Direct skin contact with fresh stinging nettles is never a fun experience—it’s literally a pain! Because of that, plenty of backyard gardeners do everything they can to keep this plant far away from their flower beds. But on the flip side, many gardeners actually cultivate them on purpose to use as a powerful medicinal herb. By freezing your nettles the right way, you can keep this “superfood” on hand all year long.
What are the benefits of stinging nettles?
Since not everyone realizes that stinging nettle is actually a healing herb, let’s talk about why you’d want it in your kitchen in the first place. It’s been used to help treat or soothe several health issues, including:
- Rheumatic complaints
- Urinary tract infections
- Joint pain and inflammation
- Overactive bladder
- Prostate issues
Harvesting and freezing
To get the most bang for your buck after thawing, you want to harvest your nettles when they are at their peak. This usually happens between April and June. That’s the sweet spot for harvesting—later in the year, the plant loses some of its potency and the leaves start to get a bit too fibrous. And a pro tip: because of those stinging hairs, definitely wear thick gloves and long sleeves when you’re out cutting them! Here’s how to prep them:
- Give the plants a good cleaning.
- Give them a rough chop.
- If you’re planning on using them for smoothies or mixing them with spinach, feel free to include the stems.
Once they’re prepped, just pop the pieces into a freezer-safe container or a freezer bag. Since nettles don’t have a super strong flavor to begin with, you’ll want to freeze them immediately after cutting. This also helps lock in as much Vitamin C as possible.
Drying stinging nettles
Freezing isn’t always the best option for preserving your harvest. For example, if you love brewing a warm cup of nettle tea during the winter, dried is the way to go. Dried nettles are also much easier to use as a kitchen spice. To dry them, you can either hang them in small bundles in a shady spot or spread them out on a drying rack.
Other ways to use them
Beyond smoothies, teas, and spices, stinging nettles are a fantastic addition to all sorts of veggie casseroles. They also work great in soups—you can add a handful to a veggie soup or even make a dedicated stinging nettle soup. Just a heads-up: for a pure nettle soup, fresh plants usually taste a bit better than frozen ones because the flavor is much more intense.
