While dried bay leaves can be used in place of fresh, you’d really need to double the amount of fresh herbs the recipe calls for – so if your dish needs 2 fresh bay leaves, you’ll need to add 4 dried ones. Things like parsley, chives, tarragon, dill, mint and even bay leaves tend to lose a lot of their flavour during the drying process. The flavour of some herbs just doesn’t translate very well when they’re dried and so you should try and use fresh whenever possible. If your dish doesn’t need to be cooked then it’s likely that the flavour would end up being massively different to what you expected and your meal might end up being ruined.įor recipes that need to be cooked for over 10 minutes fresh and dried herbs can be used interchangeably with no real impact on the flavour – although you might find that some dishes work particularly well with one or the other.Ĭurries cooked over a longer period of time are great dishes to use up dried herbs, like our Creamy Butter Chicken !Īgain, it’s always best to start with a small amount and then add more if you think it’s needed.

Remember, it’s easy to add flavour but pretty difficult to try and take it away!ĭishes that aren’t suitable for dried herbsĪlthough most dishes will be fine with dried herbs instead of fresh, they should be avoided in any cold, salad type dishes or garnishes.įor example, our Jewelled Giant Couscous uses fresh mint to bring the Middle Eastern flavours to life, and dried mint wouldn’t have quite the same effect. It’s worth bearing in mind that these conversions are very general and that you should start off with less dried herbs than you think you’ll need before tasting and adding more if necessary. Sage and thyme are both often measured in terms of how many leaves should be added to a dish and so you’ll need 1 teaspoon of dried sage for every 7 leaves, or ¾ teaspoon of dried thyme for every 6 sprigs. This is the case for most herbs, but it is worth noting that there are a few exceptions to bear in mind as some herbs don’t fit into this rule.įor garlic, you’ll need to use ½ a teaspoon of dried garlic powder for every clove of fresh garlic that your recipe calls for, and if you want to use ground ginger instead of fresh then you’ll need ¼ teaspoon for every teaspoon of fresh ginger. Converting from fresh herbs to dried (and vice versa!)ĭried herbs are much more concentrated in flavour than fresh herbs are and so you’ll need to use much less in your recipe to avoid an overpowering, herby taste.Īs a general rule of thumb, one tablespoon of fresh herbs is equivalent to one teaspoon of dried herbs which works out at being around a ⅓ less. However, there are some conversions that you’ll need to do around the amount of herbs you’re adding, and it’s also worth bearing in mind that some herbs lose their flavour when dried so should be avoided. We often get asked if it’s possible to use dried herbs instead of fresh in many of our recipes and the short answer is ‘yes’!

Conversion fresh thyme to dried