Cooking with Freeze-Dried Herbs: Pesto & More

Freeze-drying a good herb harvest in the fall means still having real basil, lemon verbena, or whatever else grew well, well into winter — enough to build a dinner party menu around three different pesto varieties instead of rationing one jar of store-bought.

How Much Dried Herb to Use Instead of Fresh

Freeze-dried herbs are more concentrated than fresh. As a starting point, use about a third the amount a recipe calls for in fresh herbs, then taste and adjust — flavor intensity varies naturally from one herb variety (and even one growing season) to the next, so treat the ratio as a starting point rather than a fixed rule.

Lemon Verbena Pesto

This isn't a traditional basil pesto — lemon verbena brings a bright, lemony edge that works especially well on pasta or grilled vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh lemon verbena leaves (fresh lemon balm works as a substitute)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup pine nuts or English walnuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Fine kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To make it with freeze-dried lemon verbena: use roughly a third the amount of freeze-dried leaves in place of the fresh, following the conversion guideline above, and adjust to taste.

Blend everything except the oil until finely chopped, then drizzle in the olive oil while blending to bring it together. Serve over pasta or alongside grilled vegetables.

Don't Overlook Purslane

Purslane looks like a mini jade plant and shows up as a common yard weed in a lot of gardens — which makes it an easy, free pesto ingredient if you know what you're looking at. It's notably hardy and nutrient-dense, with a flavor closer to watercress than basil, which makes it work well in pesto or a sandwich spread as an alternative to a more traditional base.

More Ways to Use Freeze-Dried Herbs and Flavor

Pesto is just one use for a freeze-dried herb stash. Freeze-dried flavorings covers other ways to build concentrated flavor into meals, and freeze-dried quick meal: salmon with pesto shows a full meal built around the same idea. If you're starting from scratch on the growing side, planting a kitchen herb garden is a good place to begin before there's anything to freeze-dry at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much freeze-dried herb should I use instead of fresh?
Start with about a third the amount the recipe calls for in fresh herbs, then taste and adjust — the concentration varies somewhat by herb and growing season.

What is purslane and can it be used in pesto?
Purslane is a hardy, nutrient-dense plant that often grows as a garden weed, with a flavor similar to watercress. It works well blended into pesto or a sandwich spread.

Can you substitute lemon balm for lemon verbena in pesto?
Yes — fresh lemon balm is a suitable substitute for lemon verbena in this pesto recipe if you don't have verbena on hand.

Why freeze-dry herbs instead of just drying them normally?
Freeze-drying preserves more of an herb's original flavor and color than air-drying or heat-dehydrating, since it never exposes the herb to heat that can dull both.