Freezing Spinach {How To Freeze Spinach} - Sustainable Cooks

Maybe your like

Home › Recipes › How To Tutorials

How to Freeze Spinach

By Sarah Cook

5 from 4 ratings

Mar 23, 2023, Updated Jun 11, 2025

Jump to Recipe

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Learn all the tips and tricks for freezing spinach to save time and money. Learning how to freeze spinach for smoothies, soups, and sauces is a great way to preserve this tasty staple of so many recipes.

four cubes of frozen spinach stacked on top of a muffin liner

Want to save this recipe?Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Email Save Recipe

Frozen veggies that are ready to be added to meals are incredible time savers. Having components ready to go to add to dinners or smoothies helps make your day just a little bit easier.

Of course, you can buy frozen spinach. But if your garden is producing more than you can eat, or you have a bag in the fridge you won’t be able to finish, freezing your own spinach helps reduce waste and saves money.

If you’re already googling things like “can you freeze spinach” like a cool kid, check out our posts on can you freeze kale and freezing swiss chard.

Can You Freeze Fresh Spinach?

Yes, absolutely! Fresh spinach often comes in huge bags and goes bad in the blink of an eye. Freezing fresh spinach is an easy way to prevent waste.

And because it’s so simple to do, you’ll never have to toss out wilted spinach again!

6 photos showing the steps to freezing fresh spinach

how long do you blanch spinach for freezing?

The spinach just needs two minutes in boiling water for the blanching process.

Do you blanch spinach before freezing?

Yes and no. It depends on how you want to use it. If you plan to use the frozen spinach within a few weeks, there is no need to blanch it first.

Unblanched spinach left in the freezer for too long will turn brown because of enzyme actions which will change the texture, flavor, and coloring.

frozen chunks of spinach in muffin liners.

Get my Canning e-book!

It’s 51 pages of every helpful tip and trick you could want as a brand new canner, AND it includes 13 ad-free canning recipes that are designed to take you from novice to pro.

Order Now 5 from 4 ratings

How to Freeze Spinach

By: Sarah CookServings: 4 Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 2 minutes Freezing time: 3 hours Total: 3 hours 12 minutes

Learn all the tips and tricks for freezing spinach to save time and money. Learning how to freeze spinach for smoothies, soups, and sauces is a great way to preserve this tasty staple of so many recipes.

Equipment

Saucepan
Mixing bowl
Cutting Board
Knife
Fine mesh strainer
Food processor {optional}

Ingredients 1x2x3x

▢ 20 oz spinach
▢ ice

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

How to Blanch Spinach

Wash spinach, discarding old leaves and woody stems.20 oz spinach
Fill a bowl halfway with ice water. Set aside.ice
In a large saucepan bring water to a boil. Add spinach, making sure it is all under the water and cook for 2 minutes.
Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove spinach and add to the ice water. Chill for 3 minutes.
Transfer chilled spinach to a strainer and allow it to drain.

How to Freeze Blanched Spinach

Squeeze excess water out of the spinach (I squeeze portions in my hand over the strainer).
Transfer to freezer containers or a muffin pan lined with parchment paper liners.
Freeze for 3 hours. If using the muffin pan method, transfer to freezer bags once spinach has frozen solid.

How to Freeze Unblanched Spinach

Place washed and dried spinach in a freezer bag.
Remove excess air from the bag and freeze for up to three months.

How to Freeze Spinach for Smoothies

Add unblanched spinach to a food processor or blender and a splash of water. Pulse and then gently blend.
Pour the puree into ice cube trays. Freeze for 3 hours and transfer to freezer containers.

Notes

Use unblanched spinach within 3 weeks.
Use pureed spinach within 3 months.
Blanched spinach should be used within 3-6 months.
There is no need to thaw the spinach before adding it to soups or sauces.
5 oz of spinach will wilt down to about 1 cup for freezing.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 33kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 4gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 112mgPotassium: 791mgFiber: 3gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 13292IUVitamin C: 40mgCalcium: 140mgIron: 4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: How ToCuisine: American Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!

Explore Recipes

How To TutorialsDairy FreeGluten FreeVeganVegetarianFreezer

Lodge Enameled Dutch Oven

Buy Now

Mesh Strainer

Buy Now

Souper Cubes – Large

Buy Now

Prep Once Cook Twice (cookbook)

Buy Now

Muffin Tin

Buy Now

Food Processor

Buy Now Like this recipe? Share it with friends!PinFacebookTweetYummlyEmail

About Sarah Cook

I'm here to help you make easy, seasonal, and no-fuss recipes for yourself and your family.

Whether it's a quick one-pot dinner or if I am teaching you how to can and preserve local produce, you can consider me your elder millennial grandma

Can You Freeze Kale

Freezing Cauliflower

frozen pucks of swiss chard on a beige plate

Freezing Swiss Chard

How to Freeze Corn on the Cob

a dark blue bowl filled with cloves of garlic and 2 heads of garlic.

Freezing Garlic

a baking sheet with chopped frozen onions on a piece of parchment

Freezing Onions

5 from 4 votes (2 ratings without comment)

9 Comments

The spinach cooking water will be super high in oxalates which cause medical problems for many people. It’s usually recommended that you discard the spinach cooking water, even though it may be high in some nutrients.
Reply
1. It is an excellent use for house plants in those cases.
  Reply
Just what I was looking for spinach came out perfect
Reply
1. I’m so glad I could help, Dee! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
  Reply
This has been very helpful. For some reason, it’s been almost impossible to find spinach in the frozen food aisle lately. I have a LOT of fresh baby spinach on hand that I need to use up, so finding this pin was quite timely. My morning smoothies say thank you.
Reply
1. I *might* know the answer to that or at least part of it. Because I listened to a supply chain podcast a few months ago and now I’m an “expert”. 🙂
  
  With the supply chain being so wonky, and droughts (or flooding like in the PNW) everywhere, FRESH produce was harder to find and more expensive. But frozen produce often has a 3-4 month inventory in the warehouses so those prices basically remained unchanged.
  
  So, when people couldn’t find fresh items or couldn’t afford them, they turned to frozen. And then probably got used to purchasing it. And now, that inventory is finally starting to catch up with the rest of the supply chain.
  Reply
Hi! Can I steam the spinach (for better digestion) and then blend it to add to ice cube trays for smoothies?
Reply
1. Absolutely! I would still dunk it in the ice water after steaming though.
  Reply
Our family garden has been spitting out leafy greens at an alarming rate. I used the method from this post to freeze swiss chard. It was easy, simple, and now I have a freezer full of greens for later!
Reply