Frozen Cooking Greens

Kale, chard, collards, or spinach blanched and frozen in ready-to-use pucks — winter soups, pastas, and braises never run out of greens.

30 min Easy Two pounds of greens cooks down to about four 1-cup pucksVegetarianVeganGluten-freeDairy-free

Ingredients

one batch

2 lb cooking greens (kale, chard, collards, spinach), washed well, tough stems stripped out

tap a step to dim it as you go

Wash the greens in a big bowl of cold water, lifting them out so the grit stays behind — repeat until the water runs clean. Strip out tough midribs and stems and tear big leaves in half.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and set a big bowl of ice water beside it. Work in batches loose enough that the greens can move freely.
Blanch each batch 2 minutes from the moment the greens hit the water — collards get 3 minutes — pushing them under with a spider. Blanching keeps frozen greens green and sweet instead of muddy and bitter.
Scoop straight into the ice water and chill for the same time they boiled. Drain, then squeeze the greens firmly by the handful into balls, pressing out as much water as you can.
Pack the squeezed balls into freezer bags — one ball is roughly a cup of cooked greens — press out the air, seal, and label with the type and date.