For blanks, it is best to use young spinach, with delicate leaves, preferably the very first harvest. Harvested before the first flowering, it is especially delicate and not bitter, without flower arrows.

At home, it is convenient to use not one, but several at once different ways freezing - this way you will have at your fingertips a semi-finished product suitable for preparing a specific dish: fillings for pies, casseroles, soup or other first courses, sauces, smoothies, and so on. Here are three of the most convenient ways to freeze spinach at home - with step by step photos, recommendations and detailed instructions. And to make it easier for you to choose the appropriate option, pay attention to the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.

Preparing spinach for freezing

Regardless of the method chosen, pre-rinse the greens, sort out and dry. You need to wash very carefully, as there is a lot of fine sand on the leaves. You can dip bunches of spinach in a bowl of cold water for half an hour, and then scrupulously rinse each leaf in running water. Remove all crumpled and withered leaves. And one more important point: for dry freezing (without blanching), be sure to dry the greens on a cotton towel to get rid of excess moisture, otherwise it will turn into ice in the freezer.

Method number 1. Dry freezing of leaves

Cut off the roots and stems. We sort the leaves, select whole, approximately the same size and put them in piles of 10-15 pieces - small portions for one-time use. Trying not to damage the integrity, tightly roll the leaves into rolls and fix cling film... In this form, we send to freezer, spread on a pallet at some distance from each other. After complete freezing, we transfer to containers for long-term storage so that the beams are injured as little as possible.

In the same way, in raw form, you can freeze not whole leaves, but shredded ones. To do this, cut the leaves into segments about 0.5 cm thick or smaller. We put it in bags, containers or other storage containers designed to use 1 serving. We send it to the chamber for deep freezing.

Pros:

The method is simple and not laborious;

The leaves are fresh, they are not heat-treated, which means they retain more vitamins and minerals.

Minuses:

The workpiece takes up a lot of space in the freezer;

Further use of greens requires the same manipulations as working with fresh spinach;

The natural color is partially lost.

Usage:

The blank is suitable for cooking any dishes: soups, stews, pie fillings, casseroles, omelet, etc. It is used in the same way as fresh herbs.

Method number 2. Blanched spinach

As in the previous method, you can freeze both whole and shredded leaves, but not raw, but pre-blanched. To do this, put the spinach in boiling water for 20-30 seconds, then cool it in ice water to stop the cooking process. Let all the water drain completely, form small balls, squeezing the spinach in our hand.

In a similar way, blanch the spinach, cut into thin strips. Alternatively, you can not cook, but simply pour boiling water over the shredded leaves for half a minute, and then pour over ice water... We form small balls, freeze, then arrange in portions into containers or bags, releasing all the air from them. We put it in the department for storing vegetables.

Pros:

Compact dimensions of the workpiece;

The semi-finished product is completely ready for use;

Spinach retains its natural color.

Minuses:

During blanching, some of the vitamins are lost.

Usage:

Suitable for preparing first courses, in particular green spinach soup. It is added to hot dishes without defrosting and any additional processing.

Method number 3. Spinach puree

Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 20-30 seconds, then pour it over with ice water. Punch with a blender until smooth. If desired, you can grind through a sieve. We lay out in silicone molds or in ice molds and put into the freezer. We transfer the spinach ice to a container for easier storage.

Pros:

The product is completely ready to use;

Spinach retains its color very well.

Minuses:

During blanching, vitamins and taste are partially lost.

Usage:

Ideal for making sauces, pasta, risotto. It does not need defrosting, it is added a couple of minutes before the dish is ready.

How to freeze spinach at home? There are several ways, and each of them is good in its own way. We will tell you about everyone, and you will choose the method that suits you personally.

Preparation of leaflets

Anyone who has ever bought or grown spinach with his own hands knows very well: there is a lot of fine sand and dust on the leaves. Sometimes aphids squat. Therefore, the first thing to do is to carefully sort out the greens. Then it is necessary to diligently rinse the spinach in several waters. Now you need to dry the burdocks and sort them into small or large ones. Because they freeze them in different form... And only then proceed directly to the process.

Advice. Place the spinach in a colander or sieve to dry out faster.

