Freezing Sage, Tarragon, and Mint
I’m a huge fan of freezing fresh herbs, and this post shows my methods for freezing Sage, Tarragon, and Mint. Use Fresh Herbs for more information about using herbs!
Click to PIN Freezing Sage, Tarragon, and Mint!
What would you do if you had fabulously bushy herb plants, and you lived in Utah where winter was well on the way? I’ve been freezing fresh basil for many years with good results, and also had success freezing fresh thyme and fresh rosemary.
So one year when I realized that summer was going to end well before I ran out of fresh herbs, I decided to try some other freezing experiments. This post shares my methods for Freezing Sage, Tarragon, and Mint, and these are more herbs I’ve frozen with good results.
Included here are some tips you might like to try if it’s getting cold where you are and you have a garden with herbs that you’d enjoy using during the winter.
Tips for Freezing Sage, Tarragon, and Mint:
- I used my garden scissors to cut the sage from the stems, and just trimmed the plants of the tarragon and mint.
- For each of these herbs, I cut as much as I thought would fit into a large Ziploc bag and washed it well in my large salad spinner.
- When they were spun dry, I put the herbs into the Ziploc bags. Then I left the bags open and let them sit on the counter for several hours, until the moisture left on the leaves had evaporated. (If it’s humid where you are this will take longer. There’s some rosemary in that photo too, but I’ve already written about freezing rosemary.)
- Then I sealed the bags, squeezing most of the air out, and put them in the freezer. Leave them for a few days or even weeks, depending on the type of herb.
- After that time, the leaves will start to fall off the stems.
- This next photo is a bowl of frozen tarragon after four days in the freezer, and you can see the bare stems where the leaves have fallen off. There were only a few stubborn leaves I had to pick off.
- And this last one is not a very good photo because I took it at night, but here are the jars of frozen sage and tarragon leaves I ended up with. Each is slightly smaller than a mayonnaise jar, plenty of sage and tarragon for a lot of good dishes all winter long. Put the jars back in the freezer, then take out the frozen herbs as you need them.
- The mint leaves are taking a bit longer to fall off the stems so I’m leaving them in the freezer a bit longer, but the frozen mint is also working out well.
More about Freezing and Preserving Vegetables and Fresh Herbs:
- Freezing Garden Tomatoes, Fresh Herbs, and Vegetables
- Freezing Rosemary and Thyme
- How to Freeze Fresh Basil
- How to Make and Freeze Fresh Tomato Sauce
- Making and Freezing Basil Pesto with Lemon
If you have freezing methods or ideas for using frozen herbs, let us know about it in the comments.
51 Comments on “Freezing Sage, Tarragon, and Mint”
Great info, thanks! Is there any reason you couldn't just leave the tarragon frozen in a bag in the freezer and use it from there instead of stripping the leaves and putting them in a jar back in the freezer?
I bet that will work if you have space in the freezer for a bag.
Thanks Eddie, that does sound good!
I found your page searching for advice on freezing Thai basil. It turns out you froze yours exactly as I do mine every year. I was wondering if anyone had figured out a way to freeze the leaves whole, but I'm guessing basil is too delicate for that. Anyway, you asked for suggestions on how to use your frozen Thai basil and I have one. This recipe for Thai Spicy Catfish is great and I still can't believe Thai Chili (one of the best Thai restaurants in Atlanta) posted it online.
http://www.americascuisine.com/georgia/atlanta/thaichili/recipes/592.aspx
By the way,"Grachai (Rhizome)/Tropical Crocus" is wild ginger, but I've substituted with regular ginger and it worked fine. Also I don't usually deep-fry the fish, although I'm sure that would be great. I just pan fry it and put it on a rack in a 200 F oven to stay warm while I make the sauce. Just typing this is making me crave it.
Thank you so much! Great to be able to use the summer herbs through the winter months!
The Thai basil definitely gets darker from freezing. I would not say it is black, but very dark green.
Hi Kalyn, Thanks for your post. I'm trying to find a way to freeze holy basil, which is more delicate than Thai basil, so this might work as well. However, do you find that when you thaw the Thai basil, does it turn black when you thaw it for cooking? Thanks for the awesome posts!
Love that idea of freezing dill; I just wish I had better luck growing it!
Thanks for the great tips. I never thought of freezing tarragon. I have been freezing fresh dill weed, just in a small zip-lock bag. After bing frozen, it crumbles into usable pieces and taste exactly like fresh; very tasty in tuna or salmon salad.
