Freezing Fresh Herbs, Garden Tomatoes, and Vegetables
I had a big garden for many years and this round-up post has all my tips for Freezing Fresh Herbs, Garden Tomatoes, and Vegetables! There are lots of good ideas here for preserving the garden goodness to use during the colder months.
PIN tips for Freezing Fresh Herbs, Garden Tomatoes, and Vegetables!
For everyone who’s growing tomatoes, vegetables, and herbs, here are my tips for Freezing Fresh Herbs, Garden Tomatoes, and Vegetables. I love freezing things like tomato sauce, fresh herbs, pesto, and other garden sauces to use during the winter. And I think freezing is the best way to preserve the garden goodness.
I’ve written a lot of posts about freezing things from the garden. So I’m collecting them all here into a round-up of freezing tips for garden produce. If you have a garden or buy produce at the Farmer’s Market I hope you’ll find some of my tips useful!
And I know there are other vegetables or herbs that can be frozen that I haven’t tried. If you have tips about freezing garden produce, please share those in the comments.
Freezing Fresh Tomato Sauce and Pasta Sauce
Let’s start with How to Make and Freeze Fresh Tomato Sauce. My method doesn’t require a food mill, although you can strain the sauce if you want to. I love to use this sauce in soups and stews during the winter.
If you have fresh tomatoes and basil in your garden, I hope you try making Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce! Then freeze it in containers to eat over pasta or use to make lasagna when it gets cold. If you have a lot of garden tomatoes, use more fresh tomatoes and fewer canned tomatoes in that sauce.
Freezing Slow Roasted Tomatoes
If you’re growing Roma tomatoes, you’ll want to read How to Make Slow Roasted Tomatoes. This is something I started making many years ago. Now it might be a stretch to make something that needs so much time in the oven. But I make them once ever summer, and love to have them in the freezer.
How to Freeze Fresh Basil
One of the most popular posts on my blog is How to Freeze Fresh Basil. I use frozen basil all winter long in soups, stews, and pasta sauce. (I bought these little containers at a store that’s no longer in business, but any small container with a snap-tight lid will work.)
Making and Freezing Pesto or Pistou
If you have an abundance of basil, make Basil Pesto with Lemon for the freezer. (That post also has Ten Ideas for Using Basil Pesto!)
Another sauce made with fresh basil that freezes beautifully is Julia Child’s Pistou Sauce. This sauce without nuts or cheese is used as a topping on vegetable or bean soups in France.
Something new that I made and loved is this Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe, shown in mini-muffin tins ready for the freezer. This is good on pasta, but I also like it stirred into rice or scrambled eggs.
If you like kale and don’t have much basil you might like this Basil and Kale Pesto which is also great to freeze in a mini-muffin tin!
I also loved this Spinach Basil Pesto which can also be frozen in ice cube trays or mini muffin tins like any of my other pesto recipes!
Freezing Rosemary and Thyme
Another popular post (despite old photos) is the one on How to Freeze Rosemary and Thyme. I never have to buy fresh rosemary or thyme in the winter!
Freezing Sage, Tarragon, and Mint
I also have a post about How to Freeze Mint, Sage, and Tarragon. (I didn’t find the frozen mint to be as useful as the frozen sage or tarragon.)
Freezing Roasted Red Peppers
If you have green, red, or yellow bell peppers in your garden, read about How to Roast Red Bell Peppers on the Grill. Then chop up the roasted peppers and freeze them.
Freezing Anaheim Chiles
And if you’re growing spicy chile peppers just follow instructions for Roasting Green Chiles on the Grill. They can be frozen once they’re roasted.
