How to freeze sorrel for the winter

Sorrel is an excellent herb that retains its flavor when frozen. Not everyone knows how to freeze sorrel. Winter evenings at home will be much more enjoyable if you cook dishes with frozen sorrel. Sorrel is a very beneficial plant. Its leaves contain a large amount of vitamins, acids, and complex chemical elements. Even ancient healers noted the beneficial properties of this green shrub and prescribed it for the treatment of menopause, anal fissures, inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity, heart and vascular ailments, and headaches. Sorrel is very beneficial during lactation and also helps restore the liver and improve bile production. Sorrel is beneficial for teenagers, as it helps eliminate skin imperfections, and it is also recommended for those experiencing vitamin deficiencies.

Eating sorrel is also extremely important in winter. Sorrel can be used in soups, borscht, salads, pies, pastries, casseroles, puff pastries, and other dishes.

Preparing sorrel for the winter doesn't require much time or effort. There are several ways to freeze sorrel for the winter.

Proper freezing allows you to preserve all the vitamins and make dishes prepared in winter and autumn no worse than summer dishes.

Freezing sorrel in bags

This freezing method is the most common and quite popular. A large variety of products can be frozen this way.

For this technique you will need a large bunch of sorrel, running water and a bowl, a knife and a cutting board.

Sorrel needs to be washed thoroughly several times to ensure that no traces of dust or dirt remain on it.

Next, you need to sort through each leaf and make sure that there are no damaged leaves in the bunch.

You can trim the stems if desired, but you can also chop them and use them. It's all a matter of preference. The leaves should be thoroughly dried and chopped. Don't chop them too finely. This will help preserve the product better.

The resulting mass is well compacted into a bag and tightly rolled into a roll so that no air remains in the bag.

To avoid confusion among frozen greens in winter, it's a good idea to prepare a piece of paper indicating which product is frozen and the year. Next, place the sorrel in a bag inside another bag, and place the paper with the label inside the second bag. Next, roll up the sorrel in the bag again and put it in the refrigerator, or more precisely, in the freezer. It's best to store sorrel in the refrigerator or freezer for no more than a year.

Preparing sorrel using briquettes and cold

This method will require silicone or plastic molds.

Sorrel, as in the first freezing conditions, namely in bags, must be thoroughly washed, dried and chopped.

Next, you can mix the sorrel with other herbs if desired and place it in silicone muffin tins. To ensure this freezing method is effective, add 2 teaspoons of water to each tin.

Place the molds in the freezer to freeze. Once the sorrel is completely frozen, it can be transferred to freezer bags or regular food storage bags.

After this, the sorrel is sent back to the freezer for storage.

These briquettes are perfect for pie filling, soup, borscht, or sorrel pie. If you're using the sorrel as a pie filling, you'll need to slightly defrost it and mix it with onion and egg.

If you are going to use this sorrel for cooking first courses, you don’t need to defrost it; you can just throw it into the pan.

Sorrel puree

Sorrel puree also freezes well.

To do this, the green leaves need to be sorted, washed, dried and chopped in a meat grinder.

Next, spoon the finished puree into molds. You can use ice cube trays. Once the puree is frozen solid, you can transfer it to a freezer bag or leave it in the mold. It's all up to you.

Freezing sorrel using butter or vegetable oil

This freezing method is very good. My friend tells me she loves coming over for dinner in the winter because I freeze a lot of vegetables, which turn out quite tasty.

I also freeze sorrel with vegetable oil or butter.

Vegetable oil shouldn't be heated, otherwise it will change its structure. Therefore, if you plan to use butter, let it melt at room temperature.

Lettuce leaves are selected without damage or other defects.

Next, wash the leaves, dry them, trim off the ends, and chop them. You can chop them finely or coarsely.

Next, if you are using butter, you need to mix the leaves with butter and place them in freezer molds.

Once the mixture is completely frozen, which will take at least 24 hours, you will need to transfer the cubes into food bags and put them back in the freezer for storage.

If you are going to use vegetable oil, you need to place the chopped leaves in molds and pour in the oil.

Next, the sorrel is frozen. Once completely frozen, it's placed in freezer bags. You can freeze several batches of sorrel this way.

Sorrel may change color, becoming muted rather than vibrant. This will not affect the taste in any way.

Just as when freezing sorrel using bags, you can put a leaflet with the inscription that it is frozen in the bag in which the sorrel cubes or sorrel frozen in muffin tins will be placed.

Sorrel frozen in puree form, as well as sorrel frozen with vegetable or butter, does not require defrosting and can be immediately added to soups or borscht.

Frozen sorrel is an excellent alternative to either fresh or canned sorrel. Canning sorrel takes longer, but frozen sorrel retains more nutrients.

Also see, How to freeze dill for the winter.