Mona, so glad to hear it was helpful.
Thank you for taking the time to post what you learned. It definitely helped me.
Donna, great idea to dry the scallions. I'll have to try that next summer. Glad this was useful for you.
Hi Kalyn,
Found your blog while looking for ways to preserve my tarragon, sage, and basil. Thanks for sharing this great advice. I wash and chop my scallions into 1/4 inch pieces, let them dry naturally on a screen (I use one of those splatter screens you put over a frying pay) and then jar them up. They stay nice and green and keep all winter. For basil, I just make it all into pesto. Just found a recipe for parsley/sage pesto. Can't wait to try it.
Donna
Colbrook, I haven't grown lemongrass so I've never tried freezing it, but I would guess it can be frozen although the texture would be softer. If you're mostly using the inner parts chopped up finely, it would probably be fine. Love to hear how it turns out if you try it (I'm thinking I might try growing some if I get a greenhouse, which I'm hoping I'll add next year.)
doesn't come out soft at all- is same texture as when it went in the freezer.
s article mentioned freezing lemongrass, but I didn't see any mention of lemongrass in the post. Does anyone have tips on freezing lemongrass? We have 2 huge plants, but they die back in the winter, and we'd love to be able to use them all winter long.
Thanks
I freeze lemongrass all the time- just cut up into slices or bigger pieces as you would normally use it (I use it mostly in slices) and put in a ziplock baggie, get as much air out as possible and freeze! Then just pull it out and put as much as needed into your recipe. Easy Peasy!
Great idea Lise, thanks for sharing!
Thank you , for the tip how to freeze the basil For me was turning dark in freezer, I think it great idea to mix with oil.I will use your suggestion for this year harvest.
Stay well
Anonymous, I haven't tried freezing oregano, but since it's a "soft" herb I might do it just like I do basil. (Oregano is actually the one herb that I think is about as good dried as it is fresh, so I might not bother freezing it.)
Kalyn, I looked at your posts for freezing herbs, but I didn't see anything about oregano. I did noticed the ice-cubes, but maybe I just didn't see it ?!? Is there any way that you can freeze them just as leaves?
I didn’t know that about Thai basil, thanks for sharing.
Thai Basil is a good one for reduce gas in the stomach. Actually there are lots more properties of this Thai herbs and others.
Anonymous, I can only say what has worked for me, but I’ve never blanched any of my herbs before freezing.
I recently tried preserving my basil by blanching it, processing it with a little olive oil, and dropping it by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. I froze it all and then stored my “basil cookies” in a Ziploc. The blanching worked great. My ? is…..Do I have to blanch any other herbs before freezing or preserving them?
P.S. Cynthia, just added a line to the post to make that clear so thanks again for the question.
Cynthia, you are not stupid! Yes, you put the jars back in the freezer. I put them in the door of my freezer with a label on the lid that shows what herb it is. Happy freezing!
Sorry to be stupid, but do you put the JARS back in the freezer? Or do something else w/them?
Bobbisox, the quality of the frozen basil was great, but I did notice I didn’t use it nearly as much during the winter as some of the other herbs I froze. I did add it to a couple of Asian curries with good results.
Great idea about freezing the Thai basil, how did it turn out in recipes when you thawed it out? Mine self sows in this San Diego county climate, but ours are small and we ended up buying the basil at the Asian market; we keep it on the counter; in this hot house, it rooted, unbeknownst to hubby and me I was still using it. We put it out in a big pot of sterile seedling mix and kept it in shade and under mist. Voila, lots of Thai basil.
Kalyn, I too, have a full herb garden for the second season now…last year I had planned on researching how to freeze/store herbs for use in winter but unfortunately never got around to it. As it is a cold, rainy/flurry sort of day here in Rhode Island on Nov. 20th, I decided to spend part of my day out of work sick harvesting my herbs! Thank you for the beautifully described and documented process…here I go to work on my thyme, rosemary, sage, mint, and oregano, all that has survived up until this point in the year. Thanks again, I look forward to excellent results thanks to you! -Melissa
This is a great guide for freezing herbs! I’m so envious of your gorgeous thai basil! My thai basil is gone for the year.
I’d like to save some herbs in the freezer, now I now how. I have to hurry in 2 weeks my kitchen renovation begins.