My Favorite Freezing Tool:
Finally, the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer (affiliate link) is one of my best freezing tips no matter what you’re freezing! Seal the food inside the plastic bag before you put it in the freezer. I’ve had a FoodSaver for more than 20 years and couldn’t imagine not havine one. You can read more here about why I love the FoodSaver. I’m now on my second FoodSaver, a standing model that holds the bags inside. I like it even more than the original one I had for many years. (FoodSaver probably doesn’t know I’m alive, and the company has certainly never paid me or given me free merchandise to mention their products on my blog. )
More Gardening Info on Kalyn’s Kitchen:
I’ve been growing a garden for more years than I can remember, although the last few years I haven’t been reporting on my garden as much as I did in the early days of the blog! If you’d like to see more of my earlier posts about gardening, you can find them all collected together in Garden Updates. And happy gardening everyone!
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52 Comments on “Freezing Fresh Herbs, Garden Tomatoes, and Vegetables”
Great tips, Kalyn! I love how you’ve shared so many easy ways to freeze garden produce. The pesto ideas and tips for freezing herbs like rosemary and thyme are super helpful. Thanks for the helpful post!
I’m glad it’s useful for you!
I was unaware of these freezing tips. moreover, I will definitely try these amazing ideas to freeze herbs.
Can you please specify if you’re supposed to remove the char from the peppers before freezing? I don’t see that you mentioned that part.
I like that charred flavor, but if you’re not sure about it you can remove it. I usually don’t but it’s a personal preference.
Thanks for the freezing tips for veggies and herbs. I never even thought of freezing herbs before. I will definitely give it a try before it get too cold and kills my rosemary.
I’m so glad it was useful for you! It was life-changing for me when I discovered this!
Jamie, absolutely. It's so wonderful to have some frozen pesto or pistou during the dead of winter!
Good golly, is this a great post, Kalyn! I have a tiny French freezer and nowhere to store anything bigger than a small sandwich bag or tupperware but I should definitely make some of the different pestos and freeze in tiny containers! And pasta sauce! Wonderful!
This is great, Kalyn. The only things I'd add would be
1.) to eliminate the icecube tray for pesto. We've started to simply mound big lumps of pesto into a piece of plastic wrap, tightly close it and put THAT into a ziplock bag to freeze. When we want to use it, it's really easy to unwrap the pesto lump, cut off the amount we want with a sharp knife, rewrap and put the remainder back in the freezer
2.) Freeze washed and towel-dried Roma tomatoes whole. My sister's vegetable vendor told her about this last year. She says it works brilliantly. Of course, the tomatoes can only be used for making sauce because they pretty much turn to mush when they're thawed but they are as fresh tasting as if they had just been vine picked.
Once frozen, just putting them in hot water to cover for a few seconds, they peel super easy… Then add to soups, sauces, etc…
Joy, how fun hearing from a friend of Pam's. I just adore her and love her blog. I do hope you get a chance to grow some herbs and cook with them; so fun!
I take a look at Kalyn's Kitchen this morning and click on a link about freezing herbs and who's the first comment from? Pam. Kalyn, I love your blog and love Pam's blog (and not just because she's a good friend of mine). SOMEDAY, (hopefully next spring) I am going to grow herbs and actually DO some of the things that you ladies make look so fun and easy and beneficial. Please keep blogging!
Michele, isn't it great. I've been doing it for years.
My mom would freeze fresh basil from the garden. It would last through the winter and we had the wonderful taste when she used it.
Dawson, great idea to look at a kitchen store for those little containers. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Fantastic post, Kalyn! I, too, like those small containers you showed with your basil…but use them to freeze roasted green chiles every year.
Couldn't find any at BB&B or online, but I eventually found some 4-oz ones at my local kitchen store. They were marked as baby food containers so you might keep that in mind. They're also dishwasher-microwave-freezer safe, which is an added bonus IMO.
ChicaJo, thanks. Here's wishing you a great crop of herbs!
Oh my goodness Kalyn! Awesome link round up and tips!! Now, if only I had a garden to produce excess herbs and tomatoes! I am starting to cultivate some herbs in my tiny balcony…if I have a bumper crop I know where to look 🙂
So glad you are enjoying it! Thanks for the tip about epsom salts; will definitely try that on my peppers!
I just found your blog today and am enjoying going through your posts!
