What dried herbs do you actually use?

[Westminstress]

I am cleaning and reorganizing my spice cabinet ... whee! I am moving the spices from a cupboard to a couple of small drawers. I am buying all new jars that will fit in the drawers, and I found really cute custom spice labels on etsy for the top of the jars. Yay! Most of what I have in my cabinets is quite old, so I'm going to toss it and buy fresh as needed, but I want to order the labels now, which leads me to my question: What dried herbs would I actually use?

I mostly use fresh herbs. I have quite a few jars of dried herbs that I have not opened in years ... do I really want to buy labels for them? The ones I occasionally use in dried form are oregano, epazote and tarragon (the last two only because they can be hard to find fresh where I am). Do I really need to create labels for basil, dill, mint, rosemary, sage, and thyme, for example? Or maybe there is something that I don't have but should -- fines herbs, for example?

What dried herbs do you actually use and are there any that you find indispensable?

[shanagain]

Not technically an herb, I guess, but I love celery seed for various uses. And definitely bay leaves.

[shanagain]

Additionally, chili powders, mexican oregano and cumin.

[cocktailhour]

Mexican oregano. The oregano I grow is more subtle and doesn't stand up as well to long cooking dishes. Thyme for when I am lazy, plus I think it still has plenty of flavor dried. Sage occasionally.

[shanagain]

+1

[junescook]

Mostly oregano and thyme out of season, but lately I've been using a couple of Tbls of za'atar seasoning in hummus when I make it. Also nice on lamb.

[Harters]

Thyme, oregano and the mixed "herbes de Provence".

[ediblover]

Ditto on the Provence, which I'm just about out of at the moment. Pretty sure it's the only dried herb I've used lately (So versatile!).

[dave_c]

Most common - Thyme, tarragon, parsley, oregano, bay, basil.
Once in a blue moon - sage, rosemary and dill

[magiesmom]

dill weed, mexican oregano, thyme.

[ChiliDude]

Mexican oregano huh? That's Lippia graveolens (scientific name)...better than Mediterranean oregano for chili. I've used it for years, and I live on the East Coast.

[biscottifan]

Alphabetically - bay, dill weed, rosemary, tarragon, and thyme. I don't garden and fresh herbs often cost more than a dozen eggs.

[Novelli]

For dried herbs, I only use oregano and marjorum, and dry them myself from the garden.
All others I use fresh.

[Jay F]

Thyme and dill weed, but only occasionally, if I don't have any fresh. Oh, and bay leaf. The rest are somewhere between useless and nasty, dried basil being the worst of the bunch.

[odkaty]

Bay leaves and thyme, and I think there's a jar of oregano from when I killed the last plant.

[katecm]

If you don't use them, then don't get labels made. I actually think a lot of the ones that you mentioned ARE indispensable dried. I'd never make my grandma's all-day spaghetti sauce with fresh herbs (dried basil and oregano, of course), and fresh sage just would not make a good enough spice rub for pork. But, as I said, if you don't use them, you don't use them!

[qianning]

Bay Leaf?

[ChiliDude]

My wife's heritage is Italian. Does that give you a clue? Most often we use a product called Italian Seasoning, which if you are not familiar with it is a mixture of 7 dried herbs including basil, oregano, marjoram, savory, thyme, rosemary and sage. Oft times I use only 1 or 2 like basil, oregano or marjoram.

I like spices such cumin and coriander, but you didn't ask about spices, so I will not continue at this point.

[Gio]

The dried herbs I use come from my garden: basil, oregano, sage, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, spearmint, taragon. These are my essential herbs and must be labled so my husband can identify them in the pantry.. Occasionaly I grow lemongrass, dill, lavender and fennel but like rosemary and cilantro they don't overwinter.

[wincountrygirl]

I dislike dried herbs, but the only ones that work for me are tarragon and rosemary. I will use oregano only if I dry it myself.

[linguafood]

Oregano, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, dill weed.