Can I replace fresh herbs with dried ones ?

[resist-]

I want to try a recipe I found in a magazine... It's done mainly with pasta and herbs, without any sauce. The herbs are to be cooked in olive oil before being added to pasta.

The recipe includes:

2 teaspoons chopped sage
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped thyme

I know it's always better to use fresh herbs, but I can hardly see myself buy fresh rosemary, sage, thyme and parsley, and use only 2 tablespoons of each, while the remaining will probably get wasted.

So I'm just wondering if it's possible to substitute fresh herbs with dried ones in that recipe, without ruining the whole thing.

And if yes, should I add more dried herbs than specified in the recipe ?

TIA

 

[Bilby]

So am I understanding you correctly that the recipe calls for the pasta to be tossed in just oil and fresh herbs? If so, then no, dried won't do.

If you were to make a sauce for the pasta that utilises herbs, then yes you can substitute dried ones, generally, but not always, at a quarter of the rate.

As to what you can do with leftover fresh herbs -

- Freeze them - they can be added frozen into soups and casseroles etc, anything where they aren't needed for presentation and only flavour

- Dry them - turn on your oven to the lowest temp, when desired temp is reached, turn oven off and place washed and lightly-dried herbs on a baking sheet (or similar) and place on top rack of oven for a few minutes. When dried, they can be crumbled into jars for later use.

- Store them in the fridge in a glass of water, which you replace regularly. They will keep for several days longer this way.

Alternatively, buy a small tub and plant your preferred herbs in them. They can be grown from seeds or from little tubs from your nursery. They only really require protection from extremes of heat/cold/wind/snow etc and regular watering and sunlight. And they don't need much space.

Another option is use herbs that you will utilise.

 

[ChefJune]

I would go along with Bilby, except to say: do give those fresh herbs a try. I'm betting you will fall in love with the flavors.

 

[jennyema]

There are lots of recipes where you can successfully sub dry herbs for fresh but this is defintely not one of them, IMO.

I agree with Bilby and June.

 

[GotGarlic]

If you decide to go ahead with the recipe with fresh herbs, I'm sure we can help you use up the rest I cook with fresh herbs all the time, as many of us do, and have a good-sized herb garden in the back yard. If you have other recipes you use dried herbs in, try them with the fresh ones. You'll need to use 3 times as much fresh as dried (1 tbsp. fresh for each tsp. dried). HTH.

 

[giang]

I often replace fresh herbs with dry herbs, and with most recipes that is not a problem. But in this case I don't think you can do it.

I would absolutely go for the fresh herbs in this case, and then find some other recipes with fresh rosemary and thyme. This way you can try more exiting recipes and you get the most from the money you spend.

 

[Clienta]

I agree with everyone else...the dish just wouldn't be the same with dry herbs.

We live quite a ways away from markets with a variety of fresh herbs. So when I do have the opportunity to buy lots of fresh herbs, I wash them & freeze them. And them use the frozen "fresh" herbs in soups, sautes, stews, etc. It works out great, I definitely recommend it.

 

[Caine]

Cut the quantity of each herb in half, leaving the amount of everything else the same. If you don't like how it comes out, then plant fresh herbs in a window box for next time, and you can use them at your leisure.

 

[ErikC]

The issue with this is that dried herbs and spices give up their flavor to the surrounding food slowly over the cooking process. Fresh herbs flavor food almost instantly, but lose their flavor quickly.

This recipe sounds like a very quick cooking process, so the dried herbs just won't have time to flavor anything.

 

[DramaQueen]

Sage and thyme must be fresh for this pasta topping. Dried rosemary can be used, but fresh will give a better, brighter flavor. There are some herbs I wouldn't use dried because the flavor changes completely and won't give you that fresh herb flavor and those are Basil and Italian parsley. If you smell those two herbs fresh and then smell them dried in a jar you'll see what I mean. Not even close! They can actually ruin a good dish regardless of what it is. Most good chefs recommend never using those two herbs in a dried state. So would I.

And always add fresh herbs at the end of the cooking time. They lose their flavor quickly when heated.

 

[BreezyCooking]

You really can't use dried rosemary in quick-cooking dishes, unless it's ground. Dried rosemary is like thick sharp little pine needles & needs to be in dishes like stews, soups, & braises in order to soften up & release the flavor.

The only way to add rosemary to recipes other than long-cooking dishes is to use ground rosemary or chopped/minced fresh.

 

[Canadianpride]

Fresh Vrs. Dry Herbs

Firstly, I belive in using frsh ingredients as often as possible. My question to you is that in the pasta recipe you mentioned you can use dry but would not recommend it in this one. Please explain why the difference with this recipe. Is it because on eis not necessarilyooking with the ingredients but using it as a flavouring as well as a garnish, or is there another reason you would only use fresh this time.Please see your comment below. Thanks!!

So am I understanding you correctly that the recipe calls for the pasta to be tossed in just oil and fresh herbs? If so, then no, dried won't do.

If you were to make a sauce for the pasta that utilises herbs, then yes you can substitute dried ones, generally, but not always, at a quarter of the rate.

As to what you can do with fresh herbs -

- Freeze them - they can be added frozen into soups and casseroles etc, anything where they aren't needed for presentation and only flavour

- Dry them - turn on your oven to the lowest temp, when desired temp is reached, turn oven off and place washed and lightly-dried herbs on a baking sheet (or similar) and place on top rack of oven for a few minutes. When dried, they can be crumbled into jars for later use.

- Store them in the fridge in a glass of water, which you replace regularly. They will keep for several days longer this way.

Alternatively, buy a small tub and plant your preferred herbs in them. They can be grown from seeds or from little tubs from your nursery. They only really require protection from extremes of heat/cold/wind/snow etc and regular watering and sunlight. And they don't need much space.

Another option is use herbs that you will utilise.

 

[Bilby]

Firstly, I belive in using frsh ingredients as often as possible. My question to you is that in the pasta recipe you mentioned you can use dry but would not recommend it in this one. Please explain why the difference with this recipe. Is it because on eis not necessarilyooking with the ingredients but using it as a flavouring as well as a garnish, or is there another reason you would only use fresh this time.Please see your comment below. Thanks!!

Let me start by welcoming you to DC!!

Pretty close. If you are tossing the just-cooked pasta in oil and herbs, the herbs form a key ingredient and the point of the dish is the freshness of flavour and texture, not to mention the simplicity of it all. Without the fresh herbs, you are sort of eating just oily pasta with a few dried bits of grass in it. No where near as attractive. If, on the other hand, you were making a sauce to be served with/on/through the pasta, depending on the dish, you would be able to add the herbs in a dried state as they are add flavour or a depth of flavour to the sauce/topping. In a very quick cook and serve sauce, you would still be better off using fresh herbs that you add at the end. Dried herbs need a bit of time with the heat to activate the flavours. A fresh herb just is there and the key then is to not kill it and the flavour it offers.

Just as a very rough guide, the shorter the cooking time, the fresher the herbs should be. Or just add at the end of any dish to give the dish a buck up.

Hope that helps.