Tracy Norris
Hot, spicy, mild, or fruity: Herb and spice oil gives many dishes a special aroma – and it’s easy to make yourself. We show how you can prepare aromatic herbs yourself in many delicious variations.
You can celebrate many dishes with a good herb or spice oil: Herb oil tastes good in salads, is suitable for marinating, and even spices up a simple slice of bread. Chili oil flavors pizzas and you can quickly refine vegetable and pasta dishes with garlic oil.
But you don’t have to buy herbal oil in the supermarket for a lot of money – you can easily make the aromatic oil yourself. Filled in a pretty bottle, homemade herbal oil is also a nice and personal last-minute gift from the kitchen.
For a bottle of herbal oil you will need:
- Cooking oil (learn more about the choice of oil in the text below)
- fresh herbs of your choice (e.g. rosemary, thyme, mint, wild garlic)
- Spices like chili, garlic, and peppercorns
a clean glass bottle that can be sealed airtight - The herbs should be fresh and of good quality. Herbs from your own garden or organic herbs are best. The more herbs you use, the more aromatic the herb or spice oil will be.
If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can easily use dried herbs. These are often even more aromatic.
Bottles with a wide neck are ideal for filling the oil: This way, the herbs can be easily removed again.
Make herbal oil yourself: Here’s how
Sort the herbs carefully and remove wilted leaves and damaged areas.
If possible, you should not wash the herbs, otherwise, they will easily start to get moldy.
Put the herbs in the clean bottle and add oil. It is important that the herbs are completely covered by the oil.
Seal the bottle airtight.
After about three weeks, the herbs will have released their aromas into the oil and you can enjoy your homemade herbal oil. Since the herbs will mold quickly if they are no longer completely covered with oil, you should remove the herbs now.
Store the oil in a cool, dark place. Normally it can be stored for six months without any problems. However, if it begins to smell rancid, you should discard the oil.
Which oil is suitable for herbal oil?
In principle, you can use any cooking oil to prepare herbal oil. Oil with a neutral taste, such as sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, safflower oil, or corn oil is ideal.
Oils that naturally have a strong flavor of their own (such as olive oil or walnut oil) are more suitable for combining with very aromatic herbs.
Important: Always use high-quality oils.
Which herbs and spices are suitable for herbal oil?
There are no restrictions here: whatever tastes good is allowed! You can also mix different herbs to make a Mediterranean-style herbal oil or combine herbs with spices. Lemon-thyme oil, for example, tastes great on salads and with fresh fish.
Here are some ideas for herbal and spice oils:
- Mediterranean Herbal Oil: Use a mixture of sprigs of rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and oregano.
- Wild garlic oil: Put about 40 grams of wild garlic in 200 milliliters of oil.
- Garlic oil: Peel two cloves of garlic, cut into fine slices, and put in 200 milliliters of oil.
- Chili oil: Depending on the level of spiciness, you will need two to three dried chilies for 200 milliliters of chili oil.
- Lemon-thyme oil: Place the grated zest of half an organic lemon and four to five sprigs of thyme in 200 milliliters of olive or sunflower oil.
