Flavored Salts for Gift Giving (Recipe: Sage Rosemary Salt)
I try to not get overwhelmed with gift giving during the holidays, but I have to admit it’s hard to avoid picking out something special for my friends.
Luckily, almost all of my friends are as interested in food and cooking as I am, so I know gifts from my kitchen are loved. The other perk? They are incredibly easy to put together, and it only takes a few extra minutes to make enough for all your friends.
This year one of the gifts I’m giving is flavored salts. Aimée wrote about Meyer lemon salts earlier this year, and making other flavors is just as easy. With the help of a food processor and a quick stint in the oven, you can infuse salts with herbs, flowers, citrus, and more.
What to do with flavored salts? Use them on cuts of meat, sprinkle over fish, make your own potato chips, add to desserts for a savory burst, top popcorn, or simply use on roasted veggies. The possibilities really are endless!
For gift-giving, package the salts in small containers (I used small Weck jars) that are air-tight. These salts should last forever – or until you use them up, that is.
No matter what flavor you’re using, start out with a ratio of ¼ cup salt and 1 teaspoon (dried) flavoring, then adjust to taste. I use Kosher salt because its inexpensive and easy to find in large containers, though larger-flake salt would be even more gourmet.
Sage Rosemary Salt
Ingredients
- 1 cup coarse Kosher salt
- ½ cup fresh sage leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Process ingredients together until herbs are chopped, about 30 seconds.
- Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.
- Let cool and package in airtight containers.
Nutrition
Need some other homemade gift ideas? Here are a few of my favorite past recipes:
- Dark Chocolate Rum Truffles
- Maple Spice Candied Nuts
- Buckwheat Pancake Mix
- Chai Spice Granola with Dried Apple and Almonds
- Molasses-Cinnamon Syrup
- Pear Cranberry Compote
Are you making gifts from the kitchen this year?
Megan, this is a wonderful gift idea!!
I live in Europe and it’s a very popular option to healthy-cooking-minded/gourmet-minded friends who value such gifts. I regularly get two/ three types of salt each year, and my favorite use scenario is the one with the roaster vegetables. In fact you need very little of those salts to season and get the effect.
I love this idea. So easy and thoughtfully homemade!
Hi Megan. I find myself moving to a new place around Christmas time this year, and these flavored salts might be just the perfect quick gift idea to help me through this year. Thank you for sharing!
Always,
Kimberly
What a great gift for friends! Love Love Love this!!
I love!!!
Such a great gift idea!!
Great gift idea!
Such a great gift to give & receive!
Love it, Megan! What a great idea! Something about the holidays… I’ve gotten over having to buy gifts for everyone I come in contact with…. but i LOVE giving them little things like this. I just got done making apple butter and cranberry-pomegranate jam to give to friends this holiday season. 🙂
I’ve been looking for flavored salt recipes and this one is going to make me take the jump and do it. What a unique and flavorful gift idea!
Such a great holiday gift idea!
Such a great idea, Aimee! Love it!
Flavored salts are so versatile! I love the flavor of this one. Rosemary is my favorite winter herb!
I love homemade Christmas gifts, and this is a lovely idea.
That is such a great gift idea! Homemade gifts are the best cause they come from the heart!
Love this idea! Sadly, most of my friends are not into food as much as I am, but I’m still going to make this for myself. 😉 I’m hoping to make some mini-loaves of a few different types of bread to give to neighbors this year.
Such a fantastic idea and something I would definitely put to use 🙂
Megan,
This is a great idea for what to do when I’ve got extra fresh herbs in the farm share any time–not just in time for the holidays! I can mix them up when I’ve got the raw materials, and store for later.
Thanks!
Ooooh – this is just the perfect idea. We’ve done homemade vanilla extract for teacher gifts the last couple years. It’s one of those super easy things that goes great with a gift card. It’s fun to give the extras to friends throughout the season. I’ll have to tuck this away for next year!
If you use dried herbs do you still have to put it in the oven?
This is great! I use finishing salts from The Salt Cellar (salt-cellar.com) because making them myself isn’t always doable. This inspires me to be more of a DIY person. Have you tried using Himalayan salt as your base?
DO YOU GRIND AND BAKE SALT WITH THE ROSEMARY AND SAGE ADD THE SALT AFTER THEY ARE BAKED AND COOLED? PLEASE ANSWER ASAP WANT TO MAKE FOR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. THANK YOU