Freezing small spinach

Small pieces of paper are often used entirely. But, if you lay out each burdock in the freezer separately or freeze the chopped ones, then a lot of space will be required. Experienced housewives long ago they came up with a trick. You will need:

• any bobbin thread or rubber bands
• cutting board or baking sheet
• cling film
• small spinach leaves

A petiole is cut off from each burdock (not thrown away). Then the leaves are folded into piles of 7-9 pieces. Each such pile is folded into a tight roll and secured with an elastic band or thread. But only so that later it would be fashionable to quickly remove this strengthening. Now cutting board covered with cling film. Prepared rolls are laid on top at intervals, and they are sent to the freezer for about 8 hours.

After this time, the spinach is removed from the freezer, the gum or thread is quickly removed. The frozen rolls will no longer unfold. They can be packed tightly in a container or bag. This spinach has a shelf life of about 11 months.

Freezing blanched spinach

If you have a very tiny freezer, and you want to freeze spinach at home, then there is a way out. It is necessary to pre-blanch the leaves. How to do it right? Some sources recommend boiling the spinach for 2 minutes. What a terrible delusion! After such processing, you will freeze simple silage, without vitamins and minerals. After all, even pouring boiling water over it already draws useful substances from the burdocks. Let not all, but nevertheless. Therefore, take note:

• V large saucepan put cold water with crushed ice.
• On the stove is another pot of boiling water (3 L) and baking soda on the tip of a knife.
• Put spinach in small portions in a sieve or colander.
• Dip in boiling water for 15-18 seconds.
• Take it out quickly and dip it in ice water for about 20-22 seconds.
• Take out the greens, let the water drain a little and transfer to cheesecloth stretched over a wide bowl.

This last step will allow excess water to drain away while you tackle the next batch of spinach. Now you need to take the prepared leaves with your hands and ... crumple them. Do not feel sorry, clench your fist harder. The finished lump is placed on a board covered with cling film or silicone mat. Then leave in the freezer for 4 hours to freeze the upper layers.

Advice. We recommend blanching spinach before freezing for greens lovers who have kidney problems. During such treatment, a significant part of oxalic acid goes into the water, and you can safely eat the leaves.

Freezing large spinach

It happens that the leaves grow especially large, or such greens are acquired that you can't really spin them into rolls. And even when defrosting, few people like burdock in a plate. It's a pity to throw it away. What to do? Freeze of course!

Procedure:

1. Prepared large spinach leaves and petioles from small ones (remember we left?) Are blanched as described above.
2. DO NOT dip into ice water!
3. Hot spinach is minced or mashed with a blender.
4. During this time, the mass will practically cool down.
5. It is laid out in ice molds or poured onto a flat wide plate wrapped in foil (to make a pancake about 1.2-1.4 cm thick.
6. Sent to the freezer for 12 hours.

After the specified time, the cubes of frozen spinach puree are poured into a bag and put back into the freezer. You can also make several pancakes and stack them on top of each other. In winter, all that remains is to break off a piece of the desired size.

Such a blank is perfectly stored for almost 5 months.

Advice. Can be used Silicone forms for baking. It is then very easy to take out the freeze from them.

Freezing special spinach

To maximize the preservation of most of the vitamins and nutrients Spinach is added at the end of cooking. But special taste and the leaves acquire aroma in combination with butter. And how to mix them in winter so as not to jump around the stove with an oil can and a bag from the freezer?

It's simple. We must mix them in the summer! You will need:

• blanched spinach puree
• favorite butter at room temperature
• spoon
• freezer molds or silicone bakeware
• sleight of hand and good mood

Then shake the cubes out of the molds and place them in a bag or container. Then put it in the freezer and forget it. Think back when you make risotto. Just one cube and your dish will sparkle with new colors.

Unfortunately, even in the freezer, such a blank is stored for only 3 months. But usually it does not lie that much, it ends quickly.

Advice. Add some of your favorite greens here. This will not spoil the spinach at all, and the aroma will be stunning.

Now you know all the ways to freeze spinach at home. All that remains is to create a menu and pamper your household with the most valuable vitamin greens.

Video: how to prepare spinach for the winter

Spinach is a product that few people appreciate the taste. But having understood and fell in love with him, it is no longer possible to give up this vegetable, therefore, preparing spinach for the winter (freezing and other recipes for cooking at home) becomes an especially urgent issue.