This was my first year growing bell peppers and my 12 plants did really really well (well after I fenced them in, a groundhog nibbled the tops of of thankfully only 3 plants) A friend of mine gave me a tip, mix 3tbsp Epsom salts to a gallon of water, fertilize how you normally would either with miracle grow or compost (you can also make compost or manure tea). My peppers would be big enough to make stuffed peppers if only my kids liked them!
Jeanette, I am a bit of a freezing maniac this time of year. (And yes, Rand and Jennette are the greatest!)
Love all these tips – I've never frozen roasted peppers before, but I have frozen roasted tomatoes. You are lucky to have a brother and Jennette (I like that name ;)). help you! Love the canning header.
Donna, you will LOVE the FoodSaver! I can't say enough good things about it.
Kelly I have heard about freezing tomatoes whole but haven't tried it. I think I'll try that this year, thanks!
I've frozen tomatoes whole for years. Skin cones off super easy ad it starts to thaw. A large freezer bag makes a nice fresh sauce for dinner
Okay, I have to try that!
LOVED this post, Kalyn! So many good ideas to try. I actually freeze my tomatoes solid (like berries as well) then put them in freezer bags, weigh them, and have them on hand for soup, sauce, etc. later. Easy way to keep fresh things around. My goal is to have as much space as you do to grow (or get more pots!)
You have inspired me to go out and buy a Food Saver – I bought a freezer about a year ago and still have some space – so THANK YOU for your timely post!
Donna
Wanda you could cook the sauce partly in a slow cooker, but you might need to reduce it in a pan on the stove at the end. It's the slow reducing and cooking the water out that makes this sauce so good.
Arrghh! I gave away my last bag of tomatoes since I am taking off for California tomorrow for a week. I really love the idea of freezing the sauce and do not like canning. Would the sauce cook okay in a slow cooker for the 6 hours?
Great post, Kalyn.
Thanks.
That's just how I feel too!
Thanks so much Kalyn! I love to freeze my herbs! It makes me really miss the summer in the winter!
Deborah if only you lived a little closer, I would love to give you some herbs!
This makes me wish I had a huge freezer – and a garden this year! This is definitely a post I'm going to bookmark for future reference!
Thanks Gina! I need to try drying oregano, because that's one herb I do use quite a lot dried.
Great post! I always freeze my herbs, love uing them throughout the year! ANd I dry my oregano by hanging them upsdide down until they dry. Then I crush the leaves and put them in jars.
Lauren, I hope you enjoy the frozen basil! I'm going to experiment with parsley pesto this weekend.
Great tips, Kalyn! Thank you for sharing this with us. My basil always ends up going to waste at the end of summer (making me very sad). And now I have a real overabundance of parsley, too. Thanks again!
Dara, so glad it's helpful! You'll love having herbs in the winter for soups and pasta sauce, I promise!
Thank you so much for this awesome post, Kalyn. My extra herbs always go to waste at the end of the season. This year I'm going to do some serious freezing!
So glad people are finding this useful. And how fun to get a comment from my adorable niece Elizabeth, who I haven't seen for far too long!
My Garden is a bit small this year, but I will be getting a few of the cheap end of season big bags of tomatoes to make up marinara sauce. LOVE the idea of the ice cube tray pesto!
Great tip on the basil Kalyn. Whenever I buy a bunch I end up throwing half of it out as it spoils before I've used it all. Will freeze in future.
Dear Aunt Kalyn,
Your wonderful garden posts always make me want to grow a garden.
Elizabeth
I like the idea of using the ice cube trays to individualize the portions. I do a bunch of canning but never thought to freeze marinara. Great tips.
Thanks Natalie and Lydia. I was hoping it would be helpful.
So many great tips here! It's nice to have all of this info collected in one post.
helpful post!
Thanks Barbara! And it is only because I have a talented brother that I can change it once a month, plus Jennette who changes it for me! So thankful for them!
Great tips! I love that you change up your header.
Thanks Pam. I think I'm making slow roasted tomatoes tomorrow!
This has to be my favorite post of yours ever!!! I am going to harvest and freeze some herbs tomorrow! Love, love, love the header!