Freeze This Food

Can You Freeze Spinach?

Checked against sources
Illustration of spinach

Absolutely, and it is a great way to rescue a bag before it slimes. Spinach collapses to a fraction of its volume once heated, so blanch or wilt it first, squeeze out the water, and freeze it in portions. Frozen spinach keeps roughly 8 to 12 months for best quality and is built for cooking, not salads; when in doubt, follow USDA guidance.

Can you freeze spinach?

Yes — it freezes well
How long it keeps frozen
Roughly 8 to 12 months before quality slipsThis matches the FoodKeeper figure for blanched vegetables. Frozen continuously the spinach keeps safe well past the window; only its flavour slowly fades the longer it is stored.
How to freeze it
  1. Wash the leaves well and discard any that are slimy or yellow.
  2. Blanch the leaves for about 1 minute, or wilt them briefly in a dry pan, until just collapsed.
  3. Cool quickly in ice water, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can with your hands.
  4. Pack the squeezed spinach into ice-cube trays or small bags in recipe-sized portions, then freeze and bag once solid.
How to thaw & use
Drop a frozen portion straight into the pot for soups, curries, and sauces, or thaw it in a sieve and squeeze it dry for fillings and dips.
Texture & quality
Frozen spinach is permanently soft — there is no getting crisp leaves back — so it suits cooked dishes only. Squeezing out the water before freezing is essential; skip it and you get a watery block that dilutes whatever you add it to.

More in this group: Freezing vegetables

Frequently asked questions

Can you freeze fresh spinach raw without cooking it?

You can freeze it raw for smoothies, where texture does not matter — just bag the dry leaves and use within a few months. For everything else, wilting or blanching first shrinks it, drives off water, and gives a much better result.

Why do you squeeze water out of spinach before freezing?

Cooked spinach holds a lot of liquid. If you freeze it wet, you end up with a watery block that thins out sauces and fillings. Squeezing it dry first concentrates the spinach and makes the frozen portions far more useful.

How do I use frozen spinach in cooking?

Add frozen cubes straight to soups, curries, dals, and pasta sauces, where they melt in. For lasagne, dips, or spanakopita, thaw it and squeeze out the water again so the filling does not turn soggy.

Sources

Related