Oven-Dried Herbs
Every time I dry herbs at home—due to having a surplus, or a little time on my hands, or any other reason—I think, “I need to tell people about this.” It always feels like a secret I didn’t know I was keeping, the aromatic experience, and how rewarding it is, too, whittling down that tangle of leaves and stems into a tidy little jar that’ll keep for many months. Recently I’ve been looking back on some my early recipes, and I noticed that even in my first book about veggie burgers (and in subsequent books as well), I told readers about how great it is to dry your own herbs. I guess it just always feels like a revelation.
There are lots of ways to do it—from tying them up into a tight bundle and pinning them to a ceiling beam in a dry basement, to zapping them for a few seconds in the microwave—but this oven method has been working very well for me this year. It doesn’t require too much heat, it’s mostly hands-off, and happens relatively quickly.
This summer I dried marjoram and oregano, herbs I got at the farmers market and ran out of ideas for using while fresh, and with little jars of them next to my salt and pepper, these earthy, floral accents are finding their way into all kinds of dishes, from scrambled eggs and bowls of beans, to slabs of feta freshened up with a little olive oil and lemon zest. I’m sure you’ll find fun things to do with them as well.
Oven-Dried Herbs
This simple method starts with a jolt of heat, and then allows an hour or so of declining temperature to fully dry the herbs. It may first seem that it’ll be annoying to separate all the leaves from the stems, but by drying sprigs whole, you then can crumble them right off.
Variable yield
1 bunch fresh leafy herbs (oregano, thyme, marjoram, parsley, mint, basil, etc)
Wash your herbs and then spin, and gently blot, them dry.
Preheat your oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then set a cooling rack on top of it. Arrange the herbs over the cooling rack, spacing them out in an even layer.
Transfer to the preheated oven, close the door, and turn it off. Leave the herbs there for 2 hours and up to overnight, until they’re curled, completely dry, and crisp. If they aren’t fully dried out when you first check on them, simply leave them in the oven longer. You can speed things along by applying more heat, but if you do, remove the tray while the oven preheats, then repeat as before.
To separate the leaves from the stems, carefully lift the cooling rack off the parchment, and working stem by stem, gently swipe or crumble the leaves onto the parchment paper. They should come off easily, leaving the stems clean. Once all the dried leaves are on the parchment, use it as a chute to transfer them to a small, airtight jar.