Freezing Cubes of Basil and Parsley

One of my favorite things each summer is to have several different herbs growing.  This summer we had basil, parsley, rosemary and chives.  Towards the end of summer into the fall as the weather starts to get colder - I always want to preserve those remaining herbs and time seems to get away from me before I can do anything with them.  This weekend I found myself home alone while Mark and the kids were antelope hunting.  I took advantage of that time by freezing my remaining basil and parsley.  I'm already trying to think of soups and stews these would be great to throw into.

Let's Get Crafty!
I started with basil and did the same process with the parsley.  Cut the stalks of basil and rinse them gently until you feel like they are clean. Since I was using low pressure - it took me a couple minutes.

Then pull the basil leaves off the stems and lay them out to dry (I let mine sit for a couple hours)

Puree with olive oil and distribute into ice cube trays.  How much olive oil to use is really a judgement call.  You'll want to make sure it's just enough to get get the puree going.

Divide the puree into ice tray cubes.  I used a small spoon so I could make sure to get as much as possible in the little cubes and not accidentally all over the container.  We didn't have any ice cube trays on hand and I decided to buy a couple to use just for this.  I'm going to store them with our canning supplies and hope that helps me remember not to buy new ones next year. 

I froze ours in smaller portions so I could use 2 cubes if needed, but I anticipate needing a smaller amount most of the time.

We got 12 cubes of parsley

We got 10 cubes of basil 

(It's hard to tell from the picture - but I used about 

half the amount of basil in each as I did parsley since it's

a stronger flavor)

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great day.