How to Dry Parsley in the Oven

If you are growing parsley in your herb garden or just recently purchased some from the grocery, we want to make sure that you dry it so it doesn’t go to waste.

Fresh herbs do not last long in the refrigerator so following these steps will help keep your dry parsley leaves for months. If we can’t dry it right away, we store in a dry paper bag.

These step-by-step instructions will show you how to dry parsley in the oven. So you don’t have to buy a food dehydrator. Parsley is good in many Main Dish Recipes, so storing it properly will bring so much flavor to your soups dishes, pasta recipes and stews.

What is Parsley

Parsley is a popular herb that we use in a lot of recipes. We use to garnish or to add flavoring to our fish, potatoes and garlic bread recipes. It has a clean, almost bitter taste with a peppery flavoring.

You can use the popular herb fresh or dried. Using fresh herbs if we have it available adds much more flavor to our recipes. Fresh herbs will not last long, but dried herbs will last several months to even several years if stored properly.

How Long Does Parsley Last?

If stored properly, fresh parsley will last about 7 to 10 days in the refrigerator. To store fresh parsley, trim the ends and place in a container with about an inch of water. Then cover with a plastic wrap.

Dry Parsley will last around 1-3 years if dried and stored properly. Store dried parsley in a dark, cool place such as your pantry. Make sure to keep at room temperature.

Dry Parsley extends the life of parsley which saves you time and money.

Ingredients

• Small Bundles of Fresh Parsley

How to Dry Parsley in the Oven

• Prepare Oven – Preheat the oven 170 degrees F.
• Wash Parsley – To prepare curly parsley stalks for baking, wash parsley and remove dirt and any tough stems. Shake off any excess water and moisture or use a salad spinner. We also like to let the parsley air dry before baking on some paper towels or kitchen towel.
• Place on a Baking Sheet – After air drying, then spread out the fresh parsley onto a cookie sheet in a single layer. Make sure not to overlap the parsley. Also, I place the whole parsley (stem and leaves) on the baking sheet.

• Bake Parsley – Then place the baking tray in the oven and cook it for about 20 minutes until the leaves are dry and crumble easily. Make sure to keep a close eye so the flat-leaf parsley does not burn.
• Check Parsley – Make sure to check the parsley regularly while it’s cooking as you want the parsley to be dried but not browned. If the parsley is not dry after this cook time, continue to bake in 5 minutes intervals until the parsley is dry.

• Pull off the leaves – Then place the stem over a bowl and gently crumb the leaves with your fingers so that it falls off the stem into the bowl. Continue this process until all the parsley leaves are removed and crumbled.

• Store – Then transfer the completely dried parsley to an air tight glass container and store in a dry cool place. You can crumble the parsley flakes with a mortar and pestle to easily store.

How Long to Store

Store dry parsley in a cool, dry location in your kitchen such as a spice cabinet. We usually keep our mason jar in the pantry. Make sure it is an airtight container or glass jars to maintain its freshness.

How to Cook with Dried Herbs?

When making your favorite recipes and you have dried herbs, use about half of much as you would have if using fresh. Dried herbs flavoring is heavier than fresh herbs.

When you are making a sauce or a dressing, I still use fresh herbs. Certain recipes still require fresh herbs as it will taste better.

How Long Does Dried Parsley Last?

If dried and stored properly, dried herbs including parsley will last for about 1 to 3 years. Storing your dried herbs in mason jars or in a spice container always helps to keep them fresh longer.