How to Dry Sage [Methods of Dehydrating Sage]

So, you’ve added a sage plant to your garden, and now you want to harvest sage leaves and dry them out for some new recipes. Drying sage is easy and today I’m going to cover how to harvest sage, how to prepare sage for drying and how to dry sage. You can dry Sage in several different ways and we’ll cover the methods of dehydrating sage that you can use. First, we’ll talk about why you should dry sage in the first place and its benefits. Ready to get started on how to dry sage?

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Today’s article covers how and when to harvest your sage plant, then how to prepare sage for drying how to wash your sage leaves and how long it’ll take to dry them out using each different method. It includes specific instructions on how to dry sage in a dehydrator, and how to dry sage in the oven with a step-by-step guide. We’ll also include how to dry sage in the microwave. (not my favourite way to do it, but it’s an interesting option). Finally, we’ll cover how to store your dried sage leaves, so they last as long as possible.

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Why Dry Sage?

There are many reasons why you should dry out your fresh sage leaves. The primary reason is so that you can keep and use your sage leaves for longer. If you use sage a lot in your recipes, then drying your sage is a no-brainer. Correctly dried herbs will keep for much longer than fresh leaves. So, if you use sage often enough, you can keep it all year long for various recipes.

Additionally, if you harvest your sage plant regularly, and dry the leaves, then none of the plant will go to waste. Regularly harvesting sage actually encourages growth, so it’s a win-win situation. Keep harvesting, keep drying and you’ll have more sage to use in the months to come! I’ve covered harvesting sage in my full how to grow sage guide here.

How to Dry Fresh Sage

You can dry out fresh sage leaves in four different ways. There’s no one right way over the others, and it’s all about preference and what you have in your kitchen. My preference is to use a dedicated dehydrator, but then I also use that for drying other herbs, fruit and vegetables. Before we get onto drying sage, here’s some of my most popular content on drying and dehydrating fruit, vegetables and herbs.

You should also consider a dehydrator – if you have a lot of herbs and vegetables to dry, they are great, cost-effective, and more efficient than using the oven. Here are my top picks for dehydrators for herbs.

Food Hydrator Name	Highlights	What It Looks Like	Read Reviews & Buy Now!
Excalibur Food Dehydrator	• 9-Tray dehydrator, 15 square feet of drying space • Built-in on/off switch and adjustable thermostat with 26-hour timer • Easy to clean Polyscreen tray inserts • 7-inch fan, 600 watts, • Unit Dimensions: 12-1/2 H x 17 W x 19 D (inches)	Check Prices Here	Check prices and buy now
BioChef Savana Food Dehydrator	• Digital Display: 99 Hour Timer • Adjustable Thermostat: 35º to 70ºC • 6, 9 or 12 Stainless Steel Drying Trays + 100% BPA Free inner- and outer casing • Non-Stick Sheet, Fine Mesh Sheet & 3 Drip Tray • Superior horizontal airflow for even & consistent drying of foods & no flavour contamination between the trays • 3 years warranty on motor & parts – UK service & support centre	Check Prices Here	Buy Now!
Klarstein Fruit Jerky 6	• Temperature and timer setting gives even dehydration as the fan circulates warm air • Adjustable display on the upper surface. • Adjustable temperature from 35-70°C. • Adjustable timer from 0:30 – 19:30 hrs	Get More Information Here	Check Prices here
MisterChef Circular Food Dehydrator	Temperature- setting. easy to clean plastic trays and lid On/off switch on the unit base. Settable temperature from 35-70°C.	Buy Here	Buy the best Circular food dehydrator here

So let’s get back to drying sage. You can dry out your sage leaves by using the following methods:

In the open air
In a dehydrator > this is an awesome dehydrator for herbs
In the microwave
In the oven

Let’s take a step back and talk about harvesting sage.

How and When to Harvest Sage

The best time to harvest sage is in the early morning after the dew has dried off the leaves. Then, take a look at the leaves and choose healthy leaves that aren’t yellowed or shrivelled. Healthy leaves should be pinched off from the leaf’s stem.

During a single harvest, you’ll want to only take about one-third of the healthy leaves. This will allow the other leaves to continue growing and help new leaves generate.