Unlike European countries, spinach (as well as) entered our diet relatively recently, but quickly gained trust among culinary experts. Spinach, tired in butter in a skillet over low heat, good as a side dish, soup base, additional ingredient for an omelet and is irreplaceable in cooking various sauces to fish and meat. Besides, having a bright green color, spinach perfectly helps to achieve unusual color solutions. varied dishes- from mashed potatoes to pancakes.

Spinach - very useful culture, and at correct preparation- also very tasty

Benefits of spinach

This leafy vegetable is rich in protein, fiber, contains minerals (zinc, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, selenium, manganese), vitamins (B, C, A, E). It should be noted that vitamins A and C are especially stable in spinach: during heat treatment, they are destroyed much less than in other vegetables.

Spinach is used as an additional product in different diets, including medicinal. Low calorie content, high content of carotene, lutein, iodine make this green leafy vegetable attractive for baby food... In addition, the Scientific research show that spinach helps to cleanse the body and eliminate toxins.

Spinach is very good at cleansing the intestines of toxins.

Attention! It should be remembered: spinach contains oxalic acid, the use of which in large quantities can hurt.

Only one thing is upsetting - the rather short storage period for fresh spinach at home. Therefore, lovers of green vegetables should stock up on them in the summer. There are a few simple recipes blanks of spinach.

Freezing spinach

This way of preserving vegetables and berries like freezing is gaining in popularity. Fast, simple, and the food is almost as fresh. To freeze spinach for the winter, you need:

• wash the spinach leaves thoroughly;
• trim the petioles;
• dry the leaves on a towel;
• twist spinach leaves into a tube and wrap with cling film;
• send to the freezer (to the quick freezer).

Freezing spinach in portions will speed up the cooking process in winter

It is quite convenient to cut small pieces from the spinach frozen in this way for cooking. The cut will also need to be wrapped with cling film for further storage.

Spinach Harvesting: Fancy Cubes

A slightly more laborious, but also more effective way to freeze a leafy vegetable is to freeze ice cubes with herbs. For this you need:

• do the standard procedures: rinse, dry, trim off excess;
• cut the spinach leaves into medium-sized pieces;
• put greens in ice molds and pour boiled water;
• put in the freezer;
• after freezing for the first time, transfer to containers for long-term storage in the freezer.

Cubes prepared in this way can be used for soups, sauces, stews. For pasta and risotto, spinach can also be frozen, but use melted and chilled butter instead of water.

Recipe for preparing spinach for the winter for sauces

• chop washed and dried spinach with a blender or in a food processor until puree;
• put greens in ice molds;
• Melt butter in a water bath or in the microwave, cool;
• pour mashed potatoes in tins with butter and put in the freezer.

When cooking pasta, risotto, and sauces, these cubes can be added to the dish a couple of minutes before the end of cooking.

Do not re-freeze spinach - it will lose taste qualities

In order to save time when making spinach soups, some recipes involve freezing an already cooked vegetable.

Spinach: Freeze Soup Base

Want to save time making green soup? Recipe for practical housewives:

• rinse the leaves, cut the stalks, cut the spinach into noodles;
• boil a leafy vegetable in a little water, cool;
• freeze the broth along with the herbs in portioned plastic containers.

To prepare green spinach soup in winter, you only need to boil potatoes and other vegetables to taste and add spinach broth frozen with herbs.

You can freeze both fresh and cooked spinach

Spinach harvest

If space permits in the refrigerator, you can prepare boiled spinach puree and then add it to various dishes... This requires:

• rinse spinach, trim, cut into small pieces;
• boil for about 5-6 minutes in lightly salted water;
• throw spinach in a colander, drain excess liquid;
• chop the leaves to a puree state;
• boil the spinach puree;
• the readiness of the product is determined by its density (if the drop does not flow from the spoon, it's done);
• put in jars and put in the refrigerator for storage.

Salted spinach

Spinach, like other leafy vegetables, can be pickled and canned. The salting recipe is simple:

• rinse the leaves, dry, cut the petioles;
• tear the leaves into small pieces;
• put spinach leaves in jars in layers, sprinkling each layer with salt.

For salting fresh spinach cut into pieces

Important: the layers of spinach must be made of medium thickness, compacting each tightly. The total amount of salt will be up to 10% of the weight of the harvested spinach.

