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Speed Bento Technique: Freezing chopped herbs

Speed Tip: Pre-chop and freeze your most commonly used herbs and aromatics for when you’re cooking a dish in a hurry. I’ve got green onions (scallions or spring onions), cilantro (coriander) and parsley below. I still keep fresh herbs on hand for normal cooking, of course, but it’s nice to know I have a frozen stash when I’m running around getting ready in the morning. These are best used within three weeks, according to the Shufu no Tomo book on freezing. The green onions will come in handy when I’m making the scrambled egg purses.

Freezing herbs for quick cooking


To properly prepare the aromatics for freezing, first wash them thoroughly, spin dry in a salad spinner if you have one, then lightly pat with paper towels to dry thoroughly. Moisture is the enemy here as it’ll degrade flavor and make it difficult to take out a small portion of herbs at a time. Next, line small freezer containers (Tupperware, etc.) with a paper towel to absorb any excess moisture. Chop the herbs as usual, fill the containers, cover and freeze. If you don’t have little plastic containers you can also use a freezer bag, or wrap small portions of herbs in plastic wrap to put in a freezer bag (use a straw to suck out any excess air from the bag before sealing and freezing). Don’t thaw before using, just use frozen in cooked dishes as texture will be softer than when fresh.

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March 19th, 2007 | Categories: freezing, parenthacks, tips, tutorial or how to, vegetarian | Print This Post Print This Post | Email this post Email this post
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22 Responses to “Speed Bento Technique: Freezing chopped herbs”

  1. commoi Says:
    March 19th, 2007 at 8:00 pm

    Wow I actually never knew that you can even freeze cilantro and parsley! I live alone, so everytime I get fresh herbs most of it just goes to waste and rot in my fridge. D: I must try this now!

    Thanks for your tip!

  2. girlwhowaits Says:
    March 20th, 2007 at 12:19 am

    Good idea, thanks!

  3. princess_design Says:
    March 20th, 2007 at 10:16 am

    I found this post at and clicked to see more. I freeze half my herbs whenever I buy them because I live alone and they go bad quickly.

    I love the idea of quick lunches (I bring my lunch almost everyday), so I have friended you. :D
    I also would like to ask your permission to place this journal as a link in , as I think a lot of people can get some great ideas from you. Let me know!

  4. ss_biggie Says:
    March 20th, 2007 at 2:41 pm

    Hi Princess_Design and welcome! Yes, please go ahead and link Lunch in a Box to foodiepatootie if you think it’s a good match — it looks quite interesting and I’ll read more posts there when I have a chance. Thank you for the heads up!

  5. ss_biggie Says:
    March 20th, 2007 at 3:01 pm

    Yes, and if you don’t have little freezer containers, you can even put frozen green onions in an empty/dry plastic water bottle so you can just shake some out of the bottle into whatever you’re cooking…

  6. yumimb Says:
    March 20th, 2007 at 11:04 pm

    I never knew that you could freeze Cilantro, either. I always buy them (most of stores sell cilantro in bunchs), use probably 1/5 and forget about them, then find them dry and brown few weeks later. Arigato for your experiment!

  7. kohaku Says:
    March 21st, 2007 at 6:32 am

    this helps, i tend to throw them all away >_< I can be less wasteful now :D

  8. ss_biggie Says:
    March 21st, 2007 at 4:10 pm

    Iya iya iya, tondemo arimasen yo! I usually try to immediately wash all of my cilantro after buying, spin it dry, wrap the whole bunch in a couple of paper towels, then put it all inside a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer. Extends the life longer than if the cilantro leaves actually touch the plastic bag (then turn into gross brown goo…).

  9. ss_biggie Says:
    March 21st, 2007 at 4:17 pm

    My pleasure!

  10. ss_biggie Says:
    March 21st, 2007 at 4:18 pm

    I think you’ll have better quality if you freeze them while they’re still fresh, before they start wilting and getting all sad. Good luck!

  11. mandaryn Says:
    May 6th, 2007 at 1:24 am

    I think I have found my new obsession.
    Though, I do have one question with freezing stuff.
    How would mustard work, as well as brushing one side of bread with salad dressing (Italian)?

  12. mandaryn Says:
    May 6th, 2007 at 1:25 am

    Oops, somehow my browser skipped back and added the comment to this post instead of the sandwich one. Sorry. =)

  13. ss_biggie Says:
    May 6th, 2007 at 1:38 am

    Mustard worked fine for me, but I’d hesitate to put more liquidy condiments on bread before freezing because of texture issues once it thaws. Maybe try packing the salad dressing in a separate little container and put it on your thawed sandwich right before you eat it?

  14. mandaryn Says:
    May 6th, 2007 at 1:40 am

    That would probably work. =) Thanks!

  15. not goth Says:
    August 22nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm

    brilliant idea! love the site.

  16. Biggie Says:
    August 23rd, 2007 at 9:17 am

    @15 from not goth: Thanks, and thanks for reading, not goth!

  17. Giffy Says:
    April 25th, 2008 at 4:01 am

    Hi, I just found your website following through from links on LJ (I’m giffydoll on lj). I’m having heaps of fun exploring this site.

    I just wanted to add to this post, that you can also freeze chopped herbs in your icecube tray, doesn’t matter so much is water gets in as they are now in handy small portions. Once they are frozen you can remove from tray and put in a bag or larger container in your freezer :)

    Also, don’t throw away your coriander/cilantro root! My (thai) mother always freezes those wrapped up in cling film until she wants to use them in other cooking (marinades, soup, stock) etc.

  18. mercurous Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    I recently found another way to preserve my extra spring onions: feed them water :)
    http://www.cookthink.com/blog/?p=831

  19. New Food Processor « alicianicholson Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 8:48 am

    [...] New Food Processor Posted on March 30, 2011 by alicianicholson I just got the new Manual Food Processor the other day and decided to give it a try while making a couple of different recipes yesterday.  I was making a great Bean and Quinoa Salad (from Canadian Living) and used the processor to chop up my cilantro.  You always have to buy such a big bunch of cilantro, so I chopped it all up in the processor (in batches) and froze what I wasn`t using.  There are a couple of different ways to freeze herbs.  I decided to try the ice cube tray method where you put some in each section of the tray and put a bit of water in, freeze it, then top it up with more water and freeze again.  Later in the day I tried a different method with green onions that I think I like better (see it here). [...]

  20. slashvee Says:
    November 21st, 2011 at 2:14 am

    I didn’t get one thing

    do I actually have to leave the absorbing paper IN the container when I put it in the freezer?

  21. Lita Says:
    March 23rd, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    Wow i didn’t know you could freeze herbs. This is great. Thank you.

  22. www.leedeelive.com Says:
    May 10th, 2013 at 11:58 am

    It’s an awesome article in support of all the web users; they will obtain advantage from it I am sure.

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