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    Ratio Chart for Converting Fresh Herbs to Dried Herbs

    January 5, 2017 by G. Stephen Jones 45 Comments

    Fresh Herbs to Dry Herbs Convertions Ratios

    Fresh Herbs to Dry Herbs Conversions Ratios

    How To Convert Fresh Herb to Dried Herbs

    Let me start by saying, I try to use fresh herbs over dried herbs as much as humanly possible. We grow fresh herbs in the spring and throughout the summer and many of them last through the fall and some right into winter.

    If we don’t have them in the backyard, they are easy enough to find at the supermarket but can get extremely expensive certain times of the year so if you only need a little of a particular herb for a recipe, be sure to incorporate it in something else you are preparing. If all else fails, make a soup or stew and use up some of those herbs.

    Crab Feast

    How Fresh Are Your Dried Herbs?

    One reason I don’t like using dried herbs is I never know how long they’ve been in the spice cabinet. As a general rule, ground spices and herb leaves will be considered “fresh” if stored in optimal conditions for 1 to 2 years.

    I know some of the spice jars in my pantry are as old as my kids, well maybe not that old, but they do tend to get lost and unused especially those way in the back.

    And what about when you purchase a new container but feel like you have to wait until you finish the older jar even if the spices in it are flavorless? I suppose we should all use a permanent marker and date the jars as soon as we purchase them or put a throw out date on them but then how do we know how long they’ve been in some storage facility or on the supermarket shelves?

    How do we really know how much shelf life is left in our seasonings?

    Personally, I don’t think we do, so I suggest before you start cooking a meal that requires dried herbs, you first check your spice cabinet to make sure you have what you need and then give them a quick sniff and then taste to make sure they are fresh enough to use.

    If they don’t taste as potent as you like, you may need to add more than called for to make up for the difference.

    Ratios For Converting Fresh Herbs to Dry Herbs to Ground Herbs

    Ratios For Converting Fresh Herbs to Dry Herbs to Ground Herbs

    All You Really Need To Know About Converting Fresh Herbs to Dry Herbs

    The general rule for dried “flaky” herbs like dried cilantro or dried tarragon is 3 to 1 or three parts fresh to one part dried.  You can also look at this as

    1 tablespoon fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon dried herbs

    If you are working with dried ground herbs like ground ginger which is going to be even more potent than the dried flaky herbs, the general ratio is 4 to 1 or four parts fresh to one part dried.

    Another general rule:

    1 teaspoon dried leaf herb = 1/2 teaspoon ground dried herb

    Why These Ratios?

    If you’re wondering why you need so much more fresh herbs compared to dried herbs, you have to remember that fresh herbs like basil and parsley are 80% to 90% water. In the drying process, the water gets evaporated leaving extremely potent essential oils with more concentrated flavors than their fresh counterparts.

    When you talk about herbs like rosemary and thyme with even harder leaves than something like a basil, the intensity of flavor can be even greater so be careful when adding these dried spices to a dish.

    Exceptions to the Rule

    Like everything in life, there are always exceptions to my general rules above. For example, you would substitute 1 fresh bay leaf for 2 dried or 1 medium onion for 1 teaspoon onion powder. Both basil and parsley surprised me with a 2 to 1 fresh to dried.

    I did a search on the Internet to see what I could find for these conversions and came up with this chart. There was no one consensus between all the sites, but this should be a good start to work with until you come up with your own ratios.

    Print & Save

    There’s no way I’m going to remember all these conversions so I’ll make a copy of the chart below and print it out then tape it to the inside of one of my cabinet doors so it’s handy when I need it. It sits right next to my Meat Doneness Chart.

