We love using herbs in our homemade baby food recipes, both for the wonderful flavours AND the health benefits they impart to the dish. But there may be occasions when a recipe calls for a particular fresh herb… and you only have the dried version available.
So is it OK to simply go ahead and use one instead of the other, or do dried herbs not make a good substitute for fresh ones?
On the whole, fresh and dried herbs can be used interchangeably in recipes, with a couple of caveats.
For starters, dried herbs have a more concentrated flavour, so you need to use less.
As a rule of thumb, for every TABLESPOON of a fresh herb listed in a recipe, substitute one TEASPOON of the dried variety.
That being said, it’s a good idea to use your discretion.
A newly opened container of dried herbs will be quite strong in flavour, whereas one that’s been sitting on the herb shelf since before Christmas will be rather more mild in taste – meaning you may need to use a little extra!
Try crushing the dried leaves between your fingertips and sniffing them – the stronger the smell, the stronger the flavour.
However, in some recipes – where the herb is one of the main components of the dish and the results depend upon the taste and colour of the herb – then dried is simply no substitute for fresh. For example, a ‘salad’ type dish, calling for something like fresh basil leaves, would be a disaster if you used dried basil instead!
As a general rule, raw dishes or ones that are cooked for a very short time work best with fresh herbs, whereas slow-cooked dishes can be prepared with either.
If you DO end up using dried herbs in place of fresh in a recipe, then add them earlier in the cooking process than the recipe specifies.
Fresh herbs tend to be added to a dish quite late in the cooking process, in order to preserve their colour and flavour. Dried herbs, on the other hand, need to be added early in order to give their flavour time to develop.
Useful resources