What if you could add a little sprinkle of summertime joy on your food fall/winter/spring long? Or, what if you could harvest the rest of your summer herbs and not let them wilt away? Now, what if you knew how simple it is to make your own herb salt using fresh herbs?
You see, I had no idea this could even be a thing! Previously, I would either dry herb leaves on a towel or puree and freeze. I mean, those two methods work. But herb salt? That’s a game-changer! And now I want to build a greenhouse and grow herbs year-round and rent a commercial kitchen and make all the seasonings and all the presents and well, you get the idea… it is so much fun! Just thinking about how I can now bottle it for gifts makes my heart sing!
May we just talk a second about how delightful this herb salt smells? Yesterday Dennis and I talked about how we were going for a walk once he got home and as soon as he walked through the door he said, “Never mind, I don’t want to walk now. I want to eat whatever it is that you just made. It smells awesome!”
First, let me introduce you to Shaye.
Homemade herb salt wasn’t my idea; it was Shaye from The Elliott Homestead’s idea. I was strolling through her beautiful YouTube channel and came across one on homemade flavored salts. She is inspiring. I swooned. I admired. I went into action. You see I don’t have a garden. Or foot-long rosemary stalks. Yet what I DO have is two pots of herbs and one rosemary bush. These pots don’t take up a lot of space on my porch and yet… they make me feel like a farmer. All summer long I “harvest” them during the week and previously, I would just let them go once they started to fade. Now I am preserving them for the months ahead. How fun is that?
Lots of herbs, small herbs, or no herbs?
Honestly, it doesn’t matter if your herb garden is huge when it comes to making your own herb salt. In fact, you don’t even HAVE to have an herb garden! I was in Walmart last week and saw little herb plants for $2(ish) and I know that my local nursery had them cheaper than that. If you’re lucky enough to live where there are international-type markets, often you can find huge bunches of fresh herbs at a fraction of the cost.
Prep, pulse, and bake.
Once you harvest your herbs (since you’re a farmer now and all that), wash them, remove the leaves, add garlic and sea salt and pulse them in a food processor. You can get creative with your herbs and make different seasonings focused on Greek, Italian, or French. You get the picture. For my first time I made an Italian blend with oregano, parsley, basil, thyme, chives, garlic, sage, rosemary and summer savory. Add the pulsed seasoning mix to a parchment-covered baking sheet and bake in the oven on low heat for a couple of hours. Who needs a Glade candle? You’ve got your homemade self-harvested seasoned salt.
Save some for you and then give some away.
After cooking the moisture out of the fresh herbs and garlic, I feel confident that my salt is ready for the months ahead. I kept a quart for myself and am getting ready to add a cute date and ingredient tag and put it down in the basement storage cellar area. A pretty jar of homemade herb salt is happily sitting in my pantry for everyday use. Last week I painted a cute jar with nail polish and customized a label for my niece’s birthday. Now she has a little jar of summer joy to season her food all winter long!
Looking ahead to next season.
Now that making homemade herb salt is on my radar and hopefully on yours, this is going to help guide me next year when it comes to planting herbs. I am already imagining the combinations! I truly hope this has inspired you as Shaye has inspired me.
What fresh herbs do you have still growing?
Warmly,
Lyndi
Make Your Own Herb Salt
Ingredients
- 1 cup Himalayan pink sea salt (or regular sea salt)
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 5 handfuls fresh herbs such as oregano, parsley, thyme, summer savory, dhives, sage, rosemary
Instructions
- Place herbs in a colander and gently rinse in the sink.
- Strip the leaves off the herbs and place them in a food processor.
- Add salt to processor and pulse thoroughly, approximately 3 minutes.
- Cover sheet pan with parchment paper and add salt mixture. Spread evenly.
- Bake for 2 hours at 170 degrees. Remove from oven.
- Once cooled, add back to food processor and pulse until desired texture.
