Drying Fresh Parsley for the Winter

Parsley is perfect for Winter usage - it has such a wonderful clean & green taste!  I prefer fresh Parsley but dried parsley makes homemade chicken noodle soup perfect!

There are a couple different ways to dry herbs but today we will be talking about using a food dehydrator, which in my opinion is the easiest and most successful way.

The dehydrator manufacturer recommends taking the herb directly from the garden, shaking or brushing any dirt off & then dehydrating immediately. However, I find that there always seems to be some grit left after dehydrating. Therefore, I always rinse the herb off (in this case Parsley) and then pat it dry on a paper towel before using the dehydrator. There is nothing worse than biting down on a grain of soil.

STEP 1: Harvest Parsley by cutting off as many large bunches of leaves as desired (cut the stalk close to the ground)

STEP 2: Snip the choice leaves off the stalk with your fingers (or kitchen scissors) and then wash the Parsley leaves.

STEP 3: Arrange the leaves on the dehydrator tray and then turn the dehydrator on - at the manufacturer's specified temperature and time. (It took my dehydrator 48 hours to dry 4 racks of parsley). 

STEP 4: Once the leaves are completely dry, then crumble the parsley by hand . Place the parsley flakes in an airtight container. ENJOY!

NOTE: I always discard/compost any Parsley leaf that has holes or corners missing - these blemishes are from animals or bugs. Also, NEVER use a Parsley leaf that has bird poop residue.

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