If you notice any flower buds producing, you can pinch those off as well. This will also encourage the sage plant to continue producing sage leaves.

However, this is a good sign if you see flowers beginning to bud. You can be sure that your leaves will have the strongest flavour at this point. So, you can harvest the leaves and pick off the buds to encourage new growth.

Alternatively, you can snip stems from the plant that have multiple healthy leaves. You’ll want to leave at least two inches of the stem from the base of the soil to ensure the stem continues to grow and produces more leaves.

You can expect your first harvest to occur about 75 days after planting your sage. This is when the plant will be mature enough to give you fresh, healthy leaves.

Preparing Sage for Dehydrating

While it’s not necessary to wash your sage before drying, I always do.

You can get fresh sage leaves from your garden. In that case, you know how the plant was grown and know where it came from. Also, chances are you didn’t use any herbicides or pesticides in your garden, so you shouldn’t need to rinse your sage.

However, it doesn’t harm the sage leaves, and by rinsing it off, you can ensure there are no pests or dirt on the leaves when it gets dried.

In other words, you should wash your sage before drying it out to ensure it’s healthy and safe to eat later.

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How to Dry Sage in a Dehydrator

Follow the instructions for cleaning and prepping sage leaves.

Spread your clean, dry sage leaves out on the racks
Sage leaves should be in a single layer.
Set the dehydrator to the settings detailed by the manufacturer – they all differ, but for sage leaves, the temperature is likely to be 35 celsius to 50 celsius.
Check at least once an hour the first time that you do this.
Your sage leaves will be dried and ready when the leaves crumble easily.
Make a note of how long it takes, and that can be your guide for future drying sessions.

How to Dry Sage in the Oven

So, let’s talk about how to dry sage leaves in the oven.

Step 1: Turn On the Oven to the Lowest Temperature

First, you’ll want to preheat your oven to the lowest temperature setting. This temperature will vary from oven to oven, but 75-80 degrees celsius is a good mark.

While that’s preheating, you can move along to step two.

Step 2: Prepare the Sage Leaves

Next, you need to prepare your sage leaves for the oven. To do so, remove the sage leaves from the stems.

Then, rinse the leaves under cool, running water. Dry them entirely so that no moisture ends up in the oven. Otherwise, your leaves will cook rather than dry out. You can dry them completely by patting them with a paper towel or using a salad spinner.

Once your leaves are rinsed and dried, then you can use a sharp kitchen knife to chop the leaves into smaller pieces.

However, you don’t need to chop the leaves into smaller pieces. Instead, you can dry out the whole leaves and then crush them after drying with either your hands or a mortar and pestle.

Step 3: Place the Sage Leaves on a Baking Sheet

As soon as that’s done, you’ll want to prepare the baking sheet. Place parchment paper or a non-stick baking sheet in the pan before spreading the chopped sage leaves onto the baking pan.

Make sure you lay the sage leaves in a single layer on the baking sheet. Otherwise, any leaves underneath some leaves won’t dry out properly.

Depending on how many baking sheets you have or how big your oven is, you may need to dry out the sage leaves in batches.

Step 4: Put the Sage Leaves in the Oven, Checking Occasionally

Now, you can finally put your sage leaves in the oven. This process should take about an hour before your herb is completely dry.

However, you can’t put the leaves in and walk away for an hour. So you’ll need to check on them every 15 minutes to ensure they’re not cooking or burning.

After about 30 minutes or so, you can turn the baking sheet around to ensure that all sides of the leaves get dried out, but this isn’t necessary.

Depending on how many leaves you have, this process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Step 5: Let Your Sage Leaves Dry and then store them

Once your sage leaves are completely dried out, take them out of the oven. Don’t forget to turn your oven off (or you can put in a new batch of sage leaves). Then, when your dried sage leaves are completely cooled, you can store them in a glass container with a tight lid.

How to Dry Sage in the Microwave

Let’s now go over how to dry sage in the microwave with a step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Wash and Prepare The Sage Leaves

Once you’ve harvested your fresh sage leaves, it’s time to prep them to dry out.

