Oh my gosh, you know what really gets me going? Looking out at my herb garden in July, bursting with basil and parsley, only to watch half of it wilt into sad, brown mush by August! It’s total culinary heartbreak, not to mention wasted money. That’s why I rely on this one fantastic trick that keeps my garden’s flavor alive all year long. We’re going to learn how to Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil, turning boring ice cube trays into little pockets of pure cooking gold. Trust me, these flavor bombs save me so much time when I’m scrambling to make dinner on a Tuesday night!

Why You Should Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

Honestly, I used to just dry my extra herbs, but that method never quite captured the bright, fresh punch I wanted. When you freeze fresh herbs in olive oil, you are doing something really special for your food!

Flavor Preservation: The Oil Barrier: This is the big win. The olive oil acts like a little shield, trapping all those amazing volatile oils inside the herbs. If you just toss them straight into the freezer, they get freezer burn so fast! This oil coating keeps the taste potent—so much better than air-drying, in my opinion. This sealing technique is the whole secret to successful Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil cubes.

Cooking Shortcuts for Busy Days: Imagine this: you’re whipping up a quick pasta sauce or sautéing some greens, and you need that burst of flavor. Instead of stopping everything to chop a bunch of parsley, you just yank a frozen cube out of the freezer and drop it right into the hot pan. It melts almost instantly! It cuts down on so much tedious prep work later.
These little flavor bombs mean you never have to buy sad, expensive supermarket herbs again! Plus, for those of you interested in boosting your kitchen health routine, you can check out some great natural options here.

Gathering Supplies to Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

Okay, you don’t need much fancy gear for this, which I love! Simplicity is key when we’re trying to save those lovely herbs before they turn. You just need the herbs themselves, of course, and your olive oil, but the vessel matters!

You’ll absolutely want an ice cube tray—and I really, really push for the silicone ones. Seriously, ditch the hard plastic! Trying to pry those rock-solid oil cubes out of plastic is a nightmare and usually ends with you poking a hole in the cube, which you don’t want. Silicone trays let you just pop them right out with no struggle. Other than that, maybe a sharp knife or a food processor for chopping, and a good freezer bag for storage!

Selecting and Preparing Herbs for Your Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil Cubes

Now we get to the fun part: getting those beautiful green bits ready for their oil bath! The quality of your starting ingredients really makes a difference here, so pay attention to your greens. This method is seriously versatile; I’ve used it for almost everything that grows in my little backyard plot. If you’re growing your own, this is the perfect way to handle that sudden abundance of flavor!

Herb Selection Guide

You might be asking if you can use any herb, and the answer is a big, happy yes! Some people think you should only use ‘soft’ herbs like basil, parsley, or cilantro, and those are amazing because they blend up super easily. But honestly, hard herbs like woody rosemary or sturdy thyme work just as well. The oil protects them beautifully during freezing. You just might need to chop the rosemary a tiny bit finer since it’s so robust. They all benefit equally from this preservation technique.

Achieving the Right Texture

This is where you have to stop yourself from over-processing! When you chop them—whether by hand or in the food processor—you want them finely divided, but you absolutely do not want a smooth, watery paste. If you blend it too long, those oils get released too aggressively, and when you freeze and thaw it later in a hot pan, it can turn sort of mushy. Pulse it! Stop when you can still see distinct little flecks of green amongst the oil. It’s this texture that keeps your final dish looking and tasting fresh. If you want to balance your diet, remember you can always pair these flavor boosters with great nutritious things—you can see some great healthy food ideas here.

Oh, and here’s my expert tip that I learned the hard way: make sure those herbs are completely, utterly bone-dry before you even think about chopping them. Any surface water turns into icy sludge in the freezer, and that dilutes your precious olive oil flavor later. Give them a good spin in the salad spinner and then pat them dry with paper towels.

Step-by-Step Guide to Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

This whole process is shockingly fast—it takes maybe ten minutes from start to finish, which is why I love it so much! Remember, we want concentrated flavor, not soup, so precision matters in these basic steps. If you mess up the prep work by leaving water clinging to the herbs, you’ll end up with icy disappointment later. Don’t forget that the olive oil needs to be the star in this final assembly step.

Once they are prepped, the actual assembly is simple. I usually use a standard ice cube tray, and you’ll be amazed how many wonderful little flavor doses you end up with. If you’re looking for a great recipe that these cubes can jump-start, check out this easy pasta sauce recipe I adore right here.

