Easy recipe for making parsley oil

Went to the farmers market and came back with a bunch of parsley that you have no immediate use for? Try making this delicious parsley oil. It’s beautiful bright green oil and can be used in many different ways! A great way to use up any leftover herbs.

What you need to make parsley oil

For making parsley oil you need just a few simple ingredients. I use olive oil but you can use any neutral oil you want. The olive oil (using extra virgin olive oil) give it extra flavor. I’m not a big fan of sunflower oil so I don’t use that for this recipe. I like to use garlic, a few drops of tabasco and some lime. Now the tabasco can be replaced by chili flakes or fresh chili if you prefer. The taste will be different but it will all work. The method for making this green herb oil is the same for any other leftover herbs you might have. Try making basil oil the same way for next time. I also sometimes like to add some spring onions to give it a different flavor.

You can use both the flat-leaf parsley or the curly parsley. You use both the parsley leaves and the stalks.

It’s a good idea to first clean the fresh herbs in an ice bath. The ice water freshens the leaves and makes sure any dirt is removed. You can dry it with paper towel.

The process

Apart from the washing the rest of the process for making this parsley oil is even easier. You simply chop all the ingredients roughly and add them to a high speed blender or use a stick blender for this. I like to use the stick blender as the quantities are usually not enough for the blender. These are soft herbs so easy to blend. Now there are two ways you can finish the oil. First of all you blend it until it is as smooth as possible. Once that is done you add some salt and pepper to taste. Now you can filter the parsley oil and make it into this beautiful bright green liquid. Or just keep it as is.

It depends on how you want to use it. 

Filtering

If you want it filtered, this is easiest to do with a coffee filter so all the little bits of green are filtered out. You will lose much moisture though too as it will soak into the filter. Alternatively you can use a very fine mesh instead. Or a cheese cloth should do the trick too and will soak up less of the liquid from the oil. Especially if you use it slightly wet.

Growing your own parsley

Parsley is one of the easiest herbs to grow in your garden or on your balcony. It’s very easy and you can enjoy and endless supply of parsley. Well, depending on the season of course. 

Which types of parsley are there?

There are two types of parsley we all know; flat-leaf parsley and curly parsley. And than there is also the parsley root, which is technically not a different kind but it can be enjoyed in an entirely different way from the two aforementioned. It’s a bit of a cross between parsnip and celeriac. 

Now if you take a close look at flat leaf parsley you might see a resemblance to celery. And the two are indeed related and belong to the same plant family. 

Properties

As with most herbs, parsley is also a plant with various medicinal and practical properties. It’s various oils are reported to have anti-inflammatory qualities and are said to even protect against cancer. 

The little plant is also full of iron and potassium which makes it really good if you are suffering from anemia plus it is a natural herb to use for lowering blood pressure. In order to benefit from all this you would have to have it on the menu every day of the week though.

Garlic breath

And – maybe the best use of all – if you’ve been snacking heavily on the garlic, take a large mouthful of parsley to end the garlic smell. It is said to mask your garlic breath and makes sure your social life doesn’t have to suffer from your culinary (garlic) adventures.