Can You Freeze Spinach?

Questioning in case you can freeze spinach? This leafy inexperienced vegetable holds up nicely frozen: right here’s tips on how to do it!

Bought leftover spinach and undecided what to do with it? Right here’s an thought: throw it within the freezer! This leafy inexperienced vegetable is definitely a breeze to freeze. Whereas many greens lose taste and texture within the freezer, spinach works nicely to protect: and you’ll throw it into soups, stews, and smoothies: an effective way to eat your greens! Right here’s tips on how to do it.

Are you able to freeze spinach?

Spinach freezes very nicely: the flavour of the vegetable is preserved through the course of. Frozen spinach can’t be used uncooked in salads, however it’s preferrred for including to cooked dishes like soups, stews, dips, and casseroles, and blended dishes like smoothies. You need to use it proper in cooked or blended dishes with out thawing it.

Spinach could be very straightforward to freeze: you don’t even must blanch it first, such as you do with different greens. Understand that on the whole, this doesn’t work as a straightforward substitute for the packaged sort stocked in shops. (Preserve studying for why.)

How lengthy does spinach final within the fridge?

Saved within the produce drawer within the fridge, spinach lasts about 1 week. For those who’d prefer to protect it past that time, you possibly can freeze spinach for 3 to six months. Spinach doesn’t require blanching like different greens, so it makes it fast and simple to pop within the freezer.

Learn how to freeze spinach

Spinach is extraordinarily straightforward to freeze: you possibly can merely pop the leaves proper into the freezer. Many greens require blanching first, which helps to lock of their colour and helps them last more within the freezer. However this leafy inexperienced works nicely uncooked! Right here’s tips on how to freeze spinach:

1. Wash and dry: If the spinach is bought in a bunch, you might need to chop off the lengthy stems (or roughly chop the leaves). Child spinach requires no chopping. Rinse the leaves beneath chilly water, then pat them as dry as doable.
2. Place the spinach in a freezer-safe plastic bag or silicone bag. If utilizing a plastic bag, use a straw to suck any remaining air out of the bag and seal it.
3. Mark the “Use by” date. Use a everlasting marker to label with a “use by” date that’s 3 months sooner or later.
4. Freeze. Place the container or bag within the freezer and freeze for as much as 3 to six months. For greatest outcomes, use in 3 months.

On packaged frozen spinach

Understand that this technique for freezing spinach doesn’t work nicely as an alternative choice to the packaged sort stocked in shops. Packaged frozen spinach is a typical ingredient in one thing like spinach artichoke dip or spinach quiche. Right here’s what’s completely different:

• Packaged spinach is blanched first. To make frozen spinach just like the packaged sort on the retailer, merely place the leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds. Rinse the spinach in chilly water, then squeeze out as a lot water as doable. Then roughly chop the leaves and freeze it in a bag or container.
• Packaged spinach is available in massive portions. That small block of spinach from the shop is 16 ounces of spinach: which is a really massive amount! Until you’ve a really great amount of spinach, we advocate skipping the blanching step and utilizing the frozen spinach for smoothies or soups as an alternative.

Suggestions for tips on how to use frozen spinach

Frozen spinach can be utilized proper from the freezer in cooked or blended dishes: no must defrost! Use non-blanched frozen spinach in cooked recipes that decision for recent. Listed here are a number of suggestions:

• Use frozen spinach solely in cooked or blended dishes, like sautes, soups, stews, and smoothies. Don’t eat it uncooked in salads as a result of the feel turns into softer after freezing.
• The frozen leaves could be added proper to dishes: no defrosting is required.
• Use inside 3 to six months. The flavour and texture can degrade the longer meals are frozen. For greatest outcomes, use it inside 3 months.

Spinach recipes

Listed here are a number of recipe concepts for tips on how to use frozen spinach! (Once more, do not forget that packaged frozen spinach from the shop is blanched first, so in case you’re attempting to approximate this product you’ll want so as to add the blanching step.) Listed here are a few of our favourite spinach recipes: