It's going to frost so I harvested some volunteer dill from my garden. What is the best way to preserve it for pickles next summer? Can I use the stems also? Should I separate the leaves from the stems?
Best Way to Store Dill:
Here are some more ideas of how to preserve your dill:
- Hang bundles of Dill (sometimes in small paper bags) from the still center of a dining room ceiling fan. With the fan on low the air circulates nicely, they dry quickly, and the house smells great. Try this with lots of herbs!
- Place Dill on a paper towel on a cookie sheet in the garage for a couple weeks
- Dry in a dehydrator on the low-heat herbs setting, stems and all, and store it in a glass jar with a tight lid in the pantry. Dried dill is good for canning any time until the fresh crop is available.
- Make herb butters with different combinations of herbs including Dill for different recipes, then roll into logs, cut the chilled logs into disks, and froze the disks in marked storage containers for use in the winter months.
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Freeze Dill in Olive Oil: Add chopped up Dill to olive oil, pour into ice cube trays, freeze, and then put the Dill cubes into a storage container in the freezer. Put in a freezer-safe glass storage bowl or jar and put in freezer.
- Freeze-dry your Dill with a freeze dryer machine
- Make Dill Pesto: In a food processor, add dill, nuts (almonds, pine nuts, pepitas, walnuts, pecans, your choice!), several cloves of garlic, squeezed juice of a lemon, red pepper flakes or hot pepper if desired, and 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Process until it's a nice pesto consistency, freeze portions in a cupcake pan or ice cube tray and store in freezer container for using all winter long.
How long does dried dill last?
Dried dill lasts for 6-12 months with proper storage, but is generally safe to eat for up to 1-3 years. The flavor diminishes over time, so it's good to restock it each season when it's in abundance. Store dried dill in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid in a cool, dark, dry place.
Can you freeze dill?
Yes, in fact, we think freezing whole stems of dill is the best way to preserve the fresh flavors. After washing and letting it dry on a cutting board, you can freeze it whole in a glass storage container and then just pluck out stems as needed. The non-woody stems are also fine to chop and add to recipes.
Growing Dill is Easy & Beautiful!
This fabulous herb is super easy to grow from Dill seeds, and it is a must for every garden! Not only is Dill useful in the kitchen, it's absolutely stunning in the garden with it's frilly leaves and firework-style blooms.
Dill is a great companion plant for peppers and tomatoes!
It also is a great companion plant as it attracts lots of beneficial insects like pest-eating ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps that will protect your garden naturally. Dill's small flowers provide abundant nectar for many helpful aphid predators, and is also a lovely host for swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Learn more about the Best Companion Plants for Tomatoes and Peppers »
If you like seeing Swallowtail butterflies in your garden, definitely plant a patch of dill! Don't worry, because Dill is so prolific, the Swallowtail caterpillars typically don't eat enough to even notice. Just make sure you grow a "patch" so that both you and the butterflies can enjoy this delicious herb.
We love herbs! Sandia Seed offers Dill seeds as well as lots of other herb seeds that will provide tons of flavor for any kitchen.
