Making Your Own Dried Basil

Making Your Own Dried Basil

Making dried basil is so incredibly easy, I think my children could do it!  Plus, homemade is always so much cheaper than the store, after the initial purchase, it’s free!

I grew my own basil this year and it did really well!  I’ve tried to grow basil one other time when my neighbor gave me a gift of basil in a pot.  It died within a few months, sadly.  If you know anything from reading my blog, it’s that I don’t give up easily.

When Nate saw a potted basil plant at Walmart earlier this year, he suggested we give it another try.  I immediately jumped on the idea.  We brought our new plant home and it did exceptionally well! In fact, it became enormously bushy.  I have had to prune it back a few times.

I love having potted basil year round.  Pinching off a few leaves for snacking on with tomatoes and cheese is one of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh basil.  I also love to cook with it after it’s been dried.  It’s one of my main herbs that I use.

Here are the steps I use to make my own dehydrated basil.

  1. When your basil gets especially bushy, trim back the stems until it has a nice compact shape.
  2. Put the stems in a strainer and gently rinse them off.
  3. Shake the excess water off of the basil.
  4. Remove the leaves from the stems and place them in the dehydrator.  Use a fine mesh or fruit leather attachment for smaller leaves.
  5. Dehydrate until leaves are dry and crumbly.
  6. Put basil on a plate and crumble into small pieces.
  7. Put dried basil crumbles into a spice jar.
  8. Lable jar.

You can check out how I have dried basil in my videos!