How to Dry Fresh Basil: 4 Benefits of Drying Basil

Drying your herbs, including basil, can be an inexpensive, low-effort activity with many benefits, including:

1. 1. Cost-effectiveness: Making your own dried basil is a way to save money on dried herbs that you would normally buy at the grocery store. Spice jars can be pricey—depending on the brand and the quality—but a basil plant will cost less while also yielding more over time.
2. 2. Higher quality: If you grow the basil, you know its quality whether you plan to enjoy it fresh or dried. Store-bought dried basil leaves could come from anywhere, raised in any conditions by growers who might have sprayed them with pesticides or other chemicals.
3. 3. Waste elimination: Drying basil extends the shelf life of basil leaves, ensuring nothing from the plant goes to waste after the plant’s growing season ends. In the offseason, you can use dried basil in tomato sauce and marinades or even make dried basil pesto.
4. 4. Strong flavor: Dried basil leaves have a stronger, more concentrated flavor than fresh leaves. The flavor profile also changes. Fresh basil flavor, especially sweet basil, is sweeter and almost minty or anise-like. Dry basil leaves are more savory and usually found mixed with other dried Italian herbs in a blend.

There are a few different ways to dry herbs, including fresh basil, but the process should always begin with harvesting and cleaning the herb—regardless of whether you are drying fresh basil, fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, fresh oregano, or another herb.

1. 1. Harvest the basil. If you’re drying fresh basil already cut from the plant, you can skip to the second step. If you’re harvesting the basil from a growing plant, cut or pinch the fresh basil leaves right above the leaf node—this will encourage further growth if the plant is still in its growing season. Or to harvest the whole plant, cut the entire stem almost to the soil line. (This won’t prevent the basil from growing back next season.)
2. 2. Clean the basil. Rinse the stems in cool water. Dry the leaves in a salad spinner or lay them out on a kitchen towel or paper towels in a single layer to absorb excess water before you begin the drying process in earnest. Review the next three steps to determine which method you want to use—drying your basil by hanging it, placing it in the oven, or utilizing a food dehydrator.
3. 3. Hang the basil to air-dry. If your stems are still attached to your basil, gather a bunch of stems together and tie string tightly around the ends of the stems. Hang them upside-down in front of a window where they will receive direct sunlight and good airflow around all of the leaves—this will help the excess moisture to evaporate.
4. 4. Dry fresh basil in the oven. Oven-drying is an easy way to dry fresh basil. For the best results, let the basil leaves air-dry for a few days before you try drying them in the oven. Then preheat your oven to the lowest temperature setting, or around 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the individual basil leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. At a minimum, it will take an hour and half for the basil to dry in the oven. Check on the leaves regularly—they’re done when the basil crumbles easily between your fingers.
5. 5. Place the basil in a food dehydrator. Preheat the dehydrator to the “herbs” setting if it has one. If not, put it on the lowest setting, which should be about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. This method will take about 12–24 hours depending on the moisture content in the basil. Dehydrate the basil until the leaves become crisp and crumble easily.

Store dried basil in an airtight container. You can keep the dried basil as whole leaves, or you can first crush the dried leaves with your hands or using a mortar and pestle. Another option is to use empty spice jars or other glass storage jars. A paper bag, box, or other similar biodegradable container is not a good option because it will not be airtight, causing the flavor to dissipate over time.

You can also mix the crushed dried basil leaves with olive oil and freeze them in ice cube trays—just remove cubes as needed for recipes throughout the year. You can also make dried basil pesto (pesto made with dried basil) and store it in ice cube trays. Defrost the cubes and use them on pasta, as a dip for bread and vegetables, or as a marinade for chicken or steak.

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