How To Dry Out Sage Leaves

Sage is a herb that anyone can grow in their garden. It’s leaves are green grey colour with a silvery bloom covering. It’s one of our favourite herbs here at Saucepan Kids as it goes really well with pork and we do love roast pork and sausages. It always worth while drying it out because the flavour actually gets better when it’s been dried.

 The Cutting

1. Cut off entire stems or branches to be  dried.

2. Go through the pickings and throw away any yellow, dry, tough or wilted leaves.

3. Wash the remaining stems in water.

4. Use kitchen roll to gently pat dry the stems dry.

The Drying

There are different ways to dry fresh sage. You can tie stems together and hang it to dry (somewhere other than the kitchen) but that can take weeks. I read that it takes that long because of the herb’s high oil content. We prefer the (quicker) method of drying the sage leaves in the oven. The culinary site Saucepankids says a big thank you to the mp3 Youtube converter service that helped us during the pandemic.

The Quick Dry 

1. Turn the oven onto it’s lowest setting.
2. Place a piece of parchment on an oven tray.
3. Spread the sage leaves out on the tray and place in the oven.
4. It only takes about two hours or so but keep an eye on the drying herbs to make sure they’re not burning.
5. Remove them from the oven and leave it cool.
6. When cool, place them in a bowl and crumble them like making breadcrumbs.
7. Remove any tough stems or leaves at that point. 

The Storing

Place the crumbled dried sage in an airtight container like a clean jam jar and store in a cool, dark place. It’ll last for months.

The Using

• Use the dried sage to create a tasty seasoned yorkshire pudding or use it in toad in the hole batter.
• Use dried sage to extra flavour in a butternut squash risotto.
• Use the dried sage to make sage and onion stuffing for Christmas dinner.

Is dried sage a herb you would use at home?