Freeze This Food

Can You Freeze Fresh Herbs?

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Illustration of fresh herbs

Yes, and for tender herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro, and dill it beats drying for flavour. They lose their crisp look and turn dark, so they are for cooking rather than garnish, but the taste survives well — especially frozen in oil. Chopped into oil or water cubes they keep up to about a year; loose and dry, use them within roughly six months.

Can you freeze fresh herbs?

Yes — it freezes well
How long it keeps frozen
Up to about 12 months in oil; around 6 months looseUniversity of Illinois Extension figures put oil-frozen herbs near a year for best quality and loose dry-frozen herbs closer to six months. They keep safe far longer at a steady 0 °F (−18 °C); the aroma simply fades with time.
How to freeze it
  1. Wash the herbs and pat them thoroughly dry, then strip tender leaves from any tough stems.
  2. Chop the leaves and pack them about two-thirds full into an ice-cube tray.
  3. Top each well with olive oil (best for flavour) or water, making sure the herbs are covered.
  4. Freeze the tray solid, then pop the cubes into a labelled bag so you can grab one at a time.
How to thaw & use
Drop a frozen herb cube straight into a hot pan, sauce, or soup, where the oil melts and releases the herb; scatter loose frozen herbs in as-is, with no thawing needed.
Texture & quality
Freezing wrecks the look but largely keeps the taste, so frozen herbs are for the pot, not the plate — they thaw dark and floppy. Tender herbs do best frozen in oil, which shields them from freezer air; woody herbs like rosemary and thyme freeze fine loose on their stems.

More in this group: Freezing vegetables

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to freeze herbs in oil or water?

Oil wins for tender herbs like basil and cilantro — it coats the leaves and shields them from freezer air, holding colour and flavour longest. Water cubes work too and are handier when you want to drop the herb into a soup or stew without added fat.

Should you freeze or dry fresh herbs?

For tender, leafy herbs, freezing keeps more of the bright flavour that drying drives off. Drying suits woody herbs like oregano and bay better. If you cook with a lot of basil or cilantro, frozen cubes usually taste closer to fresh than the dried jar.

Can you freeze whole sprigs of rosemary or thyme?

Yes. Woody herbs freeze well on the stem — just bag the dry sprigs and freeze them. Crumble the frozen leaves straight into the dish, or drop a whole sprig into a stew and fish out the stalk before serving.

Why do my frozen herbs turn dark and limp?

That colour and texture change is normal for frozen herbs — ice ruptures the leaf cells, so they thaw soft and darkened. It does not mean they have gone off; it just means they belong in cooked dishes rather than as a fresh garnish.

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