Summertime is when basil is in season, and maybe you have way more basil than you can eat fresh. First, it's a great problem to have! There are many ways to preserve basil so you can use them through the year. In this post, I wanted to share two ways to dry basil leaves!
This post contains helpful tips and tricks! If you're in a rush, please use the "Jump to Recipe" link!
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💭 Why dry basil?
It prolongs the life of this beautiful summertime herb. There's a lot of confusion around how and when to use the fresh form vs. the dry form. Typically, the dried version is more concentrated in it's flavor, but it's not exactly the same flavor as the fresh form.
So if you're trying to preserve the flavor closest to the fresh form, drying basil is not the way to go. Instead, I recommend these three options:
- Make and freeze pesto. Through the year, I love having basil pesto in the freezer - either as a traditional pesto alla Genovese, or more untraditional varieties, like broccoli pesto.
- Freeze fresh basil leaves. It's actually super simple to freeze fresh basil leaves, and then you maintain them in the freshest form.
- Freeze basil as herb bombs. This requires a bit more thinking in terms of how you chop the basil, but it's an amazing way to prevent food waste and store the basil in a way that's more convenient to use!
That said, you're probably here because you're trying to dry basil so you have a handy stock at hand. Make sure to read through to the end to pick up tips on how to maximize flavor because, the homemade version is still wayyyyy better than storebought!
📋 Ingredients and notes
You'll need a bunch of basil leaves and a microwave oven, a regular oven, or a dehydrator oven. I'll cover the microwave and oven methods in this post.
Tips for picking basil
- Pick the basil right before you're about to dry them. This makes sure that the leaves stay fresh and don't shrivel up on themselves.
- Remove the stems from the basil leaves - I just pinch the leaf off.
- Rinse the basil with cool water, but make sure to remove excess water. I typically just pat them dry with a clean towel. Any moisture leftover will cook your basil, instead of drying it. Not what we're going for!
📖 Drying basil leaves in an oven
- Preheat the oven to the lowest setting possible (in my oven it's 175°F but try to keep it under 180°F) - if your lowest oven setting is higher, leave the oven door slightly open to keep the temperature down.
- Spread the basil leaves in a single, even layer on your baking sheet, making sure that they don't overlap. This restricts air flow, so you want to make sure it's all in a single layer.
- I had to dry my basil at 175°F for about 2.5 hours for it to be fully dry and crumbly. This totally depends on the strength of your oven though. I recommend starting to check at an hour, and 15 minutes thereafter to make sure it doesn't burn.
When it's done, it should sound crunchy (like Fall leaves). The color will change from a vibrant green to a dark, cactus or olive green.
With both these methods, once the leaves are dry, I recommend storing them as whole leaves. Then, you can use a food processor, or a mortar and pestle, to grind them up into the crumbly powder. Make sure the instrument you're using it totally dry so you don't add moisture!
📖 Drying basil in a microwave
You'll want to dry the basil using short, quick bursts.
- Place a towel on a microwave-plate, then places the leaves on the towel single file, and then another towel on top.
- Microwave in 3x30 second bursts. The basil leaves should shrivel. It'll continue to dry out even at room temperature thereafter.
No two microwaves are the same, so check after every 30 second burst, and if it's not fully dry at the end of 90 seconds, you can do a couple of 10 second bursts until it's dry.
Note: Though this is an easy method, I found that the flavor of the basil is much lesser than if you dry using an oven or air-dry the basil. It's the fastest though, so there's definitely some tradeoffs here!
👩🏽🍳Top tips and FAQs
Store them as whole dry basil leaves! When you crush the leaves, they release some of the aromatic oils. So, the closer you can crush the leaves to when you're actually using it, the better. Make sure to store in an airtight container!
I typically use ¼th to ⅓rd of what a recipe calls when using dried herbs instead of fresh herb (since the flavor is a lot more concentrated). On average, one tablespoon of fresh herbs is one teaspoon of dried herbs. So for instance, if a recipe calls for a cup of fresh basil, use 2 - 3 teaspoons of dried basil at most.
Dried basil leaves will last at least a year when stored in an airtight container, in a cool and dark place (like your pantry).
Yes, you can air-dry basil! The best way to do this is to wash the basil leaves, dry them with a towel, and then tie them up using their stems. Then, hang them in a cool, dry place (ideally high in your kitchen). It'll take 4 to 5 weeks to fully air-dry though!
Trim, wash, and dry your basil leaves and arrange them on the dehydrator trays in single layer. Place the tray in the dehydrator and use the "herb" setting (typically around 100F). Depending on how dry your location is, this can take somewhere between 8 to 24 hours. You'll know they're done when they're crisp and crumbly!
Air-drying basil is super easy but you need to be patient. It takes about 4 weeks for basil to dry properly and the place needs to be relatively dry so you don't end up getting mold. Hang them from a high ceiling in a cool, dry place in the kitchen and let them dry!
👩🏽🍳Which method is the best?
While microwave drying is the fastest, it tends to zap the basil of more flavor than the other methods. And while drying using a dehydrator or air drying both maintain the best flavor, they take forever! So, I've found that the best, happy medium is to oven dry basil. Best flavor retention in just a couple of hours. But here's a quick infographic in case helpful.
🍴 Serving and storage suggestions
I typically store most of my dried basil as whole leaves, in a clear labeled container with the date on it. I also keep a smaller container of crushed basil handy and tend to refill that every couple of weeks. This ensures that you get the maximum flavor from the basil!
If you like basil, don't forget to try out my other basil recipes:
Did you make this recipe?! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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📖 Recipe
How to Dry Fresh Basil Leaves
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Drying Fresh Basil Using Oven
- Preheat the oven to the lowest setting possible (in my oven it's 175°F but try to keep it under 180°F) . If the lowest oven setting is higher, leave the oven door slightly open to keep the temperature down.
- Spread the basil leaves in a single, even layer on your baking sheet, making sure that they don't overlap. This restricts air flow, so you want to make sure it's all in a single layer.
- Let them dry for about an hour, and then start checking 15 minutes thereafter to make sure it doesn't burn. My oven took about 2.5 hours at 175°F for reference.
Drying Fresh Basil in Microwave
- Place a towel on a microwave-plate, then places the leaves on the towel single file, and then another towel on top. Microwave in 3x30 second bursts. The basil leaves should shrivel. It'll continue to dry out even at room temperature thereafter. Note: Though I've included the method here, I actually don't recommend doing this if you have access to an oven. The basil flavor tends to get zapped out pretty bad, but it works in a pinch if you don't have an oven (and still tastes better than storebought dried basil!)
Notes
- While microwave drying is the fastest, it tends to zap the basil of more flavor than the other methods. Drying using a dehydrator or air drying both maintain the best flavor, they take forever! So, I've found that the best, happy medium is to oven dry basil. Best flavor retention in just a couple of hours.
Do you think it’s best to place the basil leaves directly on a baking sheet or on a cooling rack to health and dry out faster?
You can do either! Placing them on a cooling rack can help circulate air better sometimes!
You said to freeze for better flavor; what do u recommend to freeze? would I put whole leaves
on paper towel and freeze on cookie sheet then transfer to freezer zip bags?
I would wash and dry the leaves thoroughly so they're clean, and then flash freeze them first (place them single file in a baking sheet and then throw them in the freezer). Then, once they're frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer safe bag!
I used the oven drying method at 170 degrees F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. It worked perfectly!
Would this method also work with oregano?
Thank you!
Thanks, Penny! I can't see why not! I would just keep an eye out for the leaves to make sure they don't over-dry or burn, but otherwise I think it should.
Thank you Shruthi!