How to Preserve Herbs

Love it? Share it!

You’re at the grocery store and that dill comes as a really big bunch. You cringe. It seems like a waste to pay for that much dill when you really only need “1 tablespoon of chopped dill”. You buy it, make your recipe, and two weeks later you throw away the leftover dill that has shriveled up or rotted away. It reminds you all over of standing in the grocery store imagining the waste except now it has happened. Many of us don’t think about the fact that we can preserve our own herbs in the freezer or by drying them. It’s never been easier either. Today there are many great gadgets and tools to make preserving herbs a snap.

I want to talk about how to preserve herbs today because part of being a frugal foodie is knowing how to maximize your budget and still eat well. Since I bought salmon for a really great deal last week I also bought dill. While I was buying dill I saw that parsley was a great deal so I bought that too. The new Ball Frozen Herb Starters I was sent for  review are really going to come in handy with all these fresh herbs I am getting good deals on.

How to Preserve Herbs in the Freezer

• Use fresh herbs
• Clean herbs
• Chop herbs
• Freeze them in water or try one of these great recipes for a perfect meal starter
• You can download herb freezer labels here.

I started out with parsley cubes in water this time because I love using fresh parsley in my winter soups. Since I use approximately 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley every batch of soup, I put 2 tablespoons chopped parsley in each cube and filled it with water. I popped them in the freezer and now have enough parsley cubes for 9 batches of soup. I love that the Ball 5-Blade Herb Scissors make the job so much quicker.

The next time I preserve my herbs I am going to show my kids how to do it. The scissors are safe and easy to use, and even my 6 year old will be able to chop herbs with them. With her chopping them and another following the easy to read directions on assembly, it will free my hands up to do some kitchen tasks they just can’t do yet, like drying the herbs.

How to Dry Herbs

• Use fresh herbs
• Clean herbs
• Chop herbs
• Dry herbs

There are many methods for drying herbs. You can dry some herbs by hanging them upside down in bunches. I’ve also seen oven drying methods and paper bag methods However, I have a dehydrator so for me the easiest method is to pop everything into the dehydrator trays and plug it in. Why would I go to all the work of drying my own herbs when it’s so easy to pick up inexpensive jars at the grocery store?

By buying my own fresh herbs and drying them I control the quality of my product from start to finish. I don’t know how many times I have bought grocery store herbs, even the ones in that pretty red bottle, and had them be flavorless or papery tasting. Yuck. Who wants to make a fresh made meal with sub par seasonings? Not me. Drying herbs is just about as easy as buying them and they taste so much fresher.

Until now I have been putting my herbs into plastic bags or Ball pint jarsbut now I don’t have to. Ball sent me a few of their dry herb jars with shaker lids and I am so excited about these. They look really nice and the shaker on top is an added bonus. My parsley is drying and I can’t wait to use these new jars. I’m planning to replace almost all my current jars for these pretty little ones.

What herbs do you use the most?  What’s holding you back from drying or freezing your own herbs? Check out the Ball Preserving Giveaway we are hosting here for a chance to win these items and more. Also make sure to check out International Can-it-Forward Day on August 1, 2014 at freshpreserving.com.

Real: The Kitchen and Beyond is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Love it? Share it!