part of their useful substances. How to store parsley?

Today, even at home, you can use several methods and recipes on how to prepare parsley for the winter. Moreover, in all cases, the processing of greens and root vegetables does not affect either the taste of the products or their vitamin composition.

Is it possible to freeze parsley for the winter?

Parsley's dense foliage and root vegetables, harvested in the fall, lend themselves well to freezing.

Exposure to cold does not disrupt the structure of the tissues of roots and leaves, and the amount of aromatic and beneficial substances does not decrease at all. In addition, the method when whole bunches or leaves are frozen can today be considered the simplest and fastest. How to prepare parsley for the winter using this recipe?

The step-by-step photos show how to freeze parsley for the winter. If you do not expose the greens to thawing and repeated exposure to cold, parsley keeps well all winter. It is important that at the time of planting, the bunches are as clean as possible, and there are no traces of water left on the surface of the leaves, which can, at low temperatures, not have the best effect on the quality of the greenery.

You can judge the presence of moisture inside the bags by how the parsley looks. If the greens have not been sufficiently dried, the thawed stems will be dark green, completely lost their elasticity, and drooping. High-quality greens will keep their appearance and texture fresh.

Do the same with parsley rhizomes. They are washed, removing small roots and remaining leaves. The peeled rhizomes are cut into strips or cubes, like greens, dried and packaged in small bags. In winter, this parsley can be used when preparing broths, stews and other hot dishes.

How to freeze parsley for the winter: photos and descriptions of original methods

It is not always possible to use up a whole bunch of parsley, albeit a small one. Is it possible to freeze parsley for the winter in even smaller portions? Yes, if you use ice cube trays, sorted, washed and finely chopped parsley after freezing turns into aromatic cubes for seasoning broths, casseroles, stewed vegetables or pasta.

When using this method of harvesting parsley for the winter, it is important to choose the right degree of chopping of the foliage.

If you use a blender, the green mass will give juice and become mushy, but at the same time it will perfectly fill the cells of the ice container and freeze. When grinding by hand, the particles will be larger, but forming a cube is much more difficult. Therefore, before freezing parsley for the winter using this method, as shown in the photo, you will have to take care to chop the foliage as finely as possible. In any case, such an addition to dishes fully conveys both the taste and aroma of fresh herbs.

If you want to keep almost whole leaves in cubes, then after laying out the coarsely chopped green mass into the cells, pour the contents with a small amount of water, or better yet, melted butter or unrefined olive oil. Frozen cubes make an excellent addition to fried meat, dumplings, rice dishes and potatoes.

If desired, you can add other favorite herbs to the mixture, such as green onions, minced garlic or bell peppers, oregano and basil.

Preparing parsley for the winter in oil

A similar method of preparing parsley for the winter also involves using oil, but regular, refined sunflower oil. And in this case, you won’t need a freezer.

The greens that you want to preserve must be washed, cutting off all spoiled, dried and rough parts of the leaves.
After this, the parsley is dried and chopped.
The greens are placed tightly in clean glass jars and filled with oil so that there are no air bubbles between the leaves.

When the oil covers the parsley, the jars are tightly closed and sent to the cellar or refrigerator, where the product will be stored at a temperature of +1 to +8 ° C.

How to prepare parsley for the winter: a recipe for pickling greens

Salting is one of the oldest methods that made it possible to preserve the properties of the most perishable foods in a time when home refrigerators were just a dream.

Today, few people remember how to keep parsley fresh for the winter using salt. However, salt as a natural preservative perfectly preserves all the qualities of greens and prevents the development of harmful microorganisms.

For pickling, clean chopped herbs and grated root vegetables are suitable. For five parts by weight of plant material, take one part of table salt. The components are mixed and placed in clean glass jars so that there is room for the juice that forms as the salt dissolves. Closed containers can be stored in the cellar or in the refrigerator, and if necessary, use the pickled parsley for culinary purposes.

How to dry parsley at home

Drying greens and rhizomes is one of the most effective ways to prepare parsley for the winter. All microelements and vitamins remain in the finished product, the aroma remains virtually unchanged, and sometimes becomes more intense.

In addition, dried parsley does not require special storage conditions, loses many times its weight and volume compared to fresh parsley and is also convenient to use. Before drying parsley at home, wash the greens and root vegetables and dry them thoroughly and carefully. After drying, it will no longer be possible to separate weed inclusions, rotten and rough parts of the plant, so the raw materials are sorted out in advance and the rhizomes are cleaned.

Parsley can be dried either as a whole leaf along with the upper part of the petiole, or as separate small pieces. Root vegetables are cut into thin slices or small cubes before drying. Parsley, like other garden crops, can be dried in the open air, under gauze, in a microwave oven, in a special dryer or in an oven, at a temperature not exceeding +60 °C. If the air is hotter, there is a risk of the greens burning and losing their beneficial properties. You can determine the quality of dry herbs by how the parsley looks.

If the initially green grass acquired a yellowish or brown tint, the temperature regime during drying was disturbed.

To ensure that the loss of moisture from leaves and pieces of root vegetables occurs more evenly and quickly, the raw materials are carefully turned from time to time. How to store parsley after drying?

At the end of the process, dry parsley is scattered into glass jars with tight-fitting lids or bags with an inner layer of foil. Such packaging will not allow the dry product to lose its aroma and absorb moisture from the air.