Keep the salted spinach in the refrigerator. The condition of the workpiece should be monitored and the appearance of green mold on the surface should be avoided. To prepare green borscht, you can pickle spinach along with sorrel in equal shares adding a little parsley and dill.

Canning spinach

Spinach prepared according to this recipe can be stored in a cool place for a long time. To preserve a leafy vegetable you need:

• spinach - 1 kg;
• water - 1 l;
• salt - 1.5-2 tablespoons.

Preparation:

• rinse the leaves, trim, dry;
• blanch in sufficiently hot (but not boiling) water for about 5 minutes;
• put the leaves in a colander or on a wire rack and drain off excess liquid;
• spread the greens in the banks (pre-realize them);
• compact the green mass;
• pour out the released liquid from the cans;
• prepare the brine: add salt to boiling water (about 2 tbsp. l.), bring the solution to a boil;
• pour brine on a leafy vegetable;
• to clog the banks.

You can blanch spinach for no more than 5 minutes

All greens in one jar: canning spinach with onions and parsley

Do you want to prepare a universal for the winter green dressing for soup? Use the following recipe.
Required Ingredients:

• spinach - 1.5 kg;
• water - 0.6 l;
• green onions - 0.3 kg;
• salt - 20 g;
• dill, parsley - 20 g each

if you love different greens, prepare it with spinach

Preparation:

• rinse all greens thoroughly;
• finely chop parsley, onion, dill;
• cut spinach leaves into noodles;
• put the chopped greens in a saucepan, add water, add salt;
• boil everything for about 10 minutes;
• decompose the resulting mixture into banks;
• sterilize half-liter jars of spinach for 20-25 minutes, then cork and send to cool.

Drying spinach

If there is no room in the fridge or you are too lazy to tinker with preservation, spinach can be prepared for the winter by simply drying the leaves. To do this, it is washed, dried and laid out on clean sheets of paper in a warm room, trying to avoid direct sunlight. The best option drying greens at home - using an electric dryer. Spinach is dried for several hours at a temperature of 30-35 ° C, stored in glass jars under the lid in a dark place.

Dried spinach is great for soups

The processes of harvesting spinach are quite simple and not laborious, they take very little time. Harvest this amazing leafy vegetable and color your winter diet bright colors summer.

How to prepare spinach leaves for freezing: video

Spinach blanks for the winter: photo

Before freezing spinach for the winter, dry the washed blank until the water droplets on the surface completely disappear, if during the harvesting process it is planned to preserve the structure of the leaves. To do this, it is better to blow the wet leaves with a cold hair dryer.

To harvest spinach for the winter by freezing, only young plants should be selected, before ejection of the peduncle. By this time, the structure of the greenery is very tender and it does not have time to gain the characteristic wormwood bitterness.

Whole frozen spinach leaves

1. Go through the prepared raw materials, cut off the hard areas of the stems.
2. Fold 10-15 leaves in a fan, so that the edge of one goes over the edge of the other.
3. Roll up the workpiece with a roll and press it slightly with your hand to send it to the freezer. It is convenient to use cling film for fixing.
4. Place the frozen spinach leaves in a bag or food container for compact storage.

Before cooking, remove the rolls from the freezer and stand at room temperature until complete thawing.

Pie filling

If you want to prepare chopped spinach for the winter, you should divide the prepared raw materials into portions necessary for a single use. Each housewife can determine by eye how much product is used at one time:

Cut the selected and dried leaves into shavings, 0.5 cm thick. At the same time, it is better to cut the stems with scissors for greenery;
spread the slices in a thin layer on a cutting board, send to the freezer;
Once the spinach is frozen, pour it into containers or storage bags.

Such a blank is great for making soups and sauces, for filling culinary products and for the stew.

You should know! Greens, frozen for future use, can be stored until a new harvest, without losing their nutritional value and taste, so you can harvest parsley, and dill, and cilantro in this way - whoever loves what.