Combining Herbs and Oil

First things first: get your chopped herbs evenly distributed into the ice cube tray compartments. I aim for roughly the same volume in each spot. You’re using about one cup of packed herbs to a half cup of oil for this batch, so things should fit nicely. Now comes the crucial bit for your Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil success: pour the olive oil over the top of the herbs in *every single square* until the green bits are totally submerged. I mean completely covered! If any herb pokes out, it might still get a little freezer burn. If you want, sprinkle a tiny pinch of salt in there to enhance everything before you slide the tray into the cold!

Freezing and Storage Best Practices

The tray needs to go into the freezer and sit undisturbed until those cubes are brick solid. That usually takes a few hours, but I just leave mine overnight. Once they are frozen hard, don’t leave them sitting in that tray! Pop them out—this is where that silicone tray pays off big time—and immediately transfer them to a freezer-safe zip-top bag or a sturdy airtight container. Label the bag with the herb type and the date, just so you know what you’re grabbing six months down the road. Stored correctly, those little flavor bombs will be good to go for ages!

Tips for Perfect Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil Cubes

You’ve got your cubes frozen, which is half the battle, but I want to make sure you get the absolute best flavor payoff when you finally use them. A few small choices here can really elevate that cube!

Choosing the Right Olive Oil

When I first started doing this, I grabbed whatever dark, peppery olive oil I had on hand. Big mistake! If you use an oil with a super strong, grassy flavor, it ends up battling your delicate basil or soft parsley when you cook with it later. For the best results when you Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil, use a good quality, but fairly neutral, lighter olive oil. You want the herb flavor to shine through, not the oil’s flavor profile!

Thawing the Herb Cubes

Forget trying to microwave these little guys; you’ll just end up with oily, lukewarm sadness. The beauty of the oil cube is that it’s designed to go straight from the freezer into heat! If you’re starting a soup, a stew, or sautéing up some garlic and onions for a sauce, just drop the frozen cube right into your hot pan. The oil immediately starts to sizzle, releasing the herbs perfectly. It’s instant flavor infusion, and it saves you having to thaw anything separately!

Creative Ways to Use Your Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

So, you’ve got your little freezer stash ready to go, but maybe you think these cubes are only good for a basic tomato sauce? Nope! That’s like buying fancy paint and only using it to touch up a doorframe. These herb-oil bombs can totally step up your weeknight cooking game far beyond just pouring them into a pot of meatballs. I love seeing how creative people get once they ditch the idea that herbs are only for finishing a dish.

Flavoring Sautéed Vegetables

This is my favorite weeknight trick! When I’m about to start sautéing onions, mushrooms, zucchini, or whatever veggies I’ve got, I skip using plain oil completely. I toss the frozen cube directly into the hot skillet first. It immediately melts and infuses the oil with beautiful basil or oregano goodness before the vegetables even hit the pan. It’s an instant flavor base! If you’re making a big batch of roasted veggies, you can even toss the frozen cube with your vegetables before they go into the oven—check out how great this tastes with this roasting method.

Infusing Soups and Stews

Slow cooking is wonderful, but sometimes you don’t have hours, right? These cubes are magic for fast soups or stocks. When you are warming up a simple chicken broth or starting a quick lentil stew, drop in one or two frozen herb cubes instead of dealing with whole sprigs of wet herbs. They melt right into the liquid, leaving zero debris behind, which means less straining later. They are also fantastic stirred into salad dressings, like a homemade Caesar, for an extra earthy kick—you can find my favorite dressing recipe here! You’ll be blown away by the depth of flavor these tiny frozen disks add.

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

I know when I start a new preservation method, I always have a dozen little questions swimming around in my head! It’s smart to check these things before you commit a whole tray of beautiful herbs to the freezer. Here are the most common things people ask me about making these little flavor pucks.

Can I use butter instead of olive oil to freeze fresh herbs?

That’s a great question, especially if you’re out of olive oil! Technically, yes, you *can* substitute butter, but honestly, I strongly suggest you stick with the oil. Butter tends to solidify rock-hard in the freezer compared to oil, which can make it really hard to get those cubes out later without smashing everything. More importantly, butterfat doesn’t seem to protect the herb flavor as long-term as the liquid oil does sometimes. If you want the very best experience when you Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil, keep it oily!

How long do these frozen herb cubes last?