     Herb   Fresh  Corresponding Dried
     Basil 2 teaspoons finely chopped 1 teaspoon dried
     Bay Leaf 1 leaf fresh 2 leaves dried
     Chervil 3 teaspoons fresh 1 teaspoon dried
     Cilantro  3 teaspoons fresh  1 teaspoon dried
    Cinnamon 1 cinnamon stick 1/2 teaspoon ground
    Cumin 4.5 tablespoons whole seed 4 TBS ground (1 oz.)
     Dill  3 teaspoons fresh  1 teaspoon dried
     Garlic (large)  1 clove fresh (1.5 tsp minced)  1/2 teaspoon powder
    Garlic (small) 1 clove fresh (1/2 tsp minced) 1/8 teaspoon powder
     Ginger 1 tablespoon freshly grated 1/4 teaspoon dry ground
    Ginger 1 tablespoon minced 1/2 teaspoon dry ground
     Marjoram  3 teaspoons fresh   1 teaspoon dried
     Onion  1 medium onion 1 teaspoon onion powder
    Oregano  3 teaspoons fresh   1 teaspoon dried
    Parsley 2 teaspoons fresh 1 teaspoon dried
    Rosemary  3 teaspoons fresh   1 teaspoon dried
    Sage  2 teaspoons fresh 1 teaspoon dried
    Star Anise 1 star anise fresh 1/2 teaspoon anise seed
    Tarragon  3 teaspoons fresh   1 teaspoon dried
    Thyme  3 teaspoons fresh   1 teaspoon dried
     Thyme  1 teaspoon dried  3/4 teaspoons ground
    Vanilla 1 inch vanilla bean 1 teaspoon extract

    Other Important Ingredient Conversions

    BEAN CONVERSIONS INGREDIENT SUBSTITUTIONS
    HERB CONVERSIONS MUSHROOM CONVERSIONS
    GRAIN CONVERSIONS PASTA/RICE CONVERSIONS
    INGREDIENT CONVERSIONS TOMATO CONVERSIONS

     

     

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    Filed Under: Conversions, Featured

    I'm a work-at-home dad who enjoys cooking, learning everything I can about the culinary world and sharing it with you. To learn more about me... Read More…

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vicki

      June 20, 2017 at 10:38 am

      Thanks so much for this chart; I have my first herbs this year.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        June 24, 2017 at 10:02 am

        You are welcome Vicki.

        Reply
    2. SSR

      July 28, 2017 at 12:29 pm

      if 2 bunch of curry leaves dried & powdered how much amount will we get as powder

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        July 30, 2017 at 5:27 pm

        I have no idea SSR. Anyone else want to take a shot at this one?

        Reply
        • EPF

          December 23, 2019 at 1:42 pm

          Stated simply, curry powder is NOT dried curry leaves. In fact, there is only occasionally any curry leaf in curry powder, usually as a minor ingredient. Wikipedia shows the usual ingredients to be “coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, and chili peppers”, then goes on to note other items sometimes included.

          As to how much dried curry leaf (which I have read is not a desirable ingredient. It needs to be used fresh) one would get from fresh, I have no idea.

          Reply
    3. cmalford

      November 04, 2017 at 4:35 pm

      thank you for being there. i prefer fresh but this weekend i ran out of almost everything so once again thank you for being there.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        November 05, 2017 at 8:14 am

        You are very welcome.

        Reply
    4. Denise

      November 14, 2017 at 9:06 pm

      Thanks for this chart, I am little confused why the Thyme conversion goes from dried to ground, is there a fresh conversion? Thanks!

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        November 15, 2017 at 7:48 am

        Hi Denise, the ratio for fresh thyme to dry thyme is 3 to 1. If a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, you can substitute 1/3 tablespoon dried.

        Reply
    5. Dianna Drake

      December 05, 2017 at 7:35 pm

      What about converting fresh to crushed dried rosemary? Or even dried rosemary to crushed Rosemary. Thank you

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        December 07, 2017 at 6:26 pm

        Dianna, I may be wrong here but I’m going to guess there is little or no difference when using dried rosemary vs crushed dried rosemary especially if you are only using the leaves and not the stems.

        Reply
    6. veronica spliethoff

      February 01, 2018 at 3:35 pm

      how about converting 6 sprigs of fresh thyme to dried ground thyme?

