Freezing tarragon »From preparation to use

Since the aroma of the frozen tarragon diminishes over time, it should not be frozen for too long, at most until next spring. Then you can harvest the first new shoots again. If you choose to freeze the time just before flowering, then the aroma is most intense and a lot of flavor is left over when thawed.

Preparations for freezing

To harvest Your tarragon on a sunny warm day, late morning or early afternoon. Then the aromas are particularly highly concentrated. Ideally it has not rained for a few days. Now cut the fresh shoots. Make sure that the leaves are undamaged. They shouldn't be pitted or discolored.

As with dry also, you should remove the stems of the tarragon before freezing. Fill the cleaned leaves whole or cut into small ice cube containers, add some water if necessary and place them in your freezer or freezer.

After the cubes are frozen, transfer them to larger aroma-proof freezer containers. So you always have small portions of tarragon ready to hand, but you don't have to search for small jars in the huge chest.

Use of the frozen tarragon

You can use frozen tarragon in heated dishes in much the same way as the fresh cabbage. If you are cooking a soup or a stew, the tarragon does not necessarily have to be thawed beforehand.

However, if you want to season a sauce, such as the well-known Bearnaise sauce, then use it prefer tarragon that you have frozen without water, or dry it well so that the sauce does not watered down.

The essentials in brief:

If possible, harvest on a sunny day
shortly before flowering, the aroma is more intense
Remove stems
Pre-freeze in ice cube trays

Tips & Tricks

Freeze different sized portions of tarragon with and without water so that you are prepared for any eventuality. So you can always thaw exactly the variant that best suits your cooking project.