Flavoured salts are a great way to give an extra boost to recipes or finished dishes without adding extra calories or fat. Even better, making your own is super-easy: all it takes is some salt, fresh herbs from your garden, & a little time. The result is a fragrant blend that is far better than anything you can buy in a supermarket.
You can make herb salt with any herb you like, or even make it with a combination of herbs- you’re only limited by your imagination & what you can find in your garden. Regulars like basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley and sage are all excellent choices, but don’t forget the unusual ones like water celery and perilla– they’ll work beautifully too.
Many flavoured salt recipes from the northern hemisphere call for using kosher salt because it has large flakes & is completely additive-free. This ingredient is hard to obtain in Australia, so for this simple concoction, any plain larger-grained salt can be used (see the one I used, below).
Home-made salts, preserves and pickles make for wonderful, thoughtful gifts for foodie friends & family. Most have an excellent shelf life, and you’ll be able to make up your own unique blends. Don’t be afraid to experiment or add unusual ingredients- after all, that’s the most fun part of gardening and cooking!
Here’s How to Make It
Line a baking tray with baking paper, then go and pick your fresh herbs. The herbs can be used singly or in combination; here I’m using perennial basil and parsley.
Check the leaves are clean and blemish-free, then trim off any excess stems. In the absence of kosher salt I’m using a plain, large-grained rock salt, which is cheap & easy to find in any supermarket.
Add all the herbs & the salt into your blender or food processor and pulse a few times, until you’re happy with the consistency. (I chose to leave this one chunky, but you can definitely blitz it down further).
Spread the mixture evenly across the tray, the place in the oven on the lowest heat setting for around an hour.
Once dried and cooled, you’ll find that the salt has stuck together a little. Break it up with a spoon, then decant into clean & sterile glass jars. Label and store in a cool, dry place. This recipe makes a *lot* of herb salt. For a smaller quantity, simply reduce the ingredients while maintaining the same ratio.
Herb Salt
Equipment
- 1 blender or food processor
- baking paper
- 1 large flat baking tray
- 1 glass jar, clean & sterile
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups fresh herbs
- 2 cups kosher salt
Instructions
- Line a large flat baking tray with baking paper.
- Cut any stems off the herb leaves then roughly chop them.
- Place the leaves in a blender or food processor, together with 2 cups of salt.
- Pulse several times, until the leaves have broken down & blended with the salt.
- Spread the mixture out evenly over the tray, then dry the mixture out. Do this by baking it in the oven on the lowest possible heat setting for half an hour. Leave the door ajar if necessary.
- Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool completely.
- Once cooled, decant the herb salt into a clean, sterile jar and label it.
