Homemade Herb Salt is the perfect way to preserve your fresh garden herbs and flavor all kinds of meals. Made with rosemary and thyme, these two blends are delightfully herbaceous, easy to make, and perfect for giving away as gifts.
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Nothing says “fresh” quite like herbs picked right from the garden. Those beautiful flavors are the key to taking a Roasted Chicken or Pork Tenderloin from good to great in no time. But when gardening season comes to an end, what are you supposed to do with bunches of leftover herbs?
I’ll tell you what: make Homemade Herb Salt! All you need is sea salt, rosemary, and thyme. These herbaceous infused salts not only preserve your favorite herbs but also taste wonderful and make for easy, foolproof gifts. Sprinkle a little on anything, from eggs to meat to pasta.
Do you need a gift for the foodie in your life or want to add a DIY spin on your wedding favors? Gift these jars of homemade herb salt! Nothing quite says “I care” than hand-mixing garden-fresh herbs with gorgeous sea salt.
What is herb sea salt?
Homemade herb salt is made by mixing sea salt together with fresh or dried herbs. It’s a great way to preserve fresh herbs or infuse salty and herbaceous flavors into food at the same time.
DIY herb salt ingredients
- Sea salt – Use your favorite coarse sea salt, Kosher salt, or Himalayan sea salt. Table salt won’t work for this recipe.
- Rosemary – Fresh or dried.
- Thyme – Fresh or dried.
How to make homemade herb salt
A good rule of thumb to use when making an herb salt recipe is to use 1 cup of salt per 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs or 1 teaspoon of dried herbs. This way, the infused salt is well balanced and won’t be overwhelmed with herbs or only taste of salt.
Both blends are really easy to make:
Step 1: If using fresh herbs, wash and dry them well (moisture will make the salt clumpy). Separate the leaves from the stems and keep the rosemary and thyme in separate small bowls.
Step 2: Place the sea salt and rosemary in a food processor or blender. Pulse until the salt and rosemary have ground up to your liking.
Step 3: Repeat the process with the thyme. If you plan on using the herb salts right away, bottle the salt blends and put them in your cupboard or give them away as gifts.
Step 4 (optional): If you made the herb salt with fresh herbs, you can prolong the shelf life by drying out the salt. Do this by either pouring the salt into an even layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and letting it sit at room temperature for a few days. To speed up the process, transfer the baking sheet with the salt to a 200ºF oven until the salt is dry to the touch (about 1 hour).
How do you use homemade herb salt?
Use your herb salt after 1 or 2 days so the flavors have time to get to know each other. Just a sprinkle goes a long way! These are my favorite ways to use homemade rosemary salt and thyme salt:
- On avocado toast.
- Mixed into a dry rub for roasts, chicken, duck, or pork.
- In stuffed pepper soup.
- Sprinkled on fried or scrambled eggs.
- On crispy roasted potatoes.
- To season steak.
- To flavor morning egg bites.
- On homemade hummus.
- Sprinkled on pasta.
- On grilled meats and veggie kabobs.
More herb salt flavor variations
Herb salt is so much fun to make and can take on any flavor you desire! Combine sea salt with any of these herbs and seasonings:
- Oregano
- Sage
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Mint
- Dill
- Parsley
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Citrus zest
- Curry
- Za’atar
Don’t feel like you have to make one variety at a time! Add two or more herbs and seasonings to the batch to create your perfect blend.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between sea salt and regular salt?
Sea salt and regular table salt are processed differently and are different in taste and texture. Sea salt is much more coarse and strongly flavored because it comes from evaporated sea water. Table salt is heavily processed to remove minerals and has a milder flavor.
How long does infused salt last?
Infused sea salt with fresh herbs will last for about 2 to 3 weeks if it hasn’t been dried out. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.
If you dried the herb salt or made it with dried herbs, it will last for 6 months to a year.
And finally, these are the airtight food storage jars with bamboo lids I used. They are 6oz and perfect for small batch seasoned salt. They come with labels but I decided to make my own 🙂
Still have bunches of fresh herbs leftover? Use them up in these recipes:
Homemade Herb Salt
Ingredients
- 16 oz coarse sea salt or Himalayan salt
- 1 tbsp fresh or dried rosemary
- 1 tbsp fresh or dried thyme
Instructions
- Use 1 cup of coarse salt per 1 tbsp of herb, stems removed.
- Add 1 cup (8oz) of coarse sea salt to food processor. Add 1 tbsp of rosemary and pulse until the salt and rosemary have ground up to your desired texture (about 1 minute)
- Repeat the process with thyme.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
