If you've harvested tons of spinach, you don't have to let it go to waste. You can also easily freeze it.
Spinach from your own garden is something delicious. Most importantly, you can even harvest it more than once a year.
» Reading tip: Harvest spinach twice
Spinach is he althiest when it is raw and as fresh as possible. So try to eat most of the harvest fresh. But sometimes the harvest is so great that this is almost impossible. Then you can either give it away to neighbors, relatives and acquaintances or freeze the spinach. You have two different options for this. On the one hand you can freeze it cooked and on the other hand this also works with fresh spinach. We'll show you what to look out for with both options.
» Freezing fresh spinach
If you want to freeze the fresh spinach, you don't have to worry about lost vitamins. These are retained, as are important trace elements and minerals.
✦ Step 1:
Separate the spinach carefully. Remove wilted leaves and very thick stems.
✦ Step 2:
Before freezing, the spinach should be blanched. Bitter substances and part of the nitrate remain in the cooking water. When blanching, the spinach is hung in a colander in boiling water for about two minutes. Then remove the sieve and hold it in ice water for about 10 seconds.
✦ Step 3:
Now you should allow the green growth to drain sufficiently, preferably dabbing with kitchen paper. The more water that sticks to the spinach when it freezes, the more mushy it will be when you thaw it.
✦ Step 4:
Now you can decide whether you want to freeze the leaves as they are or whether you want to cut them up into small pieces.
✦ Step 5:
Pack the spinach in small freezer bags or plastic containers. This way you can get the spinach out of the cooler later as needed. So and now into the freezer with the spinach.
» Freezing cooked spinach
There was spinach again and the family ties didn't finish? Then you freezeit a. You can also freeze spinach that has already been cooked.
The only important thing here is that you cool the spinach quickly and then freeze it immediately. This is so important because bacteria convert the nitrate contained in spinach into toxic nitrite when the ambient temperature is high (e.g. in a pot on the stove). So it is best to put it in the fridge to cool down and then immediately in the freezer.
Reheat the spinach
It's been a few weeks and you're craving spinach again? Let's go. However, you should note that you defrost the spinach slowly as possible. That's why you can just put the greens in the fridge. If you want to puree the spinach, you can defrost it in a pot and boil it with a little water. Then add a dash of cream and puree nicely.