I always thought you needed fresh herbs for good flavor, but my neighbor in apartment 3B said she just uses the dried stuff from the dollar store and it works fine.

I tried her trick with a $1 jar of dried oregano in my pasta sauce last night and honestly, I couldn't tell the difference, so what other dried herbs are actually worth buying?

3 comments

3 Comments

blake_lewis1mo ago

Honestly, you might be missing out with that dried oregano. The cheap stuff is often just stems and dust, which is why it tasted bland. Try a better brand like Simply Organic next time and you'll notice the flavor is way stronger.

tylers721mo ago

Ever notice how we get sold on the idea that everything has to be premium to be good? Like fresh herbs, fancy olive oil, or single origin coffee. A lot of it is just marketing. Dried thyme and rosemary hold up great in soups and roasts. Bay leaves are always dried anyway. The cheap jar of Italian seasoning makes decent garlic bread. Sometimes the basic version does the job just fine and we're paying for the story.

masontorres11d ago

The branding part is so true @tylers72. But the thing people miss is that a lot of "premium" stuff is just re-packaged bulk goods. I knew a guy who worked at a spice warehouse and he said the same oregano goes into the fancy glass jars and the cheap plastic pouches, just ground finer for the expensive one. The real difference is how you store it. Keep that dried rosemary away from light and heat and the cheap stuff lasts just as long as the expensive one. Same with olive oil, the fancy bottles often sit on store shelves under bright lights for months and go rancid faster than a plain tin from the discount store. We're all being sold on the package, not the product.