Green cubes

Convenient method of preparation, allowing you to end up with a product that is completely ready for use. Before freezing the base for the puree soup, the prepared greens should be properly blanched - in no case should you digest:

Dip clean leaves together with stems in boiling water for 1 minute;
throw it back in a colander and immediately lower it into cold water with ice - this will help stop the heating process and preserve the color of the workpiece;
grind the cooled mass in a blender or pass through a meat grinder, put in silicone molds or in ice trays;
send it to the freezer, pour it into a storage bag in a day.
It is convenient to use frozen herb puree in the preparation of sauces for pasta, risotto, or as a vitamin and color additive to baked goods and pancakes.

Boiled Leaves Balls

Heat treatment partially destroys the vitamins in the product, but it allows you to form convenient balls or tortillas before finally freezing the spinach. This significantly saves space in the freezer:

Pour boiling water over the prepared leaves without stalks for 2 minutes;
remove the herbs from the water and immediately immerse them in a bowl of ice-cold liquid;
drain the water, discard the cooled product in a colander;
form portioned cakes or small balls from the soft mass;
put on a cutting board and send to the refrigerator;
in a day, fold into containers or bags with a fastener, having previously released the air from them.

Spinach is one of the most nutrient species vegetable greens. It contains vitamins A, C, E, magnesium, iron and calcium, folic acid. Spinach is packed with antioxidants. Plus, this leafy vegetable tastes good.

How to store fresh spinach

Spinach, only plucked from the garden, cannot be stored for a long time. Fresh leaves will still lie in the refrigerator for almost a week. They will slightly inoculate, lose some of the vitamins, but remain useful and nutritious.

Use a plastic bag or container to store spinach. You can wrap the leaves in a damp towel or cotton napkin.

When spinach is bought from a store in vacuum packing, then you should only open it before starting cooking. In an unopened container, a leafy vegetable can last for a month.

Preserving frozen spinach for the winter

Spinach that has begun to bloom is not recommended for food. An excess of oxalic acid has already accumulated in it, which is harmful to the digestive tract. Therefore, only young spinach leaves should be kept for the winter.

We freeze vegetable greens in several ways.

First, it can be stored in a crushed form:

• We thoroughly rinse each leaf under running water.
• We remove the stems.
• Cut the leaves into strips of approximately 1 cm.
• Blanch for a minute or two in salted water. This will help preserve the flavor of the green vegetables.
• After blanching, dip the spinach in ice water.
• Transfer the cooled greens to a bowl.
• Put small portions of spinach on a slotted spoon and get rid of the water.
• We pack greens in small plastic bags with a sealed clasp. We squeeze them between the palms to remove air as much as possible.
• We send spinach to the freezer.

Secondly, freeze spinach with whole leaves:

• We wash the greens and dry them.
• We put the leaves (80-100 g each) in cling film and wrap tightly.
• We send the package with spinach to the freezer.

Frozen leaves are perfectly preserved until the next harvest. Throughout the winter, spinach can be used in the preparation of your favorite dishes.

Thirdly, we save spinach in the form of mashed potatoes:

• Blanch the prepared leaves.
• Grind them with a blender or wipe them through a sieve.
• We fill the resulting spinach puree in small plastic cups.
• We wrap with cling film and put in the freezer.

The frozen puree will also last great until spring.

Other methods of storing spinach

• dried;
• salt.

Spinach leaves dry easily, just like other greens. This process is done either on outdoors or in an oven or electric dryer. Necessary:

• Rinse and dry the spinach leaves.
• Cut off the ponytails and spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet, cover with gauze (to protect against dust and insects).
• Place the baking sheet in a sunny place.

It will take a week to dry the spinach.

In the oven, this process takes 3-4 hours (45-50 degrees).

Dried spinach is best added to glass containers that closes tightly. Greens are stored in a dry place, away from moisture and light.

For salting spinach leaves:

• Rinse thoroughly.
• We cut it into strips or simply tear it into pieces with our hands.
• We put in clean jar layers. Sprinkle each layer coarse salt(for one kg of spinach you need 100 g of salt).
• Tamp the greens well and cover with a lid.

You can put spinach in the jar not immediately, but first mix it with salt in a separate bowl. Then fill the glass container with the resulting mixture.

Spinach prepared in this way should be stored in a cool place. Two to three months vegetable greens will remain nutritious and flavorful.

V summer time when the season of fresh greens is in full swing, it will not hurt to prepare it for the winter. There are a lot of ways how to preserve spinach. You can choose the one that you like the most.