First, you’ll want to pinch the leaves off the stems if they haven’t been taken off the plant’s stems already.

Once that’s done, it’s time to wash the leaves. You can rinse them off by letting them sit in cool, running water. You can rinse them carefully in small batches at a time with your hand or let them soak in a colander.

Then, it would be best to dry them thoroughly before putting them in the microwave. You can pat the leaves dry with a paper towel or let them dry in a salad spinner to ensure all the moisture is gone.

Then, you can place the leaves in a single layer on a microwave plate. Depending on how many leaves you have, you’ll have to dry the leaves in multiple batches.

If you want to fit more on the plate, you can always take a sharp kitchen knife and chop up the leaves into fine pieces and then dry the leaves.

Step 2: Microwave the Sage Leaves in 30-Second Intervals

Now you can microwave your sage leaves. It won’t take long at all, so it’s easy for the leaves to burn or catch on fire.

When putting the sage in the microwave, make sure to turn it on for 30-second intervals. If the wattage of your microwave is over 1,000, then you might want to have the sage leaves go through the microwave in 15-second intervals instead.

After about two to three minutes, your sage leaves should be dried. If you notice there’s still some moisture on the leaves, then you pop them back into the microwave for about ten to 15 seconds.

Step 3: Allow the Dried Sage Leaves To Cool and Then Store Them

When the leaves are finally dried, allow them to cool completely. If you hadn’t already chopped the leaves, you could do so now.

The dried sage leaves should crumble at the touch of your hand so that you won’t need a knife. Or, if you want it to be fine, you can crush the dried leaves with a mortar and pestle.

Once they’re crushed and cooled, then you can store your dried sage leaves in a clear, glass container with a tight lid. The dried leaves will last you for at least six months.

How to Store Your Dried Sage

The best way to store your dried sage is to place it in a clear glass jar with a tight lid. Read our guide to recycling glass jars here.

After you dry out this herb and it’s cooled completely, you can add it to the jar and put the lid on tightly to keep it fresh and ensure the dried leaves will last as long as possible.

Believe it or not, dried sage leaves can last up to three years if stored properly.

You can recycle a jam jar or use mason jars that you may have around your house. By sealing the jar with the dried sage tightly, it’ll last you at least six months. After that, the flavour will become more subtle. However, dried sage can last up to three years if stored well.

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Guides to Drying Herbs

Want to dry more herbs? Here are my guides to herb drying and herb dehydrating.

FAQs about Drying Sage

Got questions about drying sage? Or want to know more about how to dry sage in the oven and we haven’t answered your questions? Check out our frequently asked questions about oven-drying sage below, or ask us yours in the comments.

How long does it take to dry Sage in the oven?

Drying sage leaves in the oven should take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. However, to ensure it’s dried well, an hour will be ideal. Of course, this can depend on a few factors. Every oven is different so the lowest temperature setting will vary. Depending on the temperature, your sage leaves might dry faster, or they could dry slower.

This is why it’s essential to check on your sage leaves every 15 minutes. So you can see how quickly and how well it’s drying.

After you dry out these leaves the first time, make a note of how long it took. Then, you’ll know for next time the approximate time it may take.

How long does it take to dry Sage in Microwaves?

If you need a quick method of drying out your sage leaves, then the microwave is the way to go. In general, it takes about two to three minutes to dry out the sage leaves completely. However, the timing will depend on the wattage of the microwave you have.

This is why you want to put your sage in the microwave for only 15 to 30 seconds at a time. You can check to see how long your microwave takes to dry a batch of herb leaves.

How long does it take to dry sage in a dehydrator?

It will usually take between one and three hours to dry sage in a dehydrator, the length of time it takes to dehydrate sage in a dehydrator depends on the model and the manufacturer.

Final Words on Drying Sage

Sage is a great herb to have in your kitchen for many different recipes. Drying out the leaves will ensure that you can keep your sage harvests longer. Using the oven is one way to dry out these leaves, and it’s also effective. You can also use a microwave (although it’s not my choice) and this is the fastest way to dry sage. Finally, my choice is to use a dehydrator, which for me delivers the best results. However you decide to dry your sage leaves, it’s a great way to extend the harvest of your herb garden.

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