Making Herbal Vinegar

Herbal vinegar is an easy project that can be done at any time of year that fresh herbs are available. It’s good to have these kinds of vinegar on hand to boost the flavor of our favorite dishes, and they can be particularly nice to use during the colder months when there are no fresh herbs coming from the garden.

Like homemade vanilla extract, they are simple to make and will add a wonderful shot of summertime flavor to salad dressings, marinades, gravies, and sauces. Just remember, it takes from two to four weeks for them to age, so don’t wait too long to start.

I like to save interesting bottles with nice stoppers to use for making herbal vinegar. They make great, inexpensive “Do-It-Yourself” gifts from the homestead. For more Gifts From The Homestead ideas, scroll down to see our bloggers collaboration and links on how to do each one!

Both herbs and flowers can be used to make herbal vinegar, just select from your favorite flavors listed below to give them a try.

Herbs To Try:

Herbs that make good vinegar include basil, bay, dill, fennel, garlic, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, tarragon, and thyme.

Flowers To Try:

Flowers can also be used to make herbal vinegar; and varieties to try include carnation, clover, lavender, nasturtium, primrose, rose, rosemary flowers, thyme flowers, and sweet violets.

Shopping List:

Bottles to hold the number of herbal vinegars that you intend to make (I find that bottles that will hold 8 – 9 fluid ounces make nice size vinegar)
Freshly harvested herbs for the variety of vinegar you wish to make
Cider or wine vinegar to fill the number of bottles you are making

Herbs and Bottles for Herbal Vinegar

Instructions for Making Herbal Vinegar:

To make the vinegar, cut fresh, perfect looking herbs; and lightly bruise before loosely packing into clean bottles (as mentioned above, I save interesting looking bottles with nice caps for this purpose).

Bruised Herbs Inserted in Bottles

Pour warmed (not hot) cider or wine vinegar (30 – 40 seconds works in our microwave to warm the vinegar) over the herbs to fill and cap the bottle.
Set the vinegar in a sunny window and shake daily for two weeks, then taste for flavor. If a stronger flavor is desired, strain the vinegar and repeat the above steps with fresh herbs.

Aging Herbal Vinegar

Once the desired strength has been achieved, store as-is or strain through cheesecloth and rebottle.
Add a fresh sprig of the herb for identification and visual appeal (see below). Dressed up with a nice ribbon and tag, they make a nice hostess gift. The ones shown above are in process and are (from right to left) mint, lavender, basil, thyme, dill, and sage.

Finished Herbal Vinegar

That’s it, that’s all there is to making herbal vinegar! Once you get going with single herb vinegar, then there’s a whole other level – blended herb vinegar. You can easily and inexpensively try any combination of herbs to add new and exciting flavors to your cooking.