There’s no reason for you to discard your leftover garden herbs from the summer. Try one of these three methods to store extra herbs easy and inexpensively.
Skip
Oven-Drying Herbs
- Place your herbs on a shallow cookie sheet (one-inch deep or less). For best flavor, keep the leaves whole until you are ready to use them.
- Place the cookie sheet with herbs in oven on low heat (about 175 degrees) until dry (approximately 1-2 hours). You’ll know the herbs are fully dry when they crumble easily.
Air-Drying Herbs
- Gather a handful of herbs and tie the stems together with string. Note that smaller bundles of herbs will dry faster.
- Put the herbs in a paper bag stem-side up (being careful not to crush the herbs), then close the opening of the bag.
- Poke a few ventilation holes in the paper bag and hang it by the stem end in a warm room with good ventilation. Herbs should be dry and ready to store in approximately 1-2 weeks, depending on the size of your bundle.
Freezing Herbs
- Wash herbs thoroughly.
- Shake or pat herbs to dry off any excess water.
- Place full or chopped herbs into freezer-safe bags, flattening the bag to remove air as you seal it shut. We recommend writing the date you froze the herbs on the front of the bag, so you know how long they’ve been frozen.
This article first appeared in the October 2020 edition of the HealthPerks newsletter.
