I had been wanting to try making herb-flavored salt for some time, especially considering all the herbs I have in my garden that are destined to disappear with the impending cold. A friend of mine, also named Giovanna, who follows the Weight Watchers diet and my blog, gave me some tips and I finally tried! In my diet, I try to reduce fats by adding more flavor with spices, and this was a really good idea. Moreover, thanks to all the aroma this salt releases, you end up using much less salt since the taste comes from the aromatic herbs.
For this first preparation of herb-flavored salt, I wanted to try a mix of rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley. It was so easy; there’s no need to dry the herbs because the salt preserves and dries them. And what a fragrance when mixing all the ingredients! I tried this salt on many dishes and was really happy with the result. I also made some salt to gift for Christmas and here it is:
I gifted this rosemary-flavored salt to my Dutch relatives a few Christmases ago and packaged it in small jars that I decorated in this simple way. Additionally, this salt lasts a long time, although the bright green color tends to fade.
You can use this salt for marinades and for many recipes, such as:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 440 g total
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
The herbs you choose should be divided in equal parts. I used rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley. You can use more or less salt and even other fresh herbs, but remember that the proportion of herbs to salt should be 1:10.
- 14.11 oz coarse or fine sea salt (preferably organic)
- 1.41 oz aromatic herbs (fresh, weight of leaves only)
- Points per serving = 0 WW points
Tools
- Food Processor
- Chopper
- Jars
- Canning Funnel
Preparation
First, select the fresh herbs to ensure they are the best leaves, discarding those nibbled by garden insects! Wash thoroughly and dry all the herbs very well. Remove any damaged parts and hard stems, and place only the leaves in a bowl.
Place the salt and some of the herbs into a chopper bowl. Pulse the mixer, adding more herbs as they reduce in volume, until all the leaves are in the mixer. Continue at medium-high speed until you achieve a very fine powder. I started with the large bowl of the food processor and then continued with the smaller bowl of the immersion blender, like a grinder, and managed to pulverize everything perfectly.
Pour the salt into sterilized and completely dry glass jars using a paper cone or canning funnel.
And here the herb-flavored salt is ready to use! At first, regulate by using a little: just a few pinches are enough to add a lot of aroma. It’s perfect for marinades, less salt, and more flavor!
Here are the small jars prepared with just 200 g of salt and 20 g of rosemary, which were very well received by my relatives and highly appreciated. If you have even smaller jars, like baby food jars, you could make cute place cards for Christmas or Easter tables that guests can take away… Unleash your creativity with decorations and let me know if you liked it and how you gifted it!
Enjoy!
by Giovanna Buono
Storage
It definitely lasts up to two years thanks to the high salt content which acts as a preservative. I had a little in one of my jars that I left on purpose to try, and after 2 years, it was still fragrant and excellent! I simply left it in a dark pantry.
Can I use other herbs?
Of course you can: any fresh herbs are fine. The important thing for herbs is to maintain a weight ratio like this: 1g of herbs: 10g of salt. So if you use 30g of herbs, you should use 300g of salt.
Can I make other additions?
And Giovanna, my reader who suggested making this salt, also told me that you can add a few cloves of garlic to the chopper, which will be preserved perfectly thanks to the salt.