As long as you seal them up well in a sturdy bag after they freeze solid, these cubes are good for a surprisingly long time! I’ve used cubes that were six months old, and they were perfect. If you put them in the back of a deep freezer where the temperature stays very stable, you can easily get up to a full year of peak flavor out of them. Don’t let them hang around for two years, though; eventually, even oil changes things up a bit.

What happens if my herbs are not completely dry?

Oh, trust me on this—it’s a sticky situation! If you chop up herbs that still have water clinging to them, that water just turns into aggressive little ice crystals when frozen. Those water crystals are what cause freezer burn, and even if they don’t burn, that melted ice water dilutes the richness of your olive oil when you use it later. You want potent herb oil, not slightly watery herb melt. Make absolutely certain you spin them dry and pat them down before chopping!

Estimated Nutritional Data for Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

Now, I know some of you are total food label detectives, and I appreciate that! But I want to be super clear: since we’re dealing with two parts—herbs (which are nearly zero calories) and olive oil—these numbers are just my best guess based on the recipe inputs. This information is an estimate, mainly reflecting the high fat content coming from the oil we use to preserve everything. Remember, this calculation is based on dividing the total recipe batch (about 1 cup of herbs plus 1/2 cup of olive oil) into 12 little cubes.

If you want to know what’s truly packed into one of these amazing little flavor bombs, here’s the breakdown:

Calories: About 50 per cube. That is seriously reasonable for the amount of flavor you get!
Fat: Right around 5.5 grams. Most of this is the healthy unsaturated fat coming from our good olive oil.
Protein: Negligible, maybe 0.1 gram.
Carbohydrates: Almost nothing—we’re looking at maybe 0.2 grams total.

The big takeaway here is that you’re adding quality oil and herbs to whatever you’re cooking, not adding fillers or sugar! If you are tracking things like sodium, it’s super low, too, unless you went wild with the optional salt pinch.

Share Your Herb Preservation Success

Well, my friends, that’s really all there is to it! We’ve successfully managed to transform a basket of greens that would have otherwise vanished into thin air into a fully stocked freezer shelf of pure cooking potential. Seriously, next time you have parsley that’s trying to look sad, whip up a batch of these oil cubes instead. It feels so rewarding knowing you aren’t wasting food and that you have these incredible flavor boosters ready for any impromptu dinner. I really hope this method of how to Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil becomes a staple in your kitchen, just like it is in mine.

Now it’s your turn! I absolutely love hearing how you adapt these simple kitchen tricks. Which herbs did you decide worked best for you? Were you surprised by how potent the frozen basil cubes tasted in your next soup?

Let me know how your first batch turns out! Please, give this recipe a star rating right below this section, and definitely leave a comment telling me your experience or any other herb you tried preserving this way. If you have any questions or just want to say hello, you can always drop me a line over on the contact page right here. Happy preserving, everyone!

Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

Author: faironplay.com
Total Time: 10 min
Yield: About 12 cubes 1x
Diet: Vegetarian

Print Recipe

Description

A method to preserve fresh herbs using olive oil for later use in cooking.

Ingredients

Scale

1 cup fresh herbs (e.g., basil, parsley, oregano)
1/2 cup olive oil
Pinch of salt (optional)

Instructions

Wash and thoroughly dry the fresh herbs.
Chop the herbs finely or pulse them briefly in a food processor. Do not over-process into a paste.
Place the chopped herbs into the compartments of an ice cube tray.
Pour olive oil over the herbs until the compartments are full, covering the herbs completely.
Add a small pinch of salt to each compartment if desired.
Freeze the tray until the cubes are solid.
Remove the frozen herb and oil cubes from the tray.
Store the cubes in a freezer-safe bag or container in the freezer.

Notes

Use this method for hard herbs like rosemary or thyme, or soft herbs like basil or cilantro.
Thaw a cube directly in a hot pan when cooking.
The olive oil prevents freezer burn and keeps the herb flavor intact.

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 0 min
Category: Preservation
Method: Freezing
Cuisine: General

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 cube
Calories: 50
Sugar: 0
Sodium: 1
Fat: 5.5
Saturated Fat: 0.8
Unsaturated Fat: 4.7
Trans Fat: 0
Carbohydrates: 0.2
Fiber: 0.1
Protein: 0.1
Cholesterol: 0

Keywords: freeze herbs, olive oil, herb preservation, basil cubes, parsley cubes, cooking shortcuts