How to Freeze Spinach? A LOT of ways!
How to freeze spinach? One vegetable with a lot of iron is spinach. This vegetable is a leafy vegetable. Spinach is available in many varieties in the supermarket; canned, canned, frozen, washed in a bag in the fridge, and just fresh spinach. The question in this blog is ‘How to freeze spinach.
How to Freeze Spinach?
Spinach can be cooked briefly first, then it can be kept in the freezer for 12 months. Not cooked briefly? Then 3 months shelf life in the freezer. Make partial cubes for use in your smoothie. Be careful when refreezing spinach.
To answer the question, we assume fresh spinach packed in a bag in the refrigerator or just loose spinach that you have to weigh.
In addition to freezing, there are other ways to store spinach. Check out our blog ‘ How to Store Spinach? Multiple-way ‘, maybe add a method for you!
Index
Can You Freeze Spinach?
Just to answer the question, yes. You can even freeze spinach in several ways and you can also freeze spinach dishes. Not all dishes, but that is described later in this blog.
We start with freezing fresh spinach.
Fresh Spinach Freezing
Fresh spinach can be frozen in 2 ways, namely by blanching the first and then freezing or freezing without blanching. You can also freeze diced spinach for a smoothie or to pack it per portion.
Blanching and Freezing Spinach
Blanching the first one kills the bacteria and keeps the spinach longer.
Blanching is cooking the spinach briefly and then putting it in ice water or rinsing it under cold tap. To blanch and freeze spinach, follow these steps:
- Clean the spinach under the tap and remove the very thick stems.
- Place a pan of water on the heat source and bring the water to a boil.
- At the same time, prepare a bowl of ice water or place your colander in the sink.
- When the water boils, the spinach goes into the pan for 3 minutes.
- Remove the spinach from the pan with a slotted spoon and immediately add to the ice water or rinse in a colander. This stops the cooking process and the spinach retains a nice green color.
- Pat the spinach with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.
- Place the spinach in a freezer container or bag and place it in the freezer.
You can also pack the spinach per serving. Easy for when you want to use it in your dish. The spinach will keep for 12 months.
Freezing Spinach Without Blanching
You can also freeze spinach without blanching. It just has a shorter shelf life, about 3 months. Go through these steps:
- Rinse the spinach in a colander under the tap and remove dirt and sand.
- Then pat the spinach dry with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper.
- Tear the large leaves in half and place the spinach in a freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal the bag.
- Now put the spinach in the freezer.
Even now you can pack the spinach in portions if that seems easier to you.
Freezing Fresh Spinach For Smoothie
Another easy thing to do is freeze the spinach in cubes. You make these partial cubes with an ice cube tray. You can use blanched and unblanched spinach.
If you have prepared the spinach as described above, you can put the leaves in a mold to make ice cubes. Fill these molds with water and place in the freezer.
You can also chop spinach first. Place the spinach in the blender with a little water and blend the spinach. Then put it in the molds and place it in the freezer. This way you get partial cubes that you can use well for your smoothie.
Freeze Spinach Again
Spinach is a vegetable that contains a lot of iron, potassium and nitrate. Now the first two are not a problem, but the nitrate can become a problem if you don’t cool it back quickly enough in the fridge.
If you have thawed and reheated the spinach, there is a good chance that the amount of nitrate will increase. Nitrate is converted into nitrite during cooking and preparation. Also by letting it thaw, the nitrite formation is already set in motion. Nitrite can be harmful to older people, pregnant women, and babies. So no more refreezing for this group after thawing and cooking.
So you can freeze it again, but the taste and texture deteriorate so quickly that it is actually no longer tasty. The smartest thing to do is pack or measure your spinach when you’re going to make your dish.
Spinach Soup Freezing
Spinach soup is cooked at 100 degrees. Of course with other ingredients and seasonings. Now you have leftover soup, what to do with it? First, let the soup cool as quickly as possible to slow down bacterial growth.
You can store this in the fridge in a sealed container for 3 days. You can also freeze it for a longer period of time. Place the soup in a freezer container and close the lid. Place the container in the freezer. Keep it like this for at least 3 months.
Freeze Pasta With Spinach
We have already discussed that you can freeze spinach in several ways. Spinach with cooked pasta is a different story.
The pasta is cooked and will change texture in the freezer. When thawed and reheated, the pasta will be very mushy. The taste is different and so is the texture. I don’t know if you’re going to like it! So freezing spinach with pasta is not a good idea, so don’t do it.
Freeze & Reheat Spinach
When you have frozen the spinach, you can use it later for your dish.
Grab the right amount of spinach you need from the freezer. Put the amount in a pan with a little bit of water and set the heat source to a low setting. Put the spinach in the pan and heat it up. When the spinach has thawed, you can turn the heat on high and warm it up well.
If you want to use spinach in a stir-fry dish, you can put the spinach in the wok directly from the freezer and bake with it. Do you want to know more or how to prepare spinach? Read our blog ‘ How to Prepare Spinach? ‘ and live your life.
Spinach Freezing Dangerous
Fresh spinach that you are freezing for the first time is not dangerous. You can also freeze cooked spinach very well for the first time.
The situation changes once you have thawed or prepared the spinach. Spinach contains nitrate, which becomes nitrite when heated or at room temperature. Nitrite can be dangerous for elderly people, babies, and pregnant women.
However, the amount of nitrite is very small and not harmful in small amounts.
For further information, please visit the website of the nutrition center.
