How to Preserve Basil – Freeze, Dry, Store Basil 8 Ways
Ready to preserve basil? Here are 8 different ways to preserve your basil. Use any of these processes throughout the growing season as your pruning basil or at the end of the season when you harvest all the basil leaves.
Also Read: Panzanella Salad with fresh Tomatoes & Basil, Basil Pesto, Bruschetta with Fresh Basil
8 Ways to Preserve Basil
When it’s time to harvest your basil (before the first frost!) here’s how to store and preserve it.
How to Preserve Basil
Instructions
- Store Fresh Cut Basil– make it last in your kitchen for a couple of weeks.
- Hang Basil to Dry – click for a step by step how to.
- Dry Basil in the Microwave – click if you want to know how.
- Dry Basil in a Dehydrator – click for detailed article.
- Freeze Basil in Oil Cubes or Water Cubes – Fill ice cube tray with basil leaves and top with olive oil or water. Push any leaves poking out into the oil. Freeze for 24 hours or until solid. Remove the cubes from the ice cube tray and place in airtight freezer bag.
- Freeze Massaged Basil Leaves in Oil – Strip basil leaves off stems and gently massage each leaf with oil. You'll need about 2-3 Tbsp of oil per 2 cups of basil leaves. Place in plastic bag and squeeze out all the air forming a thin, flat layer. The oil prevents the basil from turning black and once frozen you can just break off what you need.
- Freeze Basil Leaves as is – Strip basil leaves off the stems and freeze them whole just as is – no oil, no water, no nothin’. The leaves turn very dark and will be soft and mushy when they thaw but they still have great taste for use where you won't see them – soups, stews and pasta dishes where looks and texture don’t matter.
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Can I Just Bring My Basil Inside?
If you’re thinking about bringing your basil plant indoors – don’t! Let me save you a lot of time, energy and frustration by being up front with you – taking your basil inside at the end of the summer usually does not work very well – not without a lot of effort anyway.
Here’s what will typically happen. You’ll bring your potted basil inside promising to love and care for it like it were your first born. Within days you’ll see your basil dropping leaves and turning yellow. You may even notice a few tiny insects in your house that you didn’t have before. Trust me, it’s not going to get any better.
Unless you’re willing to go to heroic measures (use grow lights for 7 -10 hours per day, fertilize, install a fan and water only from the bottom as required), chances are high that your basil plant will die. The worst part is, you’ll have lost your chance to harvest those gorgeous leaves at the end of summer.
Why Won’t Basil Last Indoors?
The most obvious reason is that basil is an annual plant. By it’s very nature, basil is intended to survive for only one season. Wikipedia says “An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seed, within one year, and then dies.”
If you’ve had your basil plant all summer, it has done its job. It has given you the best it is has to offer. Sure, you could put it on life support, but you’ll get very little out of it.
Bringing it inside will only delay the inevitable and will cause you to miss out on the last bit of flavor your basil has left to offer you.
So with all these options to choose from, how will you preserve basil?
Whatever you choose, leave a comment or if you’re a social media buff take a photo and tag it with #getgettys on Instagram. I’d love to see what you’re doing.
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I live in a flat and have basil and other herbs as well as chilli plants on my window sills, they thrive!
Awesome! Enjoy.
Sometimes I dry my basil by rolling the leaves loosely in a tea towel. securing the ends, and putting it in the fridge. The regular air circulation inside the fridge dries the basil out without it getting moldy or dusty (as long as it’s not squished under something else). I’ve even forgotten about it only to go back several weeks later (when I clean out the fridge and find all sorts of things I’d forgotten about) to find it perfectly dried. To store, take it out of the fridge, unroll the tea towel, let it sit in the open to dry off any surface moisture, and store like other dried basil.
Another idea: if you happen to forget about your basil outside and it freezes, don’t throw those leaves out! Harvest them carefully, and let them dry thoroughly on a tea towel in the kitchen. Use as any other dried basil.
Hi Heather,
Thanks for the tips! I never would have thought of that technique. I guess frozen basil leaves is like freeze dried basil?!
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made the basil pesto recipe yesterday, WOW! nOW I am wondering how to freese my mojito basil and food recipes for it not drinks, any ideas. My thai basil I am going to chop, add a little oil and freeze in cube trays. thank you.
Hi A,
If using the mojito basil in drinks, maybe you could try freezing it in ice cube trays with water. Or, perhaps you could dry it and use it in tea and dessert recipes? Good luck. Glad you enjoyed the pesto recipe!
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