Fresh and vibrant, parsley is a great addition to a variety of sauces, can lift a pasta dish from dull to delicious and can simply be used to garnish vegetables. But, how do you ensure you always have a supply of parsley to hand?
Can You Freeze Parsley?
Yes, you can freeze parsley for up to 12 months. The best way to freeze parsley is in an ice cube tray submerged in water or oil. You can then pop a cube into your cooking for an instant hit of parsley.
Do Does Parsley freeze well? Sometimes
Can you refreeze Parsley? No
How to Freeze Parsley
If you want to freeze parsley leaves whole, then this is the method for you. It’s not necessarily the best method, however:
- Clean and Dry: As with all fresh produce, make sure it is clean before you look to freeze it. Give it a good clean, and then make sure you dry it thoroughly.
- Remove Stalks: Next, remove the stalks from the parsley and discard them. You only want to freeze the leaves here.
- Bag and Freeze: Pack the leaves into a freezer bag and place them into the freezer.
If you plan to stir these whole leaves into a dish, they’ll work fine from the freezer.
However, if you’re looking to use them as a garnish to a dish or salad, then you’ll need to defrost them – that’s where you may have a few issues!
How to Freeze Parsley in Ice Cube Trays
We love ingredients frozen in ice cube trays here at Freeze It. It makes them easy to use, with no need for defrosting. You need to grab a cube and stir it into the dish you’re making.
1) Clean and Chop It: First, make sure you wash and then completely dry your parsley. You don’t want to freeze it with dirt or bugs! Now, finely chop the parsley up. Think about how you normally dice your parsley and cut it like that.
2) Add Parsley to Tray: Pack it into an ice cube tray. You want to fill it around two-thirds of the way with parsley. You could also mix in other herbs at this point.
3) Cover in Oil or Butter: Top each cube up with good quality olive oil or melted unsalted butter. You could even use water if you’re pushed for time or ingredients.
4) Initial Freeze: Place the tray in the freezer, covered in cling film and allow the cubes to freeze solid overnight.
5) Final Freeze: Remove the tray and remove each cube from the tray. Place the cubes into a bag and return to the freezer. Make sure you write a clear label for parsley on the bag!
Now all you need to do is grab a cube from the freezer when and when needed.
What is the Best Way to Freeze Parsley?
Not only can parsley be frozen as whole leaves and in ice cubes, but it can also be frozen into pesto or salsa verde, sauces or oils. But what is the best way to freeze parsley?
The best way to freeze parsley is in ice cubes with olive oil.
These cubes pack a punch, can be dropped straight into your cooking with no need to defrost them beforehand and can be mixed with other herbs and spices. It’s this versatility that makes them perfect for freezing.
The worst way to freeze it is by shoving it into a bag, whole and then throwing it into the freezer. You’ll bruise the leaves, become limp and soggy when defrosted, and won’t be full of flavour.
3 Tips for Freezing Parsley
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing parsley to have the best results:
Mix with Other Herbs
Parsley can be mixed with other herbs, spices and flavourings to create instant flavour cubes, which can be popped into soups, stews and sauces. Try mixing parsley with garlic, lemon zest and chilli, for example.
Don’t Use Raw
Unfortunately, parsley that has been frozen will not look great. It’ll still be full of flavour but is not suitable for use as a garnish or to make salads such as tabbouleh.
Prep Beforehand
You’ll find the stalks become tough after freezing and the leaves become mushy, so do all your prep work before freezing.
How Long Can You Freeze Parsley?
Parsley will be fine in the freezer for around a year. The best indication is the colour and smell. Parsley should remain strong in odour and green when frozen, but it can lose some of its flavours over time.
When you wrap the end of the parsley bunch in a damp paper towel, it will last for around 7 days in the fridge.
How Do You Defrost Parsley?
If you plan on stirring your parsley into a sauce or soup and have frozen it in cubes, then you can take them straight from the freezer and use them immediately.
The problem is when you want to use parsley as a garnish to a dish – something we’d advise against. The problem is when you defrost parsley, it goes soggy and loses its original texture.
When it comes to garnishing your dish, you end up with wet clumps of parsley, and it’s not a good look.
Can You Refreeze Parsley?
Refreezing parsley is not something we would recommend doing. Unfortunately, you’ll ruin the texture further and may even find that the flavour degrades rapidly after refreezing leaving you with mushy, bland, green sludge.
Does Parsley Freeze Well?
As discussed above, if you’re using parsley for flavour and are stirring it into a cooked dish, then you’ll be fine using frozen parsley and will struggle to tell the difference.
If, however, you want to use parsley fresh and ‘raw’ across a dish, then you’re far better off sticking with fresh where possible.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing parsley or parsley in general, then these may help:
You certainly can. You need to use the ice cube method above to freeze your parsley in oil. We would recommend using good-quality olive oil here.
Yes, you can freeze parsley sauce using the ice cube method outlined above. There can be some issues with separation when the sauce is thawed but a vigorous stir should rectify this easily.
We’ve actually written a full article on freezing pesto. Check that out and replace the basil in the pesto with parsley, and you’ll have an easy way to freeze delicious parsley pesto.
Organic parsley, grown in your own garden – it won’t get much tastier! But can it be frozen? Of course! Chances are you won’t have used any chemicals so there is a high chance of bugs being present so give the parsley a good wash before freezing it using any of the methods on this page.