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        February 02, 2018 at 10:15 am

        Challenging question Veronica. The problem is knowing the size of the sprig because they can vary greatly. If you assume an average sprig of thyme yields about 1/3 teaspoon of fresh, loosely packed leaves, then 6 sprigs would equal about 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme. If the conversion is 3 to 1, fresh to dried, then 6 sprigs fresh thyme should be equivalent to about .66 teaspoons dried thyme if I did my math correctly but now you are asking about “ground” dried thyme. I’m not sure of the conversion between dried thyme leaves and ground dried thyme but when I did a quick search online, I found “6 fresh thyme sprigs = 3/4 teaspoon ground dried thyme”. I hope this helps.

        Reply
    7. Donna

      June 10, 2018 at 12:04 am

      Thankyou!!!

      Reply
    8. Thressa

      June 18, 2018 at 1:06 pm

      I want to make rosemary tea. It calls for 6 grams but Im not sure how much to use. could you help? I got some fresh; is that 6 leafs on the stem?

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        June 20, 2018 at 11:42 am

        1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary = about 1.7 grams so 6 grams should equal about 3.5 tablespoons fresh rosemary.

        Reply
    9. Annette

      September 05, 2018 at 9:00 am

      Trying to find celery seed to ground celery seed conversion. I’ve seen some say 20% less ground compared to whole. Thoughts?

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        September 07, 2018 at 2:30 pm

        Another excellent question and one I’ve had trouble finding an answer too. I did find this from one website, “Ground celery, like celery seed, has the taste and smell of celery stalks, but its flavor is much more pronounced. Use anywhere you would seeds, but in half the quantity, as ground celery is much stronger.”

        If anyone has a better answer, please share it with us. Thanks.

        Reply
    10. Bonnie Ghimenti

      September 19, 2018 at 10:43 am

      Need to know the conversion from 1/4 cup fresh parsley. I will be using dried.

      Thanks.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        September 19, 2018 at 2:30 pm

        Hi Bonnie, 4 teaspoons dried should do it.

        Reply
    11. Calton Bolick

      September 30, 2018 at 4:18 am

      Well, this is very…unhelpful.

      I’ve got many, many recipes which call for things like “2 sprigs of rosemary” or “6 fresh basil leaves” or some such: few, if any, talk about “teaspoons” or “tablespoons” of fresh herbs, so the ratios you give — and seemingly EVERY website I’ve consulted on this so far — are meaningless.

      Is this an American thing, which confuses cooking with scientific procedures calling for precise measurement?

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        October 01, 2018 at 2:45 pm

        I guess so Calton. Sorry to disappoint. What makes it difficult to say “6 fresh basil leaves” yields how much dried is you have no idea how big the fresh basil leaves are. My basil plants in my garden and basil I buy in the store have leaves of varying sizes so how do you convert. Same with “2 sprigs of rosemary”. How big a sprig is it? 2 inches long, 4 inches long, 6 inches long? I see your frustration but really, this is now an “American” thing?

        Reply
    12. Cassy Griffiths

      October 11, 2018 at 1:08 am

      I am looking to buy herbs & spices in bulk and I am needing a guide as to how much various dried herbs and spices weigh eg 1T = ? g or oz? Is there a chart available?

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        October 11, 2018 at 10:22 am

        That would be a great chart to have. I’ll start working on one.

        Reply
    13. Pam Scott

      November 20, 2018 at 11:21 am

      Thanks for the great chart1! Have been searching for ever for this!!
      Many Thanks!!!!!

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        November 20, 2018 at 12:09 pm

        You are very welcome. RG

        Reply
    14. Eric

      November 21, 2018 at 11:28 am

      Super helpful, thanks for the conversion table.

      Reply
    15. Leslie Howard-Redweik

      January 17, 2019 at 9:14 am

      How can print the chart. If I copy and paste there is no graph, just words etc… I tried on another browser but it cut off half the chart and the orientation was okay…??

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        January 17, 2019 at 12:49 pm

        Hi Leslie, you may want to “grab” a photo of the chart and print it out as an image.

        Reply
    16. Martha P.

