Kitchen Herb Care: Saving, Storing, Drying, & More!

Being resourceful in the kitchen often means getting the most out of a single ingredient. Using simple storage techniques, you can master keeping herbs fresh for weeks -- time enough to use every stalk, every leaf. 

When you learn how to dry herbs, you can extend the life of your kitchen garden and enrich your pantry with homegrown organics.

Amy Pennington's book Urban Pantry: Tips & Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen champions flavor-based kitchen economy, resourceful gourmet cooking on a budget.

Here's some tips from Amy's primer on keeping herbs fresh, making herbs last, drying herbs, and saving seed.

Fresh Herb Storage

Keeping herbs fresh is easy. Some herbs like fresh lovage, chervil, parsley, and basil keep best standing in water like cut flowers. Trim stems and stand the herbs in a glass filled with water to a depth of about 1 inch. Change water every other day to keep herbs fresh, trimming stems as needed.

Making herbs last in the fridge is a snap. Herbs like thyme, mint, sage, rosemary, and anise hyssop keep better when stowed cold. Wrap herbs in a layer of slightly damp napkin or paper towel. Store well-wrapped herbs in an airtight plastic bag in the fridge.

Herb Drying

Drying herbs requires a warm, dry place. Molds, bacteria, and yeast all thrive in moisture and can ruin herb-saving projects, so keep drying herbs dry. Drying time for most herbs is four to six days. Herbs are fully dry when they crumble easily to the touch.

There are two methods for drying herbs: hanging or tray drying.

For hanging herbs, tie the stems of the herbs together and hang from a hook in your ceiling until dry.

For tray drying, place herbs on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Turn them occasionally so moisture does not collect under the leaves.

To make herbs last once they are dry, crumble the leaves into a glass jar and store in your spice cupboard (which should be cool, dry, and far from any heat source.)

Saving Seeds

Some kitchen herbs are saved for their seed -- such as dill, parsley, and coriander.

Shake dried herb stalks over a paper bag: the seeds will collect in the bottom. Fennel pollen can be collected in the same fashion once it flowers in midsummer.  Store seeds as you would dried leaves -- in small glass spice jars.

In Urban Pantry Amy Pennington shares her tips for keeping a well-stocked spice cabinet. You can add flavor to your everyday cooking economically by saving seed and drying herbs from your own kitchen garden. Amy will teach you how to dry herbs as well as techniques for keeping herbs fresh and making herbs last in her book Urban Pantry.

—Adapted from Urban Pantry: Tips & Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen by Amy Pennington, $19.95 paperback

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