What do you do with leftover herbs?
How can you save fresh herbs and reduce waste? A lot of recipes call for fresh herbs and they can make a huge difference in the flavor and taste of a recipe. Whenever possible, I use fresh herbs in my cooking but I hate to waste what I don’t use. Here is a good technique for saving those herbs and also saving time in the future when cooking.
Take any extra herbs: here I used italian parsley and chop. Using an ice cube tray, add one tablespoon herb to each cube and top with water. Freeze. Put the frozen cubes of herbs into a freezer safe bag and store until needed. Next time you make your recipe calling for the herb, you have a pre-chopped, portioned amount just waiting for you in the freezer.
Voila!
Wouldn’t the herbs then be soggy from water when you need to use them? What happens to the water? It’d be better just to dry the herbs…more flavorful, too.
I guess it depends on what recipe you are using the herbs in. For example, in the Greek Style Lime Beans recipe it calls for Italian parsley to be boiled along with the lima beans and other ingredients. That is a perfect use for frozen herbs, the extra water won’t make any difference. I wouldn’t recommend using this method for herbs used in baking because of the different liquid requirements. Thank you for the comment.
This is brilliant! Def going to try it!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Nice! I just like to freeze them straight, in plastic baggies, without the added water. I chop up what I have left and freeze. It’s worked pretty nicely for me. and reduces the water content too 🙂