      January 20, 2019 at 2:40 pm

      Nice chart very handy to have.
      I’m not sure if there is an error for the bay leaves;
      “Exceptions to the Rule
      Like everything in life, there are always exceptions to my general rules above. For example, you would substitute 1 fresh bay leaf for 2 dried”, but the chart shows 1 for 1.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        January 22, 2019 at 5:01 pm

        Thanks for catching the type-o. It should be 2 dried for 1 fresh bay leaf.

        Reply
    17. Judy Bernes

      January 21, 2019 at 9:08 pm

      Hello and thank you for this conversion chart! I was familiar with the standard 1/3 dried herb to fresh per volume as I’ve loved to cook with fresh herbs for decades…… I thought most people knew that rule but not! Oh dear and you have been so patient with the funniest of questions…. I’m thinking these are all new to herbs et all?! I found my answer SOOO quickly and I think most people really need a scale in the kitchen whether for cooking or for herbal remedies, DIY cosmetics etc…I use it daily as a hobby!

      You helped me know the conversion for powdered calendula flowers vs dried whole.! I can now infuse it correctly for balms so you have made my day!
      Yours, Judy

      Reply
    18. Ezekiel Kindle

      February 21, 2019 at 9:05 am

      FANTASTIC CHART!!!! Thank you for this. I always knew that there was a conversion for things like this.
      I’m curious if there is a similar type of conversion for spicy peppers? I looked after finding this chart and couldn’t find anything. What do you think? 1 tablespoon fresh Ghost Pepper = ????
      Not expecting an exact answer, just getting an opinion! 😀

      Reply
    19. Charee Levering

      March 31, 2019 at 1:51 pm

      I have a recipe that that​ calls for for​ a 1/4 cup of dill sprigs what I would that equal in dried?

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        April 02, 2019 at 2:57 pm

        Charee, there are 12 teaspoons in 1/4 cup and 3 to 1 fresh to dried ratio for dill so I would say approximately 4 teaspoons dried.

        Reply
    20. K Davis

      May 05, 2019 at 10:55 am

      Impressive!

      Thank you for the time and energy you put into researching and creating your conversion chart–and then sharing it! Your chart is thorough, unlike the others which only provide one standard conversion formula for the many types of herbs. Thanks for pointing out the differences in measurements for dried vs. ground herbs and hard vs. soft herbs. All the more impressive is your attention to, and patience with, the many questions you receive. You’ve been responding for nearly two years!

      If possible, please update the bay leaf conversion. I was totally intrigued by it, but then read the reply saying there had been a typo.

      I will be printing the chart and keeping it in a sheet protector, as I’m sure I’ll be using it for years to come.

      Reply
    21. Shannon

      August 04, 2019 at 3:40 pm

      Thank you! This is tremendously helpful!

      Reply
    22. Donna

      May 02, 2020 at 5:56 pm

      I need to use 1 cup of fresh basil and do not have any in my grocery store.
      How much dried basil should I use.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        May 03, 2020 at 8:37 am

        Hi Adjanor, I would have to see the recipe because I’m not sure you want to substitute dried basil for fresh basil in that amount. Sure if you need just 2 teaspoons of fresh basil you can substitute 1 teaspoon dried, but 1 cup……..? For example, if you are trying to make pesto with fresh basil, there is no way I can think of that you can substitute dried.

        Reply
    23. Malinda

      May 27, 2020 at 3:56 pm

      I love this chart thank you

      Reply
    24. Suzanne McElroy

      October 05, 2020 at 9:35 am

      Thanks so much for your chart and guidance re conversion fresh herbs to dry.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        October 05, 2020 at 10:00 am

        Hi Suzanne, you are very welcome.

        Reply
    25. Benita

      December 12, 2020 at 8:03 pm

      Sage and boiling water in a quart jar is very healthy for your hair..I’m fixing to try it.

      Reply
    26. Naomi

      May 02, 2021 at 4:52 am

      Great Chart, thank you ! Very helpful.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        May 02, 2021 at 11:23 am

        You are welcome Naomi.

        Reply

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