Sometimes the boring old ranch dressing or other bottled dressings just don’t measure up. Besides, if you have your own herb garden, it’s nice to have a way to use your own herbs as the spotlight on your salads (even dried herbs!). Use the herbs you have growing to make your own Homemade Herb Dressing Mix to use all year long.

I love to grow anything and everything. There is just something about watching it grow that amazes me. So much comes from so little!

Herbs are Easy

So many people ask me about gardening and where to start. To be honest, I believe anyone, no matter how brown your thumb is, can easily start a kitchen herb garden. Herbs are easy to grow, and they grow fast. Therefore, you get quick results.

And let’s face it… we as humans do not have a lot of patience. As close to instant gratification as we can get is what we want.

If you watch HGTV at all (to which I’m addicted, honestly) you have seen all the designs that incorporate an herb garden into the kitchen design. And trust me, as I plan for our eventual kitchen reno, I’ve got big plans on where I’m placing my herbs into the design.

Don’t have cable? Get a free 7-day trial to Discovery+ (which is how I access HGTV programming) here.

What to Grow for Herb Dressing Mix

Deciding what herbs to grow should be a personal decision. Base it off of the dishes that are your own family favorites. We tend to lean towards the herbs that I use most frequently, like basil and parsley.

Every home has its own personal spin on food. Maybe you’d like to try to grow something that leans more toward your heritage. So if you are German, go with parsley, thyme, and maybe laurel. Greek? Add in some dill for your tzatziki sauce. It’s all a matter of what you use in deciding what to grow.

Herbs for Homemade Herb Dressing

If you want to start growing herbs and just can’t decide, just begin with the herbs for this dressing. The more comfortable you get with your own ability, the more willing you will be to experiment in growing even more.

• For this, we will need:
  • thyme
  • basil
  • marjoram
  • parsley

Dry Herbs vs. Fresh Herbs

You may use fresh herbs (including onion and garlic) to make a batch to use within 5-7 days. I do not recommend storing this dressing once it’s made long-term.

For long-term storage, mix only the dried herbs together to store in an air safe container, and then use approximately 2 tbsp of the mixture to make 1 batch of the dressing at a time.

Herb Dressing Mix

When you grow your own herbs, you will quickly see how much more you get with minimal effort. Drying them can be as simple as tying them in bundles to hang, or using your dehydrator to get faster results. Either way, drying yourself and then chopping all the herbs together in a food processor or coffee grinder gives you a quick way to use your herbs. And gifting the mix in small glass jars in food baskets is a great way to show off your green thumb.

Want more homemade salad dressings to spice up supper? Check out my Mom’s Spicy French Dressing and all my other salad dressing recipes here.