Once upon a time, I bought a big jar of Costco pesto – thinking it was such a great deal! I only used about 4 tbsp of the pesto and then the rest of the pesto sat there in the jar in the fridge for a week. Then I thought I was being smart by putting the entire jar in the freezer for future use. BIG MISTAKE. A month later, when I took the jar out, needing only 4 tbsp of pesto again, I couldn’t dig the pesto out. I ended up throwing the entire jar away because it technically already expired and I didn’t think I should thaw and refreeze. Now I spoon tablespoonfuls of pesto into an ice cube tray first, and two cubes is about all I need for a batch of 20 Minute Pesto Pasta with Beans and Sausages. Five minutes of spooning saved me a whole jar!
TIPS
- You can skip the plastic wrap if you want. I did the first time and the tray came out so oily it took real scrubbing, and the cubes did not want to come loose. The wrap makes them peel right off.
- If you only have one ice cube tray like me, freeze a batch, bag the cubes, then refill the tray. A 22 oz jar took me about three rounds.
- Do not thaw the cubes. I drop one straight into the hot pan or into the drained pasta and it melts in under a minute, the same way I cook frozen ground beef right in the Instant Pot.
- This works for any sauce you buy in a jar bigger than you need. I do the same thing with leftover homemade pizza sauce.
- Squeeze the air out of the ziploc and write the date on it. Mine stay good about three months before the green starts going dull. If anyone knows how to keep them greener, let me know!
5 Minute Freezer Pesto Cubes
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top of an empty ice cube tray and press it down into each hole.
- Spoon the pesto into each lined hole, about 1 to 2 tablespoons per cube.
- Smooth the tops with the back of the spoon so the cubes freeze flat.
- Freeze the tray for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Lift the whole sheet of plastic wrap out of the tray and peel the frozen cubes off of it.
- Drop the cubes into a ziploc freezer bag, squeeze out the air, and write the date on the bag.
- If you only have one tray, refill it and repeat until the jar is empty.
- Use the cubes straight from frozen. Drop one into a hot pan or into drained pasta and stir until it melts.
