How do I preserve fresh herbs?
Freezing, drying and preserving herbs in oil or salt, and which method suits which herb.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 30 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Freeze soft herbs like parsley, coriander and basil chopped in oil in an ice cube tray. Dry woody herbs like rosemary, thyme and oregano by hanging them. Soft herbs do not dry well and woody herbs do not need freezing — matching the method to the herb is the whole thing.
Herbs divide into soft and woody, and they preserve in opposite ways. Soft herbs have delicate aromatics that survive freezing but disappear on drying; woody herbs have more robust oils that concentrate as they dry.
What you'll need
- Ice cube tray
- Olive oil
- String for drying
- Freezer bags (optional)
- Salt for herb salt (optional)
Step by step
- Sort the herbs into soft and woody.Soft: parsley, coriander, basil, dill, chives, mint. Woody: rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, bay.
- For soft herbs, chop and pack into an ice cube tray with olive oil.Oil rather than water — it protects the herb from freezer burn and the cube goes straight into a hot pan.
- Freeze the tray, then pop the cubes into a labelled bag.Label with the herb. Frozen green cubes are indistinguishable.
- For woody herbs, tie them in small bunches and hang somewhere warm, dark and airy.Small bunches. Large ones go mouldy in the middle before they dry.
- Leave them one to two weeks until they crumble easily.They should be brittle. Anything still flexible is not dry enough to store.
- Strip the leaves and store them whole in an airtight jar away from light.Whole leaves keep their aroma far longer than crushed ones. Crush when you use them.
- For a herb salt, blitz woody herbs with coarse salt and spread it out to dry.The salt draws out the moisture and preserves the flavour. Excellent on roast vegetables and meat.
- Label everything with the herb and the date.Dried herbs lose potency after about a year and become indistinguishable from each other.
Tips
- Herb stalks freeze well too and are excellent in stock — coriander and parsley stalks in particular have a lot of flavour.
- Basil discolours when chopped and frozen but keeps its flavour. Blitzing it into a rough pesto and freezing that works better.
- Never dry soft herbs in a warm oven — they lose almost all their aroma and end up as green dust.
Common mistakes
- Drying soft herbs — Their aromatics are volatile and largely disappear. Freeze them instead.
- Freezing herbs in water — Ice crystals damage the cells and the herb goes limp and dull. Oil protects them.
- Drying herbs in large bunches — The middle stays damp and goes mouldy before the outside dries.
Questions people ask
Can I freeze basil?
Yes, though it discolours. Chopping it into oil in an ice cube tray keeps the flavour well. Making a rough pesto and freezing that gives a better result if you have a lot.
How long do dried herbs last?
Whole dried leaves keep reasonable flavour for about a year. Crushed or ground, considerably less. Smell is the test — no aroma means no flavour.