How to Freeze Greens Without Blanching: A Guide to Freezing Greens

What is how you cook? Are you a lover of cooking on the stove or in the oven? If you like baking, you may like to try these recipes to freeze vegetables without boiling. The phrase “blanching” is the act of boiling the vegetables until they turn bright green. This is essential as it removes excess water from the vegetables and makes them easier to store in freezers. After cooking, however, frozen vegetables maintain their color, texture and taste. They don’t need to be thawed before use. It’s not always necessary to blanch them. In fact, certain fruits and vegetables can be frozen in their raw form. For instance, spinach and kale can be frozen without blanching. However, suppose you wish to ensure the nutrition present in your greens. In that case, you must follow the steps in the following paragraphs to learn how to freeze greens without blanching.

A guide to greens

Greens are a fantastic food source for vitamins A, C and B6. They also contain K folate, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. They also contain potassium, manganese, copper and fiber. It also contains antioxidants, such as lutein beta carotene, zeaxanthin, and vitamin E. Alongside being nutritious, they are tasty and versatile. They are perfect for salads, soups and stir-fries and desserts. Many people are hesitant to eat greens due to the belief that the taste is bitter. However, this isn’t the case. The majority of greens taste sweet.

The bitterness is due to the chlorophyll that’s present in leaves. Chlorophyll is the substance that makes green plants have their vibrant hue. To eliminate the bitterness of the greens, boil them for a few minutes in hot water. After the greens have been done cooking, strain them thoroughly, cool them, and freeze them. The frozen greens retain their vibrant color and nutrients longer than those kept refrigerated. How do you freeze Greens?

What are greens

Greens is a broad term that covers a variety of varieties of vegetables. This includes kale, microgreens, collard greens, cabbage, spinach, beet greens, and watercress. Romaine lettuce Swiss Arugula, arugula, turnip and endive greens, and bok choy belong to this category. Greens are a potent source of nutrients. They’re great sources of calcium, folate and many minerals and vitamins. They include vitamins A, BC, D and A, manganese, and potassium. All this nutritional goodness comes with only a few calories. They are the perfect method to fill up dinner and add a lot of healthful qualities to your meal.

The leaf of spinach is a nutritional powerhouse. The fresh spinach leaf is essential in my kitchen for dips made with spinach artichoke, green smoothies, and other tasty recipes that call for an edible green leaf. Fresh greens are a great ingredient in many recipes for dinner. Kale, frozen spinach and frozen collard greens can be equally useful.

How to freeze greens without blanching

Step 1

Before taking the steps necessary to freeze the greens, it is recommended to wash and dry the leaves. We recommend cutting the leaves into bite-sized pieces. This can slow down the enzyme process that causes the greens to break down. In this phase, removing the stems from the greens with leaves is also possible. The first step in freezing greens is to pre-freeze (also called flash freeze). This will prevent them from losing their fresh and crisp texture. They also stop their leaves from becoming wilted and keep the flavor longer.

Step 2

It is necessary to cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then spread out the greens on the sheet. Make sure to arrange them in one flat layer. Put this baking sheet into the freezer for 2 to 3 hours for the sheet to solidify. When this time has passed, remove the baking sheet from the freezer. Choose a sturdy, plastic airtight container. Transfer the greens to the container and seal it. It is also possible to place the frozen leaves into an airtight ziplock bag that is freezer safe. We don’t recommend this because greens are easily damaged. The bag doesn’t protect against other food items stored within the freezer.

Step 3

Label the container or bag by the content (the kind of green), quantity, and date that it was frozen. A different method of freezing greens is to create ice cream. Blend your greens using some oil or water to create a smooth paste. Then, you can pour it into an ice cube tray (for larger cubes) and an ice tray to make smaller cubes. Place them into the freezer for a few hours before they freeze. After that, you can remove the muffin tray or the ice cube tray from the freezer. Take the cubes off the tray and transfer them into a ziplock bag.

Step 4

The bag should be labeled with the kind of greens, the size of each cube, and the date that it was frozen. It is recommended to gauge the size of the hole in the muffin tray or cube tray cubes before adding in the mixed greens. A typical tray for ice cubes creates cubes that weigh 2 tablespoons in size, while a muffin tray makes about a half cup black.

how to freeze greens without blanching: Advantages

The nutrients contained in frozen vegetables are nearly perfectly preserved. If you keep fresh veggies in the fridge, they lose nutritional value over time. Freezing them will ensure all nutrients, which means that the greens could be healthier when frozen!

How to store greens in the refrigerator

You’ll need to thoroughly clean and dry your salad greens before placing them in storage. We recommend spinning them in an ice-cold spinner to eliminate the most moisture possible. Then wrap them up in a tea towel and tie them to secure them. Make sure not to put the leaves too tightly because this could cause they will decompose more quickly. Put the whole bunch of greens into a glass container inside the fridge. Place them near the rear of the refrigerator as it is where the temperature is most steady.

You can also place the dried and cleaned greens in food-safe storage bags. Secure them with a seal, and don’t place them too tightly in the bag. Make sure you’ve dry the leaves before putting them into the bag. The only instance where this won’t apply is if you’re using a bag made of terry cloth. This can stop the moisture from causing the greens to rot more quickly.

If you’ve got space in your fridge, you can keep tougher greens, like collard and kale greens, in glasses of water. Put them on their sides and place their stems in water. This is similar to placing the flowers inside a vase filled with water. It will also help keep the greens fresher longer.

How to remove the stems

Many people are not fond of the bitter and hard stems on many leafy greens. It is easy to get rid of if you want to, but it’s completely up to you. This technique is best suited to collared greens, Swiss kale chard, and rainbow chard. Take the base of the stem with one hand, and wrap your fingers in the second hand to wrap around its circumference. Move your hands through the stem, moving from the largest area to the thinner. This will remove the leaf of the stem quickly. You can save the stalks to make vegetable stock or put them in the compost heap.

How to freeze greens without blanching: Tips

We’ve got you fully informed about how to freeze greens without blanching if you decide to take this step. We wish to remind you that this procedure will be identical regardless of how you blanch your vegetables or freeze fresh greens with no blanching step.

• Start by performing the pre-freeze process of your freshly harvested vegetables. The pre-freeze process assists in keeping the vegetables in general and stops them from becoming wilted or losing their fresh, crisp taste or texture.
• Prepare the good baking tray using parchment for pre-freezing, then place your fresh greens on the baking sheet. Put this baking tray in the fridge for about 2 hours.
• After you’ve completed the process of pre-freezing, transfer your greens into an airtight container, or place them in the sealed container for freezing. We suggest the freezer bag since it’s far more compact and space-friendly.
• You can freeze your greens for until 9 months.