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How to Preserve Fresh Herbs

The easiest and versatile way of preserving your home grown basil, sage, parsley and more.

by Shirley
Published: Last Updated on
How to Preserve Fresh Herbs?

Herbs like basil, sage, and parsley are amazing superfoods. If you grow lots of fresh herbs in your home vegetable garden during summer as we do, you might be wondering what is the best way to preserve these organic superfood herbs when you harvest tons of them at a time. That quest led me to develop this basic pesto recipe. It is perhaps the easiest and most versatile way of preserving your homegrown basil, sage, parsley, and more.

Best way of preserving fresh herbs

Why fresh herbs are a superfood?

Fresh herbs such as basil, sage, and parsley are incredible superfoods. They are loaded with essential vitamins, and minerals, as well as anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory contents. Anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory substances are extremely beneficial to our bodies as they keep free radicals at bay and help maintain our overall well-being.

home grown herbs
Homegrown Basil, Sage, Parsley and Leek

Sage is especially rich in Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, and minerals such as calcium, manganese, and iron. It also contains many essential antioxidants that help lower the risk of cancer and improve cognitive functions. People also believe that sage can help lower both total cholesterols, and “bad” LDL cholesterol while increasing “good” HDL cholesterol.

sage growing in our backyard garden
sage growing in our backyard garden

Basil is loaded with Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Calcium, Iron, and Manganese. Because basil is rich in many powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances, people believe it can also help mitigate stress, fight against aging, reduce blood pressure, improve cholesterol, and prevent certain cancers.

Basil in our backyard garden
Basil in our backyard garden

Parsley is rich in vitamins such as A, C, K, and Folate (a natural form of Vitamin B9). It also contains many vitally important minerals such as potassium. Potassium is well-known for its ability to reduce high blood pressure. This makes parsley an outstanding DASH {Diet Approach to Stop Hypertension} food.

parsley growing in home garden

Leek is a source of soluble fiber including prebiotics which is critical to keep our gut healthy, on top of other wonderful nutrients it provides.

garden leek and parsley in November Chicago
Leek grows in our backyard garden

How to preserve fresh herbs like basil, sage, and parsley?

It is amazingly easy to preserve these precious fresh herbs. Just chop them coarsely and mix them with a splash of olive oil and a tiny bit of Himalayan pink salt. By the way, a food processor makes the chopping process easier and saves you a bunch of time too.

Chop sage in a food processor for sage pesto

After that pack them in small packages, I usually use the snack-size ziplock bags and store the packages in a quarter-size freezer-friendly ziplock bag and store them in the freezer to use in the next year or so.

basic sage pesto individually packaged for freezer
How to Preserve Fresh Herbs?

How to Preserve Fresh Herbs Recipe

Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

This is perhaps the easiest and most versatile way of preserving fresh herbs when you've harvested loads of them from your garden.

Ingredients

  • 6 oz, about 170 g of fresh herbs, such as parsley, sage, basil
  • 6 tbsp olive oil, virgin cold pressed preferred
  • 1/4 tsp salt, such as Himalayan pink salt

Instructions

  1. Wash, rinse, and air dry the herbs.
    Basic Sage Pesto Ingredients
  2. Coarsely chops the herbs into bit sizes and then add to a 10-cup food processor, in a circular way around the blade.
  3. Pour 6 tbsp olive oil on the herbs in a circular motion, along with the 1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt. Turn the food processor on for about 20 seconds, or till the whole thing is chopped. Do not over-process the herbs.
    Best way of preserving fresh herbs
  4. Use a silicone spatula to scrape and mix everything together. Use a spoon to scoop out the pesto and package them into 3 snack-size ziplock bags,
    Basic Sage Pesto packaged into small portions
  5. Close the ziplock bags while pressing down to get rid of the air. Store them in a quarter-size freezer-friendly ziplock bag, label with description and time, and store in the freezer to use in the future.
    basic sage pesto individually packaged for freezer

Notes

  • Regarding how to use these superfood herbs basic pesto. It can add to any recipe calling for the dried or fresh version of the herbs. Use a knife to cut a small block and then repack and put it back in the freezer.
  • One of my everyday use is to add one tbsp of it to my detox porridge made of steel-cut oats, chia seeds, and flaxseeds. It instantly spiced up the flavor of the porridge.

Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 63Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 0mgSodium 82mgCarbohydrates 0gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g

Nutrition calculation is provided by Nutritionix to the best knowledge per ingredients description and isn't always accurate.

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