How to freeze dill for the winter: 6 ways

Preparing dill for freezing

The best months to harvest dill are June and July. During this period, the dill is still small and very tender. These are the greens that are ideal for freezing. After harvesting, the grass should be thoroughly washed under running water and dried.

To dry greens, you can place wet bunches in a glass or jar, fluffing the top part. In this case, the delicate leaves will dry out faster under the influence of air, and all excess liquid will flow down the petioles into the container.

The second method of drying the herb is to use paper or cotton towels. The washed greens are laid out on a cloth or paper and gently blotted on top.

Dry dill is ready for further freezing.

Methods for freezing dill

There are various ways to freeze dill.After reading them in this article, you can choose your ideal option.

How to freeze dill with whole sprigs

Small bunches are formed from clean and dry dill, while selecting branches that are bright green without yellowing. Next, place the dill in containers or freezer bags. The bags are then rolled into a tube to release as much air as possible. Place the filled containers neatly in the freezer.

Before using dill frozen in this way, it must be slightly defrosted at room temperature, literally a couple of minutes. Then chop it like regular fresh dill.

Freezing dill in a bag or containers

For this preparation, washed and dried dill is finely chopped. If necessary, remove all petioles. By the way, the petioles can also be frozen and then used to flavor vegetable broths.

Then the dill slices are placed in a large container or bag and put in the freezer. It is important not to squeeze the dill in the bag so that after freezing it does not stick together and it would be more convenient to take.

There is no need to defrost this dill. It is simply added to the dish during cooking.

Chopped dill in portion bags

This is a variation of the previous method, but more convenient. Small bags for one-time freezing are used here. It is best to use zippered bags. Chopped dill is placed in bags and placed in the freezer for pre-freezing. After a few hours, they are taken out and, pressing with your hand, all the air is released from them. Then close the zipper and put it back in the cold for long-term storage.

See the video recipe for freezing dill for the winter from the channel “Cooking with Irina”

Freezing dill in foil

This can be considered an alternative option if you don't have small freezer bags. Small envelopes are made from foil, into which chopped dill is then placed. The edges of the bags are carefully twisted to prevent air from entering.

You can also freeze a large amount of aromatic greens in foil. It is convenient to do this kind of freezing for big holidays, when a lot of dill is needed for preparing dishes.

How to Freeze Dill in Ice Trays

A popular way to freeze greens is in ice cube trays. Dill in this case does not require drying at the preliminary stage. It will be enough to simply shake off excess liquid from the branches. Next, the greens are finely chopped and placed in a dense layer in ice molds. A small amount of water is added to each cell on top. The filled forms are placed in the freezer for a while. After complete freezing, the dill ice cubes are removed from the cells and transferred to bags for further storage in the freezer.

How to Freeze Greens in Oil or Broth

This method is similar to the previous one. The only difference is that ice molds filled with chopped dill are filled not with water, but with oil or broth. You can use any oil: butter, olive, vegetable. In this case, the butter must first be melted. It also doesn't matter what kind of broth you use. The only important thing is that such a blank should be used first.

See the video recipe for freezing dill from the channel “Olga and Mama”

Watch the video: Lubov Kriuk will tell you about three ways to freeze dill:

Frozen herbs in oil are convenient to use for preparing a variety of sauces.