I'm thrilled to share one of my favorite ways to preserve the bounties of a garden — and that’s by making flavored herb salts. It’s a wonderful method to keep those fresh herbs useful year-round, and they also make excellent gifts. Today, I'll walk you through my mojo citrus-inspired herb salt recipe, a nod to my Dominican heritage where we frequently use mojo flavors.
👩🍳Get a free printable PDF recipe card for this recipe HERE.
Checkout the video version of this recipe:
Why Herb Salts?
Herb salts are a fantastic way to use up garden produce, especially when you find yourself with an abundance of herbs. Not only are they practical, but they make thoughtful gifts, too. Beyond the practical uses, herb salts add a burst of flavor to just about any dish.
Supplies You'll Need
Before we dive into the recipes, let's go over the supplies you'll need:
- Food Dehydrator: Essential for removing the moisture from the fresh herbs. I use the London Sunshine brand six-tray food dehydrator. It's medium-sized and works perfectly. You can get a 10% discount on the same model that I use, with discount code Jerra and using my link: https://bit.ly/3SOhUXI
- Coarse Salt: My preference is coarse sea salt or coarse Celtic salt, but any coarse salt will do.
- Containers: Little containers to store your herb salts. I use mini 4oz glass containers from Amazon, which are perfect for gifting. You can find them HERE.
- Blender: A really good blender is necessary. I use a Ninja blender which you can find on Amazon HERE.
Mojo Citrus Herb Salt Ingredients
To kick off our mojo citrus herb salt adventure, you'll need a few key ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh cuban oregano, or regular oregano
- 1 cup of fresh peels cut off from a combination of oranges, limes, and lemons. If you could only use one type of citrus, then use oranges. Try to remove as much of the white pith as possible or it will give a bitter flavor to the final herb salt.
- all the cloves from 1 garlic bulb
- handful of fresh cilantro (optional)
- 1 1/4 cup organic sea salt OR Celtic Salt
It is important to note that the fresh ingredients-to-salt ratio is 2 cups of fresh ingredients to 1 1/4 cups of coarse salt.
Let’s Make Some Mojo Citrus Herb Salt!
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Prepare Your Ingredients:
- Begin by adding 1 1/4 cups of salt into a blender.
- Next, add two cups of combined fresh ingredients: One cup of citrus peels (lime, lemon, orange) and one cup of fresh garlic, oregano, and cilantro. I add all of the garlic to a 1 cup measuring cup. Then fill it up with the oregano and cilantro until the 1 cup is full.
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Blending & Drying:
- Blend everything until you achieve a consistency resembling wet beach sand. Add more salt if too wet, or more fresh ingredients if too dry.
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Dehydrate:
- Spread the mixture evenly onto a parchment paper-lined tray and place it in your dehydrator.
- Let it dry for at least three hours, checking regularly. If your layer is thinner, drying takes less time. Dehydrate for more time if its still too wet.
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Final Processing:
- Once dried, pour everything back into the blender and blend until smooth and powdery. Pour the mojo citrus salt into glass containers.
- I like using four-ounce glass jars for storing my salts, perfect for keeping everything fresh and vibrant. Label each jar with the date and flavor.
Storing & Using Your Herb Salt
If stored properly in airtight jars, your herb salt will last about a year. Keep them in a cool, dark place, and you’re all set.
Herb salts are incredibly versatile. Sprinkle them over roasted veggies, mix them into salad dressings, or finish grilled meats with this zestful twist. Personally, Iove using this mojo citrus salt on grilled pork chops or baked chicken wings.
