Drying Your Parsley Harvest

Growing and harvesting Parsley at home is easy to do. Dried Parsley can be used as you would fresh parsley and is a popular herb used in Italian and other dishes throughout the world.

Traditional Drying Method


Garden or Kitchen shears

Basket or other container suitable for parsley sprigs

Salad Spinner or two clean kitchen towels

Rubber Bands

Clothes Drying Rack, Dry attic or porch

Small Brown Paper Bags (optional)

Parsley looses some of its distinctive flavor when dried, but, it is still used extensively in sauces, salads, soups and other culinary dishes from around the world.

1. Gather your parsley harvest in the morning hours after the sun has dried away the dew of the night.


3. If using brown paper bags, cover each bundle with the bags that have slits cut into the sides to allow for adequate air flow around the herbs. The paper bags keep dust off of the parsley as it dries and the sunlight from bleaching out the color. Care must be taken to make sure that enough air flows through the bag to keep the parsley from molding. Check occasionally to make sure, and, if need be either cut more holes in the bags or remove them. Sometimes the moisture builds up inside the bag, especially if the sun hits it, allowing fungus and mildew to form.





Oven Drying Method


Special Note: If using cookie sheets to dry the herbs, place the herbs to be dried on parchment paper to avoid direct contact with the metal trays. Metal contact darkens the color of the herb being dried, causing the parsley to loose its bright green color.


Salad Spinner or two clean kitchen towels

Kitchen shears or good chopping knife

Chopping board or block

Parchment Paper

Cookie Sheet


1. Wash and gently spin dry the fresh parsley sprigs.

2. Pick out the discolored leaves and woody stems.

3. Preheat your oven to lowest temperature setting.

4. Chop or clip herbs into 1/4" pieces or so onto parchment lined cookie sheet.

5. Place in oven on top rack for 2 to 4 hours or until parsley crumbles easily between your fingers. Drying times may vary according climate conditions and relative humidity.

