Nothing, and I mean NOTHING…
Compares to the flavors of fresh herbs picked footsteps from your door. This morning I tip-toed out on my front deck to pick fresh sage leaves for the pork chop recipe I was putting in the crockpot, and momentarily mourned the fact I can’t enjoy those flavors all year long…
The first thing I’m doing once our home addition project is complete is setting up some windowsill herb gardens so we have fresh herbs all year long. (Previously, my south-facing windows have not been conducive to growing stuff…)
Herbs seem to either be feast or famine. I either have an obscene amount of fresh parsley, or none all all. There are plenty of different ways to preserve fresh herbs for later, but I recently stumbled upon a technique I hadn’t previously used (I know, I must live under a rock, huh?)
Preserving herbs in salt is an old method that works beautifully for two reasons:
a) it’s fast and easy
b) it’s delicious
What more do you need? Although I’ll still probably dry my herbs or save them in oil, this is officially my new favorite way to preserve herbs.
The Best Herbs for Herb Salt
Honestly? Anything will work. My herb salt is pretty heavy on the parsley, because I have parsley coming out my ears, but I also toss in handfuls of whatever else I have growing. Just think about the herbs you like to eat together, and make your custom herb salt blends according to what your palate prefers. Here are a few good options, but the sky’s the limit:
- Parsley
- Dill
- Mint
- Oregano
- Sage
- Thyme
- Cilantro
- Rosemary
- Basil
Homemade Herb Salt Recipe
- 3 loosely-packed cups of fresh herbs of your choice (see list above)
- 1/2 cup coarse salt
Wash the herbs and remove coarse stems and any discolored leaves. Dry thoroughly.
Place the herbs and salt in a food processor and pulse until you have a coarse grind. Be careful not to make a paste or puree, though.
Don’t want to use a food processor? No worries. Simply grab your knife and cutting board and go crazy. Coarsely chop the leaves, then add the salt on top and continue to chop the salt/herbs together until you have a coarse, uniform mixture.
Place the herb mixture in a glass jar, and place in the fridge for 7-14 days to let the flavors meld. Give it a shake every day or so.
Store in the fridge. The salt in this recipe acts as a preservative, so your herbs should last 6 months, or even longer.
Use your homemade herb salt in any recipes that would benefit from an extra punch. Obviously, it is very salty, so I would start by using it 1:1 for the salt in your recipes. Rub it on roasts, sprinkle it in stews, slather it on your chickens before roasting them… You get the idea!
Homemade Herb Salt Recipe Notes:
- Use coarse sea salt, kosher salt, or canning/pickling salt for this recipe. This is the coarse sea salt I love (affiliate link).
- There are many different techniques to make homemade herb salt. Some folks layer whole herbs in salt, some folks dry the mixture before jarring it, etc. I like this method because it’s fast and easy, but feel free to experiment.
- 3 loosely-packed cups of fresh herbs of your choice. Parsely, oregano, basil, mint, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, and/or dill are all great choice.
- ½ cup coarse salt (like this)
- Wash the herbs and remove coarse stems and any discolored leaves. Dry thoroughly.
- Place the herbs and salt in a food processor and pulse until you have a coarse grind. Be careful not to make a paste or puree, though.
- Don't want to use a food processor? No worries. Simply grab your knife and cutting board and go crazy. Coarsely chop the leaves, then add the salt on top and continue to chop the salt/herbs together until you have a coarse, uniform mixture.
- Place the herb mixture in a glass jar, and place in the fridge for 7-14 days to let the flavors meld. Give it a shake every day or so.
- The salt in this recipe acts as a preservative, so your herbs should last 6 months, or even longer.
- Use your homemade herb salt in any recipes that would benefit from an extra punch. Rub it on roasts, sprinkle it in stews, slather it on your chickens before roasting them... You get the idea!
Would you keep this in the fridge for the 6 months, or can it then go into the cupboard?
Store it in the fridge for the whole time. 🙂
Jill, you never cease to amaze me! You are a wealth of knowledge for this fledgling homesteader. Going to try this with my own abundance of parsley. What’s your secret with growing sage? I always kill it and never grow the plant bigger than when i bought it.
Thanks for the recipe!
Well, I wish I had some magic sage tips, but I just usually buy the seedling and stick it in my planter, hehe. It doesn’t grow as big as my parsley, but does OK. Now my cilantro, is a different story. Can’t seem to keep that stuff alive!
sage does very well for me. I grow from seed in hanging baskets in a part sun area. I probably err on the side of less watering because I always forget the baskets lol. This idea of the herbs in salt is brilliant. I have way too much basil sage and oregano right now so I will make some up today.
Thanks!
my mom has a sage plant that keeps coming back every year. It’s nearly knee high and 3-4 ft around. She tried to transplant it and nearly killed it. It likes the crappy soil and being in front of a south facing brick wall in a sheltered nook here in Ontario.
I have had an herb garden for years. How have I never made this? I am going to try it ASAP, probably today! You are right about herbs being feast or famine. Thanks for the great post!
I know– I missed it too, until now!
