How To Freeze Cooked Collard Greens

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Collard greens may look difficult to store, just in that location is an excellent style to not only shop them for longer only besides save infinite past compacting the greens.

Can y'all freeze cooked collard greens? Yes, collard greens tin be frozen for up to 6–8 months — they can fifty-fifty exist stored for up to one year if they are kept properly. To freeze them, blanch the vegetables in hot water for a couple of minutes, and so cool off the cooked collard greens and seal them in appropriately sized containers.

Read below to learn how to shop cooked collard greens, how to melt them properly, and some nifty tips and tricks!

How To Blanch Collard Greens

Collard greens are a cool-season crop that is bachelor all year round.

Many people infer that since the crop itself can withstand environmental frost during the cooler seasons, it freezes well in the kitchen too — but this is largely incorrect!

Fifty-fifty though collard greens can resist frost and thrive in cooler conditions, in that location are limits to how much the plant tin can take when it comes to freezing temperatures and the duration of these atmospheric condition.

Besides, most plants volition crave prior processing before they are stored in the freezer. You tin can't just store dry leaves and expect them to freeze well!

Directly freezing the leaves will upshot in them losing their texture and flavor. They will too crumble and become unsuitable for cooking as they thaw.

This is why we demand to starting time melt the greens, or rather, blanch them commencement!

Here'south how to flinch collard greens:

1. Thoroughly clean the collard greens to remove any debris or dirt from them. We recommend that you rinse them at least twice for a improve cooking experience.
2. Once clean, put them over a dry towel and let them dry out. Practice not press down on them with a paper towel. You don't have to dry them!
3. Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a eddy. Do not season the pot or add any oil or flavorings to it.
4. When the water comes to a boil, add the leaves in batches. You can likewise add i handful at a time. Melt each batch of collard greens for about 2–iii minutes, then remove them and place the cooked greens on a dry out newspaper towel to drain the excess moisture.
5. Repeat this step for the rest of the collard greens until y'all have fair-skinned all the leaves properly!

How To Freeze Fair-skinned Collard Greens

When it comes to storing the blanched collard greens in the freezer, you can utilize ii common methods:

1. Ziploc Bags
2. Airtight Containers

In optimal conditions, the collard greens will remain fresh for up to three–six months at 0°F. The collard greens will accept the same storage duration in both methods!

one. Ziploc Bag Method

The Ziploc method is ideal for people who have limited storage space. The advantage of this method is that you can neatly stack the leaves and even lightly compress them to fit more than packs over each other!

The disadvantage here is that compressing the greens too much may affect their texture equally they thaw.

For the best results, nosotros recommend that you shop the greens in 2–3 piles in the freezer — this fashion the bottom bag won't take on equally much pressure level.

Hither are a few detailed steps on how to store fair-skinned collard greens in a Ziploc purse:

1. Shift the greens to an airtight and freezer-safety Ziploc pocketbook. Fill every bit much every bit you can comfortably fit inside the purse. Do non overfill the handbag!
2. Seal the purse, but go out a fiddling bit of the opening unsealed — this is to release backlog air.
3. Hold the bag from the tiptop corners and gently nudge information technology so that the leaves can fill up up whatever space.
4. Once the leaves have collected at the bottom, lay the bag on an even surface and then printing downwards on the empty area just to a higher place the leaves and push upward. This step will remove backlog air from the bag.
5. Seal the bag completely and and so repeat this pace with boosted bags until you lot have stored all the blanched greens.
6. Label the numberless with the storage date and shop them in 2–3 stacks (or every bit required).
7. Try to store the numberless at the back of the freezer so that the collard greens are safety from temperature discrepancies.

2. Closed Container Method

Closed containers may take up more space, simply they will ensure that the collard greens practice non feel too much pressure from other freezer items.

Hither is how you can shop collard green in separate airtight containers:

1. Move the cooked greens to appropriately sized airtight containers. Brand certain that the containers are freezer condom.
2. Tightly pack the containers to fit all the greens. Y'all volition use the same strategy as higher up! Tightly packing the leaves volition ensure that there is no trapped air inside the pieces.
3. One time full, seal the pinnacle and label the containers with the current date.
4. Echo the stride above for the balance of the leftover greens. When you lot take stored all the collard greens in containers, shop them in the back of the freezer.

