Every year I like to grow fresh parsley in containers that I keep out on my patio. A lot of people refer to this as container gardening. I keep my herbs separate from our vegetable garden so that I have easy access to them during the gardening season. Herbs are really easy-to-grow in containers!
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Whenever I need fresh parsley for a recipe I just walk out to the container and snip off what I need. Wash and rinse under cool running water, blot-off the excess water with paper towels, chop off the stems and then finely chop up the parsley.
I like to preserve and dry a lot of our fresh parsley for later use. I find that by making my own dried parsley that its more flavorful than store bought versions. I can use less of it in recipes and it tastes 100% better. Plus…it saves me money! Here is how I like to preserve and dry our fresh parsley.
How to Preserve and Dry Fresh Parsley
I snip off the parsley leaving a 1″ stem. You want to do this BEFORE your plant starts flowering and BEFORE the leaves start getting brown spots, etc. If any of its damaged…toss away.
Place a colander in your clean sink. Add the fresh parsley too it. Wash each sprig under cool running water. I make sure I get in between all of the leaves, front and back, etc. I typically rinse them for about 3 minutes to make sure I get off all of the dirt and debris.
Fold up 2 paper towels and lay them on your cutting board. Place the parsley on top. Fold up 2 additional paper towels and use them to blot-off the excess water. Do this gently so that you don’t damage the leaves. Toss out paper towels.
Plug in your food dehydrator. Set heat on lowest setting. Place the sprigs on the trays making sure you space them out so that they don’t touch. You want the warm heat (air) to circulate all around them. Place trays in dehydrator and then put on the lid. In my experience it takes 2-4 hours for them to completely dry out depending on how many trays I’m using. They need to be dry and crumbly when you touch them. Turn off dehydrator and let them cool for 30 minutes to room temperature.
Place on cutting board and use a small knife to snip off the stems. You can crumble up the leaves with your fingers/hands or use a mortar & pestle. Pick out any stems as you see them. Place dried parsley in a clean & dry spice bottle or plastic bag (purge out all air).
You can store your preserved parsley for up to 1 year at room temperature and it should retain its flavor. If you want it to last longer…place the spice container or bag into your freezer where it will last even longer. That’s it! Very easy to preserve your own parsley!
I like to store all of my herbs and spices in Tupperware Spice and Herb Containers that I purchased a few years ago on Amazon. They’re the best! They’re dishwasher safe, have easy snap-on and snap-off lids, lids open to a shaker side and a side that you can measure out. They have a slim profile so they fit nicely on a spice rack or stack them (yes, they’re stackable) in a cabinet. Plus, you can put them in the refrigerator and/or freezer with no problems!!!
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This year I shall try to dry my own parsley since I am growing it. But I seem to use it or give it away before I can get to that point.
I keep my herbs in pots on my back deck. I love going out and snipping! I know I am going to have a flavorful meal.
Glad to hear that your dried parsley tastes good. I gave up buying dried parsley since it just tasted like nothing.
I have my parsley and cilantro in the garden but seeing how well your parsley does in a container I think I will try since it would be so convenient to not have to walk out to the garden in the middle of cooking.
I’ve been thinking of getting a food dehydrator. It would be great for things like this.