Roasted Herb Oil

Roasted Herb Oil is a great way to add lots of extra flavors to salads, soups, casseroles, and more. Now, the heat of boiling the oil and herbs for 15 minutes at the high temperature should destroy any bacteria or toxins in this low acid food, but for extra safety, I’d suggest  it should be made fresh for use and not left at room temperatures, and any leftovers should be refrigerated for use within three days, frozen for longer storage, or discarded.

For longer storage, I freeze it in ice cube trays so that it’s already measured in 1 tablespoon sizes. Pop out a cube, and it’s ready to use!

I used an oven-proof loaf pan, placed the herbs in the bottom, covered them with olive oil, and pressed them down with a fork.

Use any herbs you like. I like the flavors of mixed herbs. In the pictures I used rosemary, chives, oregano, and thyme (these are all herbs I grow in the garden).  Or, you could do one single herb to intensify its flavor. Or, try making a flavor profile like a licorice-y flavor using basil, fennel and Tarragon. Or, make a Mexican blend using Mexican oregano, cilantro, and basil. Well, you get the idea, play around with the flavors and have fun!

Don’t use extra virgin olive oil for this, no use going to that extra expense, just buy pure olive oil, and buy oil when it’s buy one get one free so you can use a bit of it and not feel like you’ve used your whole bottle!

I love to use this oil to add extra flavor to all my dinner dishes. It’s like layers of flavor in one dish! Or, fry up an egg for breakfast in it for a little herb hit in the morning.

This is the herb oil right when it came out of the oven. Please be very careful, as this is boiling hot oil.

Roasted Herb Oil Recipe

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Roasted Herb Oil

Author Debi

Ingredients

• large handful of herbs
• pure olive oil

Instructions

1. Place herbs in a baking dish and cover with oil. Roast 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Carefully remove from oven,and allow pan to cool. Strain into a pretty bottle or jar with a tight fitting lid, and store in the fridge.

Recipe Notes

For safety reasons, this should be made fresh. Leftovers should be refrigerated for use within three days or frozen.