Can You Freeze Spinach?

What happens when you freeze spinach

USDA lists spinach on the same line as leaf lettuce and marks freezing not recommended for both. That is a texture ruling, not a safety one, and it holds up for salad: a thawed raw leaf is a dark, slippery rag. For everything else it is too strict. Blanched, squeezed spinach earns its place in the freezer aisle — it goes into saag, spanakopita, lasagne, dip, and soup with nothing lost. Raw leaves bagged dry crumble into smoothie fuel too. Just don’t expect a salad on the other side.

How to freeze it right

1. Wash and dry the leaves and pull off any thick stems.
2. For cooking: wilt them in boiling water, chill in ice water, then squeeze hard into balls.
3. For the blender: bag dry raw leaves loosely with the air pressed out and don’t crush them.
4. Freeze the squeezed balls on a tray before bagging so they stay separate.
5. Date the bag.

Thawing and using it

Drop a frozen ball straight into a curry, a cream sauce, or a pot of soup. For a filling or a dip, thaw in the fridge and squeeze out every drop — thawed spinach carries more water than you would guess, and it will turn a pastry soggy. Frozen raw leaves go into the blender still frozen.

Can you refreeze it?

Fridge-thawed spinach can be refrozen safely; it darkens and weeps more each round, so squeeze it dry and freeze it in single-recipe portions.