Tips And Tricks For Freezing Collard Greens

• When freezing collard greens, it is helpful if you plan the portions appropriately. This way you won't have to bargain with waste material and you volition know exactly how much yous will get after blanching them.

• While it is rare for properly stored collard greens to go bad, you should notwithstanding make a habit of checking the quality and freshness of the frozen leaves to ensure that they oasis't spoiled.

• Incorrectly storing the collard greens may result in a mushy texture and a stale season. This commonly indicates a problem with your freezer. It tin also happen when the leaves aren't stored in an airtight environment.

• Collard greens can develop freezer burn! When this happens, there is no way to salvage the vegetable. Always remove excess moisture and air when storing the leafy dark-green to prevent freezer burn down. We recommend using a no-frost freezer for an even better experience.

• To save space, you can cut the collard greens using a knife or a scissor. You can either do this before blanching the vegetables or after you accept cooked them.

How To Thaw Collard Greens

Frozen and cooked collard greens are very easy to thaw and will usually take about 5–ten minutes depending on the type of thawing method you lot go with.

Here are the best means to thaw collard greens:

1. Microwave Method
2. Fridge Defrosting Method
3. Pan Method

1. Microwave Method

The microwave method is the easiest and works very well if you lot froze the collard greens in an closed container.

As a precaution, please make sure that the storage container is microwave-rubber before going ahead.

To defrost, just remove the lid and set the microwave on the defrost setting. For Ziploc-bag stored greens, simply take the leaves out of the pocketbook and estrus them on a microwave-rubber plate.

Defrost the collard greens for about 2–iii minutes and check for doneness. Keep adding for 2 minutes until the leaves are adequately defrosted. Then only use them as required!

2. Fridge Defrosting Method

This method is perfect for people who aren't in a hurry to melt — and it is probably the best method for preserving the season and texture of the leaves!

Only move the bag or container from the freezer and store it in the refrigerator. The leaves will defrost naturally overnight and you should have perfectly fresh collard greens afterwards 12–24 hours.

three. Pan Method

This method is suitable for people who desire to salve time and just cook the leaves directly.

For this method, heat a pan and add a chip of water and wait until the water comes to a boil. Put the frozen leaves directly in the pan and let them melt for a few minutes. Y'all can also put a lid over them to encourage steam.

Occasionally motion the leaves around using a spoon — in one case they are defrosted, you can continue cooking them as usual.

How Long Collard Greens Terminal In The Fridge

Cooked collard greens will last about iii–4 days or up to a week with optimal storage weather.You can shop the cooked leaves in either Ziploc bags or airtight storage containers.

Cooked leaves must ideally be consumed within 1–ii days for the best flavor. If you are storing collard green for more than than five days, we highly recommend that you check their texture and look for signs of spoilage before consuming them.

Storing fresh collard greens is much easier and doesn't require a lot of prior grooming. Just move the leaves to a dry container or Ziploc purse and store them at the back of the fridge at 40°F for up to iv–v days.

Exercise not rinse the leaves earlier storing them in the fridge! Go along wet away from the leaves when storing for the short term.

Related Questions

Now that y'all know how to freeze blanched collard greens, here are some related questions!

Tin you add table salt to collard greens as they cook?

No, you should non season the collard greens as they blanch or when you shop them — the common salt will impact their texture and may also modify their season in one case they thaw.

Can you refreeze collard greens?

No, one time the collard greens are defrosted, you lot should consume them right away. Avert refreezing the leaves to prevent them from spoiling!

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Jaron

Hey, I'g Jaron and I'm a self-proclaimed food expert and writer of this website! I'll be honest with you, I started this website because someone told me I couldn't and I needed to prove them incorrect. Along my journey, I actually really fell in dearest with writing nigh food. I hope you found value from whatsoever article yous read, and if you lot have whatsoever remaining questions, don't hesitate to contact me!

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