How to Freeze Spinach

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If you want to know how to freeze spinach, the method is short: pick young leaves, blanch them briefly in boiling water, cool them quickly in ice water, drain, pack with headspace, and freeze at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Blanching is the step that matters most. Heating the leaves slows the enzymes that otherwise cause loss of flavor, color, and texture in the freezer. The sources below agree on the method, but their blanching times differ slightly by altitude and by source, so the times are given with their context.

Quick answer

Blanch spinach in boiling water for 2 minutes, according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP). Colorado State Extension gives a split by elevation, shown below.
Cool the blanched leaves in ice water for the same amount of time as blanching, then drain them well.
Pack the spinach with 1/2-inch headspace and freeze it at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below.
Use frozen spinach within about one year, as University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension advises.

Start with young, tender leaves

Quality begins at harvest. The NCHFP freezing guidance on greens tells you to select young, tender green leaves, and to wash the leaves thoroughly and cut off any woody stems. Old, tough, or yellowing leaves do not freeze well and will taste bitter once cooked. Spinach that has wilted in the refrigerator for several days is also a poor choice, because the quality of the leaf will have declined before freezing begins.

Blanch for the right time

Blanching is the heat step that inactivates the enzymes responsible for spoilage in the freezer. The NCHFP page on greens says to water blanch most greens, including spinach, for 2 minutes in boiling water, and it lists collard greens separately at 3 minutes. The NCHFP blanching-times table places spinach under “All Other” greens at 2 minutes, and it notes that these times are for water blanching unless another method is stated.

Colorado State University Extension’s Preserve Smart greens page gives a different figure for spinach. It recommends blanching tender spinach in boiling water for 1.5 minutes below 5,000 feet and 2.5 minutes at 5,000 feet and above. That difference is useful to know if you cook at a high elevation, where water boils at a lower temperature and the leaves may need longer. Choose the time that matches your location, and use the same time for cooling.

The times in these sources are for water blanching. The NCHFP table says its times apply to water blanching unless another method is stated, so if you prefer steam, check a current extension guide for its time rather than assuming the same one works.

Cool, drain, and pack

Move the blanched spinach straight into ice water. Colorado State Extension says to cool in ice water, and it adds that cooling should take the same amount of time as blanching. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension says to plunge the leaves into ice water for the same amount of time. Stopping the cooking this quickly keeps the leaves bright green and prevents them from softening further in the pot.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ EatRight guidance on blanching describes a cold-water bath of 60 degrees Fahrenheit or below, and it recommends changing the water frequently or using about one pound of ice for each pound of vegetables to keep the water cold. A larger bowl of cold water with plenty of ice works better than a small bowl that warms as you add leaves.

Drain the cooled spinach well, then lay it on a clean towel or paper towels to dry. The NCHFP page instructs you to cool, drain, and package the spinach, leaving 1/2-inch headspace, then seal and freeze.

Pack the spinach in freezer bags or rigid containers. The EatRight guidance recommends food-safe plastic freezer bags or rigid containers before storing in the freezer. Press out the air from bags and label each package with the date, so that you know which batch to use first.

Freeze at 0 degrees or below

For more on keeping harvested produce in good shape before it reaches the freezer, see our how to store freshly harvested vegetables guide, and for other vegetables, our how to freeze vegetables from the garden guide.

Place the sealed packages in the freezer as quickly as possible. A freezer that stays at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below preserves quality, according to Colorado State Extension. Frozen spinach stored at a steady zero degrees keeps its best quality for a limited time, and most extension pages put that at about a year.

Colorado State Extension states that most frozen vegetables maintain high quality for 12 to 18 months at 0 degrees or below. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension says to use frozen spinach within one year. A conservative target of about 12 months gives a margin, and the NCHFP page links to a separate storage-time guide rather than giving a number on the freezing page itself.

The cooling water is the part of the process most likely to drift. EatRight advises changing the water frequently or adding ice, so check the bath between batches and keep it cold.

How we chose these sources

We limited this guide to university extension pages, the NCHFP, and one health-education resource for the cooling temperature. Each page was opened and read on 2026-10-27, and only statements that appeared in the fetched text are used here. Several search results were blog-style pages that cited the NCHFP without linking to it, so they were excluded. Commercial product pages were excluded, and this guide recommends no product.

Because freezing is a food-preservation method, the guide relies on at least three independent sources for each safety-related figure. The blanching time is reported by NCHFP, Colorado State, and Nebraska-Lincoln, with the differences shown. The 0 degree freezer temperature comes from Colorado State alone, because the other pages checked do not state one.

What we could not verify

The NCHFP page on the general freezing method was reachable, but the pages that give a full cooling water temperature and a storage time for spinach were not all readable. For that reason, this guide reports the storage time from extension sources rather than from the NCHFP page itself. The guide also does not give a cooling water temperature from an extension source, because the sources checked did not state one for spinach.

What the sources do not say

The NCHFP freezing page for spinach does not state a cooling water temperature or a freezer temperature. The Nebraska-Lincoln page does not state a freezer temperature. The sources do not give a specific number of spinach leaves per batch, so the guide does not offer one. Nutrient retention figures that appeared in some search results have no primary source here, so this guide does not repeat them.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to blanch spinach before freezing it?

The NCHFP guidance on greens calls for blanching, and the EatRight guidance describes blanching as the step that slows enzymes. Skipping it shortens the frozen storage life and changes the color and flavor.

How long should I blanch spinach?

The NCHFP page gives 2 minutes in boiling water for spinach. The Colorado State elevation split is covered in the blanching section above. Cool for the same amount of time you blanch.

What temperature should the freezer be for spinach?

Colorado State Extension gives 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below as the target. Keep the freezer at that setting and freeze the packages quickly.

How long does frozen spinach last?

Colorado State Extension states that most frozen vegetables keep high quality for 12 to 18 months at 0 degrees or below. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension advises using frozen spinach within one year, so the shorter figure is the safer target.

Why does blanching matter before freezing?

The NCHFP general freezing guidance says blanching slows or stops the action of enzymes, which cause loss of flavor, color, and texture. That is why the sources treat it as a required step rather than an optional one.

Sources

National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia, “Freezing Greens (Including Spinach)” https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/vegetable/freezing-greens-including-spinach/ (opened 2026-10-27)
National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia, “Blanching Times” https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/freeze-general-information/blanching-times/ (opened 2026-10-27)
Colorado State University Extension, Preserve Smart, “Freezing Greens” https://apps.chhs.colostate.edu/preservesmart/produce/freezing/greens/ (opened 2026-10-27)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, “Preserving Spinach and Other Greens” https://food.unl.edu/preserving-spinach-and-other-greens/ (opened 2026-10-27)
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, EatRight, “Blanch before you freeze” https://www.eatright.org/homefoodsafety/four-steps/refrigerate/blanch-before-you-freeze (opened 2026-10-27)