Perfect if you have a few handfuls of wild herbs left over from a foraging foray, this wild herb oil recipe is a super quick and easy way to preserve the flavour of seasonal foraged delights for a couple more weeks. If you are unsure of what to pick, check out our foraging guides.
You can make the wild herb oil with just one herb or a mixture, just be aware that some flavours might try to outcompete each other. Play around with the flavours and remember that you can always add more of one herb – but you can’t take it away!
Your wild herb oil can be used in lots of recipes. Simply poured into a bowl and used to dip bread in, drizzled over salads or stirred through some freshly steamed jersey royal potatoes or one of our favourites, a charred heritage tomato salad. It can also be used to add a little colour to pizza doughs, pasta doughs and to add vibrant colour to homemade mayonnaise.
100g foraged wild herbs (for example, wild garlic, ground ivy, nettles, dandelion leaves, common sorrel, garlic mustard, three cornered leek – a favourite combination of ours is nettles and ground ivy)
10g maldon salt
150g sunflower oil
Pick and wash your foraged herbs in cold running water, then drain well.
Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil and blanch your foraged herbs for 30 seconds, remove the wild herbs from the water using a slotted spoon and plunging into ice cold water to refresh.
Drain the wild foraged herbs and dry thoroughly by placing them in a thin layer between tea towels and pressing on them gently.
Roughly chop the blanched wild herbs and place into a blender with 50ml of the oil. Blitz until you have a thick paste, scraping down the sides as needed with a spatula.
Pour in the rest of the oil, add the salt and continue to blend for a minute or two, until you have a vibrant oil.
Place a sieve over a bowl and pour in the oil, place it into the fridge and allow it to drain for a few hours. If you want a completely smooth oil filter it again through a coffee filter paper before pouring into a bottle bottle and placing in the refrigerator. The oil will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge.
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You can learn more about foraging for wild herbs in our below foraging guides:
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