How to Freeze Kale: Raw and Fresh! – Mom with a PREP

freeze kale

Kale is a super-food with tons of nutrients and iron available in it, but not everyone loves leafy dark vegetables..especially once they’ve been cooked and are just that slimy green stuff that looks like cooked spinach (blech!). Instead, I use kale fresh in smoothies or dehydrated into chips or made into a kale powder (after dehydrating) that we sprinkle into our foods, or making a ‘pesto’ substitute with this Kale Walnut Pesto. I also freeze it! Yep – you got that right. I freeze kale.

When you have an overabundance of kale from a bumper garden crop or a CSA basket or a great sale at the grocers, what do you do with all that extra kale if you aren’t dehydrating it? You can freeze it raw, especially if you’re using it for smoothies! 

How to Freeze Kale (for use in smoothies)

1. Separate Kale leaves fully – you don’t want clumps of kale as that is where dirt will collect. I tend to cut out the thick ribs at this point.

2. Soak kale in water to remove any sand or dirt particles (I use about a cup of vinegar to a sink full of water if I have a lot of kale to do – a 3:1 ratio of water to vinegar is good for any application).

3. Pull out kale and allow to dry on a towel and remove ribs if you prefer to at this point.

4. Flash Freeze kale by laying it out on a cookie sheet or dehydrator tray and placing it in the freezer to freeze. You can double stack it.

5. Once frozen, begin to quickly gather kale up and place in zip-top bags. Quickly because it will begin to thaw fast, so you don’t want to bring all of your trays in at once. You can use a spatula or icing spreader to get it off the tray and break it into your zip-top bags.

6. Remove air from bags as much as possible, label, and freeze.

7. When using in smoothies, just pull out a bag, pull out as much kale as you would normally use, and place the bag back into the freezer.

Amazon Brand - Solimo Freezer Gallon Zipper Bags, 90 Count
  • Includes 90 freezer gallon bags
  • Each food storage bag holds 1 gallon
  • Reclosable top has a double zipper closure

More Helpful Tips for Kale

Tip #1 –  If you want to store enough kale for one smoothie in a snack or sandwich-sized bag to make morning smoothie making easier, you can then store those smaller bags into one larger zip top to help preserve them in the freezer, then just pull out a baggie to load into your blender.

Tip #2 – if you want longer storage of kale, try blanching first before storing (or cook fully and store), or create a kale powder by dehydrating kale leaves, and then whirring in your blender to form a powder. This can be added to foods as an added supplement (we add to anything that I’m cooking that is hardy or into scrambled eggs/frittatas or sprinkled onto salads).

Tip #3 – for some people, blanching kale ahead of time is preferable because it brings out the important nutrients that you can’t get with fresh, raw kale. Then lay the leaves out to freeze.

 
freeze kale
 
Check out these other ways to preserve kale:
How to Make and Use Kale Powder by Mom with a Prep {blog} - this stuff is awesome to store to use for smoothies and put in sauces and sprinkle over foods the way you do parsley or to put into meatloaf or salads and more! #foodstorage #kale How to Dehydrate Kale for Making Kale Chips or Kale Powder - fabulous method to preserve kale well past the season!Mom with a PREP | Don't let that pile of greens in your crisper drawer going bad shame you. Show them what for by dehydrating them and making this powerhouse of a powder to add more nutrition to your family meals!
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Katy Willis is a writer, lifelong homesteader, and master herbalist, master gardener, and canine nutritionist. Katy is a preparedness expert and modern homesteader practicing everyday preparedness, sustainability, and a holistic lifestyle.

She knows how important it is to be prepared for whatever life throws at you, because you just never know what's coming. And preparedness helps you give your family the best chance to thrive in any situation.

Katy is passionate about living naturally, growing food, keeping livestock, foraging, and making and using herbal remedies. Katy is an experienced herbalist and a member of the CMA (Complementary Medical Association).

Her preparedness skills go beyond just being "ready", she's ready to survive the initial disaster, and thrive afterward, too. She grows 100% organic food on roughly 15 acres and raises goats, chickens, and ducks. She also lovingly tends her orchard, where she grows many different fruit trees. And, because she likes to know exactly what she's feeding her family, she's a seasoned from-scratch cook and gluten-free baker.

Katy teaches foraging and environmental education classes, too, including self-sufficient living, modern homesteading, seed saving, and organic vegetable gardening.

Katy helps others learn forgotten skills, including basic survival skills and self-reliance.

She's been published on sites such as MSN, Angi, Home Advisor, Family Handyman, Wealth of Geeks, Readers Digest, and more.

Last update on 2024-03-28 at 06:35 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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