How to properly freeze nettles for the winter in the freezer: 6 freezing methods

How and when is the best time to collect nettles?

The month of May is considered the best time to collect this useful herb. Nettle is young and tender during this period. For harvesting, only the upper part of the plant with tender stems measuring approximately 10-15 centimeters is cut off.

If you didn’t have time to stock up on grass in time, then don’t despair, old nettle shoots can be cut off, and after a while fresh young shoots will grow in their place.

How to prepare nettles for freezing

The collected grass must be soaked in a salty solution for 20 - 30 minutes. This will help get rid of small bugs hiding in the greenery from your eyes.To prepare the solution, add table salt to the water in the following manner: 1 liter of water – 4 tablespoons of salt.

After this procedure, the nettles are rinsed with clean water and dried. To do this, lay the greens on paper or cotton towels and gently blot the top with a cloth. The leaves are periodically tossed with your hands and the damp napkins are replaced with dry ones. If you open the window slightly and create a small draft, the drying will go faster, the main thing is that the greens are not exposed to direct sunlight.

Methods for freezing nettles

How to freeze nettles with whole leaves

The grass is prepared for freezing in the manner described above. Then the dried nettle leaves are placed in plastic bags and packed tightly, trying not to deform the greens.

Freezing nettles in bunches

You can freeze nettles in bunches. Small bunches are formed from washed and well-dried greens, which are then tightly packed in several layers of cling film.

Freezing chopped nettle greens

Before sending the grass to the frost, it can be chopped with a knife or special scissors for greens. To make the workpiece as crumbly as possible, the slices can be pre-frozen on a freezer tray. Once poured into one container, the greens can be used by removing the required amount of product from the bag.

You can skip the pre-freezing stage if you pack the chopped nettles in portions, for one time of use.

How to freeze blanched nettles

Nettles can be blanched before freezing. To do this, immerse it in boiling water for several minutes, then cool and squeeze.

Blanched nettles can be crushed and packed into containers, as Nikolai Tipatov does in his video - Harvesting nettles, preparing nettles for the winter for nettle soup

And Anita Tsoi will tell you how to freeze blanched nettles packed using a kitchen vacuumizer in her video “Preparing nettles” on her channel “Tsoika’s Recipes”

How to freeze nettle puree

This preparation is convenient to use for sauces and add to pureed soups. Fresh leaves and young stems are ground in a blender with the addition of a couple of tablespoons of water.

The finished puree is laid out in silicone molds or special containers for freezing ice. To make the cubes more regular in shape, you can add more water to the cells. After the puree cubes are frozen, they are removed from the molds and packaged in bags or containers.

How to freeze nettle juice

The technology for preparing this preparation is the same as in the previous recipe, the only thing is that after grinding, 50-100 grams of water are added to the nettle puree, and then everything is thoroughly squeezed out. The pulp and juice are frozen separately from each other in ice cube trays. Ice can be added to soups and broths, and also used for cosmetic purposes.

How to store nettles in the freezer

Frozen nettles are stored in the freezer for 10 to 12 months at an average temperature of -16... -18ºС.

In order not to confuse nettle with preparations from other greens, containers and frozen bags must be signed, indicating the name and degree of grinding of the product, as well as the date of placing in the freezer.