How to Replace Dried Thanksgiving Herbs With Fresh
The other day I was looking for sage, probably to make a trial batch of this stuffing . It took me three trips to three stores before I found one. For me, this does not bode well for the coming weeks, at least from a wise man’s point of view. Maybe it’s just my city, but all my regular grocery stores have been missing a fair amount of herbs lately, which means I might have to switch to dried foods for Thanksgiving.
Luckily, dried herbs are fine, as long as they still have some flavor left in them, and haven’t been sitting in the back of a dusty pantry since last Thanksgiving. (Use a smell test if you’re not sure when the dried herbs in question were purchased.) The end result of your recipe may taste slightly different, as dried herbs can be slightly bitter, but I doubt you’ll be able to tase the difference through all the gravy.
But replacing dried with fresh is not a one-to-one conversion. One teaspoon of dried sage is far more effective than one teaspoon of crushed fresh sage leaves, not to mention there are two types of dried sage you need to worry about. Luckily, turning dried into fresh or fresh into dried is not too difficult.
Here’s how to replace the most common Thanksgiving herbs:
- Sage: 4 fresh leaves = 1 tablespoon chopped sage, fresh leaves = 1 teaspoon grated sage = 1/2 teaspoon dried sage.
- Rosemary: 1 sprig = 1 tablespoon fresh pine needles = 1 teaspoon dried pine needles OR 1 tablespoon chopped pine needles = 1/2 teaspoon dried powdered rosemary.
- Thyme: 6 sprigs = 1 tablespoon fresh leaves = 3/4 teaspoon dried ground thyme.
- Parsley: Parsley is one of the herbs that loses most of its flavor when dried, so just skip it if you can’t find fresh herbs, or replace it with other fresh herbs. (This also applies to onions, chervil, and cilantro.)
Luckily, I haven’t seen a parsley deficiency yet, so it should be ok. (I have never “skipped” parsley in a Thanksgiving recipe.)