How do I freeze herbs, garlic and ginger?

Aromatics are bought in quantities nobody uses before they spoil. Freezing solves it, provided you freeze them in the form you will actually use.

Step by step

1. Know which herbs freeze.Hardy herbs — rosemary, thyme, sage, bay, oregano — freeze well and keep their character. Soft herbs — basil, parsley, coriander, chives, dill — go limp and dark, so they need the oil method.
2. Use the ice cube tray method for soft herbs.Chop, pack into an ice cube tray, top with olive oil or water, freeze, then transfer the cubes to a bag. Drop a cube straight into a pan. This is the single most useful thing here.
3. Use oil rather than water where you can.Oil protects against freezer burn and oxidation better, and it goes straight into a hot pan. Water cubes are better for anything going into a soup or a drink.
4. Freeze hardy herbs on the stem.Whole sprigs in a bag. The leaves strip off easily while frozen and they hold their flavour well.
5. Freeze ginger whole and unpeeled.A whole knob in a bag. Grate it straight from frozen on a fine grater — the skin disappears into the grating and does not need removing. It grates more cleanly frozen than fresh.
6. Freeze garlic as a paste.Blend peeled cloves with a little oil into a paste, then freeze in a thin sheet in a bag and snap off pieces. Whole frozen cloves go soft and are awkward.
7. Or freeze garlic and ginger ready-portioned.Blitz together with oil, spoon into an ice cube tray in teaspoon amounts, and freeze. It removes the most tedious step of most weeknight cooking.
8. Freeze chillies whole.Straight into a bag. They slice easily from frozen and keep their heat well. No preparation needed at all.
9. Freeze citrus zest.Zest before juicing, and freeze the zest in a small container. Zest is the part usually wasted and it freezes perfectly.
10. Label everything.Frozen green cubes all look identical. Herb and date on the bag, or you will be defrosting things to identify them.
11. Use from frozen, not defrosted.Defrosted soft herbs are unpleasant and watery. Add them frozen to a hot pan and they behave much better.
12. Accept the texture change.Frozen herbs are for cooking, not garnishing. Nothing frozen will work scattered raw over a finished dish, and expecting it to is the usual disappointment.

Tips

• Frozen ginger grates without peeling and more cleanly than fresh. It is genuinely better frozen.
• Herb cubes in oil are the highest-value ten minutes in this whole guide.
• Frozen herbs are for cooking, never for garnish. Keep a little fresh for the top.

Common mistakes

• Freezing soft herbs loose in a bag — Basil, parsley and coriander blacken and go limp with nothing to protect them. Chopped in oil in a cube they keep far more of their character.
• Defrosting before use — Thawed soft herbs collapse into a watery mess. Added frozen straight to the pan they behave much closer to fresh.

If it doesn't work