How to Make Herb Salt with Garden Fresh Herbs
It never fails that each year, my container herb garden is flourishing by the end of the growing season.
I have been an urban vegetable gardener for many seasons, but I am still pleasantly surprised by how many herbs I can grow in my small space garden.
It’s incredibly simple to do – and the convenience of having herbs just outside my kitchen door rather than having to purchase overpriced herb packets from the store makes it more than worth it.
The only problem – and it’s actually not a problem – is that my herb garden produces so much that it can be challenging to use all those fresh herbs.
So, over the years I began looking for ways to preserve my herbs, and one of my personal favorites is creating flavored herb salts that can be used throughout the year – and gifted if you’re in the sharing mood.
Below are the steps I take to create my herb salts.
Herb Salt Step-by-Step Guide
What’s great about using herbs in salt is that you can make many different variations – the recipe is very customizable.
In this recipe, I share how to make an all purpose herb salt, but you could create salt blends to complement specific dishes and flavors.
Perhaps a parsley, basil, and oregano blend for pastas and a mint with parsley blend for roasted lamb.
Whatever variation you choose, these herb salts are fantastic on roasted meats and vegetables or even in a winter stew.
There are so many possibilities!
Herb Salt Ingredients
This is a bit obvious – you need herbs and salt.
But like I said, you can use any blend of herbs you want.
In my all purpose herb salt, I use parsley, thyme, oregano, chives, and rosemary.
If I want something more savory for winter dishes, I will add in sage. For summer dishes, I’ll opt for basil and a hint of mint.
You can also add in garlic, citrus zest, red pepper flakes, or ginger. You’ll just need to adjust the drying time – more on that later.
For the salt, you can use either finely ground or coarse. You could even use different varieties of salt if you’d like to get creative.
Herb Salt Recipe Steps
- Harvest and Prepare Herbs:
- Use about two cups of fresh herbs for every one cup of salt. If you use coarse salt, a 1:1 ratio will be better.
- Remove woody stems but keep tender stems.
- For herbs like rosemary, thyme, and mint, consider using smaller quantities as they can be overpowering.
- Prepare Optional Additives:
- Zest citrus fruits (lemon, lime, orange) for added flavor and aroma..
- Garlic is a good addition or you could consider ginger.
- Combine in a Food Processor:
- If you’re using garlic, start by adding the salt and garlic in a food processor. Blend briefly.
- Add in the herbs – you may need to do this in small batches depending on the size of your food processor. Blend until evenly chopped and mixed. Scrape down the sides to blend evenly.
- Finally, add additional ingredients like zest or red pepper flakes and pulse briefly.
- Drying Process:
- The herb salt can be used after blending and kept in the refrigerator. If you’d like it to look more like a traditional dry salt blend and be shelf stable, you will need to dry it. The best way to do this is to use a dehydrator, but it can also be done in the oven.
- If using a dehydrator, spread the herb salt in a thin layer on the tray. If you only have herbs and salt, dehydrate at 110°F and check every 3 – 4 hours. If you added in garlic, zest, or any other optional ingredients, dehydrate at 125°F.
- If using an oven, warm the oven and then turn it off before putting in the herb salt. Let the mixture dry overnight in the closed oven with the oven light on.
- You could also dry the mixture on a countertop, but it will take longer.
- How to Store Herb Salt:
- Once fully dry, store the salt in an airtight container.
- Herb salt can be shelf-stable for up to a year.
It’s really that easy!
Like I said, I encourage you to be creative! Create small batch blends to use for various recipes.
In addition to cooking with herb salts, I love to gift these to loved ones – they always find them to be so special.
I hope you make good use of your herb salt!
