How to Freeze Spinach and Kale, Recipe for Joe's Special (2024)

FAQs

How do you freeze spinach and kale? ›

Pack Greens into Freezer Bags

(If you have one, a vacuum sealer system works well with kale.) Avoid over-packing bags. Flatten bags before sealing to create kale portions that thaw quickly. Label your bags so you know when you put them in the freezer.

Frozen spinach also works well in dips, quiche, and pasta dishes. It brings flavorful nutrition to homemade egg rolls, meatballs, and marinara sauce. If you know you'll use your frozen spinach within six months, you can freeze it without blanching. This method yields more of a slimy product upon thawing.

Directions: Kale can be frozen without blanching but should be used within 4 weeks. Blanching greens before freezing stops the naturally-occurring ripening enzymes in the leaves. This will ensure that the leaves taste fresh and will not develop a bitter taste.

While you can freeze either, if you have time it's better to cook the spinach first because cooked spinach compacts down into smaller balls so will take less space in the freezer.

Enzymes and Blanching

Enzymes are naturally occurring substances in plants that control the ripening process. Freezing only slows enzyme activity. Most frozen vegetables will lose quality in the freezer unless they have been blanched.

Leafy kale has a tendency to trap dirt and requires a good rinse before freezing. Because the leaves and stems cook at different rates, you'll need to separate them before you freeze them. Roughly chop the leaves and cut the stems into 1-inch pieces, and be sure to thoroughly wash and dry both before freezing.

Store Whole Bunches In the Fridge

To avoid excess moisture, wrap the whole bunch of kale in a layer of paper towels, and store in a supermarket plastic bag or a zip-top plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer. The kale should keep for 1 week.

Blanching is scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam for a short time. It is typically followed by quick, thorough cooling in very cold or ice water. Blanching stops enzyme actions which otherwise cause loss of flavor, color and texture.

Do you need to wash spinach before freezing? ›

Wash and Freeze

The spinach will need to be thawed for a couple of hours and squeezed out before putting it in dishes. Wash the spinach well. Pat or spin it dry in a salad spinner, being sure to remove as much water as possible. Lay the spinach in flat layers in freezer zip-top bags.

Pack the spinach in freezer-safe bags.

Fill one or more freezer-safe plastic bags with as much clean spinach as possible. Squeeze out any excess air, then seal the bags. Don't be afraid of packing the spinach too tightly. Tight packing is actually recommended since it leaves less room for excess air.

Yes! You can definitely freeze spinach. It's probably the best way to store spinach if you need to keep it for more than a week or so. The frozen greens are obviously great for smoothies, but they also work well in soups, sauces, casseroles, stir-fries, and so much more.

If you want to store your frozen leafy greens for several months they need to be blanched first. While you can freeze kale and other leafy greens raw they will only keep for a month to month and a half before the texture, color and flavor all start to deteriorate.

You can freeze kale (and bagged spinach), so you can keep it on hand without it getting all gross and stinky in the back of your refrigerator. It's incredibly simple to do, but if you're new to freezing vegetables make sure keep reading to understand how to make the best use of your frozen kale (or spinach).

I think blanching collards before freezing preserves their overall quality, texture, and nutrition and also softens them a bit so they cook better when used in recipes. However, you can technically freeze them without blanching. To do so, wash and dry the greens, chop, and transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container.

Freeze your greens for up to eight months

Fresh hardy greens like spinach and kale only last up to one or two weeks. But by freezing them, you won't have to rush to use them. For the best quality, though, try to use your greens within the first eight months.