I am Acadian by heritage and this is a typical Acadian recipe- known around here as “Herbes Salées”, though I have never made my own as I am just learning about different herbs now and how to grow them. I just buy this in jars from the grocery store. 🙂 Nice to know ‘how-to’!
Very cool to know its “real” name! 🙂
Hey Jill, when your preserving your herbs in oil are you talking about just sticking them in a jar with olive oil? I have been just plain old drying them chopping them and storing in pantry to use all winter. Is that ok or am I poisoning my family….lol
P.S. I am new to your site and love it, prefect for my life style and our farm.
Thanks for all the great info!!~
Leslie
Yes, you can put them in olive oil and I’ve tried freezing them in ice cube trays in the oil. Kinda handy. But drying them is totally fine, too!
Jill, I love this idea and wish I’d known about it sooner. Thank you for an excellent tip. I also wish I could share all my sage with you and your readers, as it is taking over whole swaths of my yard. No secret to growing sage except neglect!
I’ll trade you some of your sage for my parsley! 😉
Jill, why, if the salt is a preservative, does it need to be in the fridge? If one dried the herbs first, and then mixed w/salt, could it go in the pantry/cupboard?
Thank you for all your information!!
If you dried the herbs first, you wouldn’t really need to mix it with the salt.
There are methods that have you mix the minced herbs and salt together, then dry on a cookie sheet. Since ALL the moisture is removed that way, you can store that type of herb salt in the pantry. However, since these are fresh herbs with some moisture still in them, it’s best to keep them in the fridge.
Loving the info! I wanted to ask, have you ever experienced salt preserved this way go bad because it was stored in the cupboard?
Thanks in advance.
Wow!
I also never new of this way to preserve herbs! I’m going out back and start picking!
Thank you Jill!
Enjoy Nancy!
Jill you are truly an inspiration to many! I absolutely love this idea of preserving my herbs and I too must live under a rock because it’s the first I’ve heard. Thanks for your work, information and passion for life on a homestead!
Don’t worry Kimberly– I had been missing the boat on it, too! 🙂
I like the idea of preserving in salt. It set me to thinking that, since we count on sugar to preserve preserves, could we use coarse sugar to preserve the “sweet” herbs/spices? What do you think? I mean other than “who is this crazy old woman?”.
Hmmm… interesting idea! I know the salt works because of it’s specific preservative properties, and not sure sugar would quite have the same action. But, would be interesting to experiment!
My parsley has already gone to seed. I tried drying in the freezer, hanging it upside down, and drying it in a paper bag with holes in it. I failed miserably on all accounts. Have to limit salt intake, soooo, any other suggestions?
Hi Karen,
I dry all of my herbs – oregano, marjoram, sage, tarragon, rosemary, parsley, thyme, etc, this way: (If possible, cut herbs when most flavorful.) Wash selected herbs gently (attached to their stems) in sink or large basin filled with water. Remove and let drain in collander, or, wrap in toweling to blot away most of water. Set up a drying area on a table by spreading a sheet or terry toweling over plastic (to protect table from moisture). Lay out the herbs thinly so that each stem can dry individually. Depending on the humidity and temperature of the room, this could take a few days or up to 2 weeks. When herbs are completely dry and brittle, store in large plastic food storage bags and label. To use: take out several dried stems and strip leaves into a bowl. Store the leaves in a tightly lidded jar in cupboard for everyday use. The herbs left whole, on their stems, will keep their flavor much longer, up to 2 years.
You can take more salt. I make sole water from naturally processed Mediterranean and Himalayan salt. Then I put 50 ml of sole in a quart of water and wait 1 day for the sole to structure the water. I drink 3 quarts a day. That is 36 grams of salt. The sole changes salt and water into a super natural miracle. Study sole water, Arizona magnetite sand, and ormus.
Thanks! I’m always looking for ways to preserve the bounty from my herb garden.
I also discovered the herb salt idea last year. However, after mixing I dehydrate the herb mix. That way it can stay on the counter. Mold has not been a problem.
How long do you dehydrate
Thanks,Thanks for salt and fresh herbs,this will do well with my parsley because i have it growing all over the place. I have a question? Can i use sugar and mint like this because i have mint all over the place. Thanks for all your information.YOU ROCK GIRL LOL
Guess what I’ll be doing tonight with the TONS of parsley (and rosemary, dill, sage, cilantro, basil, etc.) I have! I bet this is great and what a wonderful way to preserve those delicious herbs from the garden. This could even make a cute gift idea in the right packaging. Thank you!
My friend makes this all the time. She is from Quebec and grew up doing this her whole life. She puts carrot in hers too. What do you think? I see recipes where a clove of garlic is added, also lemon zest sometimes.
Regarding using sugar. I’ve made some Rose petal sugar, Lavender sugar, Mint sugar, Lemon zest sugar and Orange peel sugar this past weekend, as a fun project with my 4year old daughter. I dry the specific herb or fruit with my hydrator and add to a cup and a half of sugar. You can mix a powder colourant as well to make it all pretty and store it in a glass jar. Shake for a few days and leave for about 2weeks for the fragrance to set in. Wonderful in making ice teas,cookies,scones,cake,anything that takes sugar.