Thanks for the useful tips Kalyn! I may try my hand at freezing some of my herbs for the upcoming winter months.
Javagirlkt, not that much work, and very worth it!
EMWK, me too with the chicken stock.
Joey, good idea. I never thought of doing it with herbs from the store, and sometimes I throw them out when they go bad! (Duh!)
Katie, sorry to hear about the herbs not thriving this year.
Peter, me too!
Rebecca, yes, don’t let the chickens get the herbs!
SN, love the idea of the Thai basil pesto. Too late for this time though, my Thai basil is all frozen.
Cindy, love the idea of freezing the aromatics! Perfect for winter cooking too. And it would save so much time.
I combine carrots, onions and celery (all of the traditional French aromatics), put them in the food processor to chop roughly and then freeze in ice cube trays (similar to your basil method). It works perfectly to pop one in the sauce pan when making soup or to saute. =o)
P.s., I love my foodsaver too!
I had a surfeit of Thai basil a couple of years ago (I wish I did now!!) and made an Asian pesto with it that I froze (it froze beautifully). I’m pretty sure I included it in an article at some point, but for the life of me I can’t find it. Anyway, you pretty much just blam together a bunch of Thai basil, peanuts, a pinch of sugar, a dash of fish sauce, chile paste and peanut oil in the blender and finish with a squeeze of lime. Then you can throw a dollop into a stir fry or noodle dishes or whatever. It was so good that I’m always hoping for a wildly overrun Thai basil plant, but alas, it hasn’t happened again since that year.
Cheers Kalyn!
Thanks for the inspiration Kalyn. My herb dilemma is not the upcoming freeze, since I live in a milder climate, but the fact that I recently converted my herb garden into a grazing area for two chickens. So I’ve been sitting and watching my tarragon, thyme, mint, etc slowly die from chicken abuse. Never even occurred to me to freeze them, but now I will, before they are completely gone!
Thanks for adding to your compendium of preserving techniques…I have just this weekend left before the cold weather arrives.
Great idea for freezing tarragon and thyme! I’ve always stripped the leaves, too!
I’ll remember it for next year, when, hopefully I’ll have enough to make the effort worthwhile. The herbs did not like our cool summer either!
I have no garden and no winter…but I do appreciate these tips! Sometimes I buy too many herbs, or can’t use everything, and it’s great to know that I can feeze some of them 🙂 In fact, I just got a bunch of Thai basil that was way to much for the recipe I was making…so thanks for the Thai Basil recipe links as well 🙂
I freeze my homemade chicken broth in the ice cube trays, and now I learned to do it with basil too. Thanks Kayln!
wow. sounds like a lot of work, but it will be well worth it! 🙂
Kelly, I haven’t had much luck trying to grow herbs inside. If you lived somewhere that still got strong sun all winter I think you could do it, but Utah has a lot of overcast days in the winter.
Maria, thanks. Must try your ideas with the Thai basil.
Chigiy, you *are* so lucky to have fresh herbs in the winter. Do try freezing the basil. It’s great in pasta sauces and salad dressing.
Lydia, thanks. I actually haven’t ever tried drying herbs, but I’ve sure enjoyed using the frozen ones.
Simona, thanks. Right now it has a lot of weeds! But there are still quite a few tomatoes.
Tanna, lucky you to have rosemary and sage all winter. (What am I doing here in this cold place?)
Anh, thanks. And nice hearing that you liked the zucchini with parmesan.
Kalyn, you have a wonderful garden! Make me drool!
BTW, I tried yout grilled zucchini with parmesan last nite. Very nice. I ate them like finger food! 😛
My rosemary and sage are good all winter but the basil is another story. We’ll have to see if Gorn will enclose the porch again this winter. My Thai basil was going wild a month ago when I left Dallas, I sure it’s covered with blooms by now even if the neighbors used some.
Your garden is a truly amazing place, Kalyn.
Wonderful post — I tend to dry herbs more than freezing them as a way to preserve the harvest. But I’m definitely going to try your method. Thanks for such great instruction.
This is a great post. We are lucky here because most of my herbs winter pretty well except the basil.
I have always wanted to freeze it and now I know how. Thanks.
Great post! What a great way to save your fresh herbs! I am sure these will come in handy in the winter.
Great tips — it’s the end of the season and the potential for fresh herbs is waning! I know that you can grow them inside, but are they as flavorful?