How To Freeze Spinach

We love spinach in our house.  Ok.  Correction.  I love spinach.  I put it in my eggs, pasta, smoothies - just about anything I can think of!  But I can never finish a full container of spinach myself which means I always have spinach going to waste.  Ok, another correction.  I used to have spinach.  I finally got smart and started to freeze spinach.

Did you know you could freeze spinach?  Or more importantly, do you know how to freeze spinach?

No worries - I'm here to teach you how to freeze spinach and the best ways to use your frozen spinach!

How To Freeze Spinach

First, I like to put my spinach in a bowl of water.  Just let the leaves soak for a little while.   Then, rinse and pat dry.  While I am letting it soak, I like to pop a cookie sheet into the freezer to get it chilled.  (What?  A cookie sheet?  You'll see!  Keep reading!)

Then, divide your spinach up.  Keep in mind that once frozen, spinach will lose some of it's "crunch", which means it's great for cooking with (think eggs, dips, pasta, or casseroles), but it's not the best in say, a salad.  Divide your spinach in ways that you know that you are your family will get the most use.

For me, I freeze mostly individual bags for me to add to my meals.   Then, I will freeze maybe one or two larger bags for a family sized meal.  And I always have a couple bags with the perfect amount for a spinach and artichoke dip.  It's perfect for pulling out when we have company or an unexpected pitch in (or let's be honest, I forget to go to the store!).    By sorting your portions out before freezing you can avoid pulling out some frozen spinach, using part of it and having to throw the rest of it away.

Transfer your portioned out spinach into freezer bags, squeeze all of the air out and seal tightly.  Spinach is one of the few things that I do NOT use my food sealer for!  The food sealer does such a great job taking all of the air out of the bags that it will also take out some of the moisture in the spinach.  And you don't want that.  A little moisture in there is good!

After all of your spinach is in bags, pull out your cookie sheet.  Wiggle the spinach around to get the bag to lay flat.  (So you have kind of a sheet of spinach).  Lay them on the cookie sheet and place in the freezer.  Label your bags with the date/contents (ex. Spinach - amount for spinach artichoke dip. Jan 2014)

Then the hard part.  Do nothing and let it freeze!

After everything is frozen you have bags of pre-portioned, frozen spinach.  And because they lay flat you have a few advantages.

1.  It's easy to sprinkle in your meals - no spinach globs.
2. Your bags are easy to stack, which means your freezer can stay organized.

Quick Tips:
- When you freeze spinach it stays good for about a year!
- You don't have to thaw.  Because the spinach is no clumped together - your spinach will thaw out in just a few minutes when you mix it into your dish.
- If you want cooked spinach - just empty the bag into a microwave safe dish, and microwave for a few seconds until the spinach is wilted.  Add to your dish and enjoy!