I have had excellent results by chopping the whole bunch of cilantro into approximately 1 inch pieces and putting it all into the blender. Add approximately 1/2 cup of olive oil and turn the blender on to the lowest speed. Mine has a speed for chop and grate. You may have to carefully stir the top part to get it to rotate to the bottom of the blender. Be especially careful not to stir deep enough to touch the blender blades. It might be best to turn the blender off while doing this.
Stop the blender as soon as the entire bunch has reached the blades. The object is to achieve a coarse chop of all the cilantro. You don't want a puree. Remove the mixture from the blender and place in a container that closes tightly and store in the refrigerator. The oil and cilantro mixture will congeal. Then just spoon out as much as you need for your dish and stir it in.
I have only used this for dishes that I'm cooking but it has proven excellent for that. It will keep for months in the refrigerator.
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
This page contains the following solutions.
For your cilantro to last longer, put them with the roots in a cup or container of tap water and leave it on the kitchen window sill.
To keep cilantro from wilting after you bring it home from the store, stand the bunch in a glass of water and stick it in the fridge. It will stay fresh for a week+. The same holds true for parsley.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Any tips about how to keep cilantro fresh and crisp? I try to dry it and it becomes damaged, then smelly and mushy. If I leave it alone (moist), it gets smelly and mushy. I've tried green bags, paper towels, leaving the container open in the fridge to pull moisture out, but nothing seems to work.
By Sandra from San Diego, CA
I wash it, let it drain. While still damp I put in a gallon zip lock bag and use a straw and blow as much air "in" as possible. Put in fridge. It keeps for two weeks. It takes up a lot of room, but it's worth it to me.
I buy fresh with roots roots on. Put Cilantro in water in glass container. Cover with a brown paper bag. I purchase herbs at Farmers Market. Good luck.
I place any I know I won't use within a couple of days in a freezer bag, make sure as much air as possible is removed, and place in the freezer. It keeps really well for up to a couple of months and the beauty of doing that is that it crumbles easily with no need for chopping and still has a fresh flavor ;-)
I use a wide mouth jar, with about 1 inch of water. Trim the stems of the cilantro, and store in fridge in the jar. Put fresh water in about every 3 days.
I wash it first and put it on paper towel for like 2 to 3 hours on paper towel for dry. allow paper towel soak water on the cilantro, and then take another paper towel & put on it like separately not bunch of the cilantro. just spread on paper towel. and wrap it and put in one plastic bag and in fridge. Try it. I always do like that, and it keeps fresh about a week and half.
Grow a bunch from seeds and keep it in a sunny kitchen window then clip as much you need.
Wash and wrap in a paper towel (wet keeps paper towel moist ) then wrap in foil. Mine has stayed fresh for 4 weeks that way. My sister-n-law gave me this tip. Love it
Do I wash the cilantro first when I use the olive oil method for preserving?
You will need to wash and clean the cilantro. Place the cilantro on a paper towel to remove the excess water. Make sure the cilantro is dry before adding the olive oil to preserve your cilantro.
You should wash all herbs before you put them in olive oil.
it is always a good idea to wash herbs/plants/produce before you consume them due to pesticide residues, or other random pollutants from the area where it is grown. I can't think of one plant that would suffer from being first washed
Yes. It has to be washed and completely dry. I have best luck with mine when stored in the refrigerator.
Be cautious about preserving herbs and vegetables in oil. There is a risk of botulism, which can be deadly. Commercial kitchens use a different process which prevents botulism and other foodborne toxins.
"The safest recommendation is to freeze vegetables or herbs stored in oil. If the product is not frozen, it should be refrigerated and then either consumed within four days or discarded."
www.foodprotection.org/
Can cilantro be frozen?
By Joan from Harrisburg, PA
Yes, if you blanch it in boiling water for a few seconds then cool it fast in ice water then pat dry and freeze.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
Can anyone tell me how to keep fresh cilantro? When I buy it, there is so much in a bundle that I have trouble using it all before it starts to go bad.
They have a great deal on cilantro right now. What is the best way to preserve fresh cilantro in your refrigerator?
