Stocking A DIY Herb and Spice Cabinet

I’ve gotten several emails of late asking me to detail what is in my herb/spice cabinet and how much of each item I order to make sure I have enough on hand to make my various recipes. While it’s always preferable to grow and dry your own herbs, purchasing them from a reputable source can often be easier.

I’ve broken my list in to two sections: Culinary Uses and Health/Body Recipes since I use herbs for both of these. I order most of my herbs in bulk online and order enough to last for all my DIY projects for a few months since shipping can be expensive.

Culinary Herbs

I order all of the herbs and spices I use in cooking in bulk since this saves money and since we use a lot of them by cooking 2-3 times a day. I’ve found that ordering herbs and spices in bulk allows us to use organic ones at a fraction of the cost of conventional store bought spices. Many conventional spices also contain anti-caking agents, MSG or other ingredients that we avoid, so making our own is a simple and cost effective solution.

Here is a list of my 14 most used herb and spice blends, but often, I just season food to taste from what I have in the cabinet. My usual herb/spice order of culinary herbs includes (unless I’ve been able to grow enough from the garden instead):

• 1 pound basil leaf
• 1 pound oregano leaf
• 1 pound parsley
• 1 pound garlic powder
• 1 pound minced garlic
• 1 pound onion powder (or homemade)
• 1-2 pounds minced onion (or homemade)
• 1 pound turmeric root
• 1 pound cinnamon powder
• 1 pound cumin seed powder
• 1 pound paprika
• 1 pound Rosemary
• 1 pound Thyme
• 2-3 pounds Himalayan Salt or Real Salt
• 1 pound dill leaf
• 1 pound chili powder

Health/Beauty Herbs

We also use herbs in tinctures, salves, skin and beauty recipes including:

• Chamomile Tincture for Kids
• Sleepy time Tincture
• Digestive Tincture
• Multivitamin Tincture
• Healing Salve
• Vapo Rub
• Black Drawing Salve
• Herbal Mouth Wash
• Herbal Cough Syrup
• Herbal Hair Color Recipes
• Elderberry Syrup

For these recipes, my shopping list usually includes:

• 1 pound chamomile flowers
• 1 pound calendula flowers
• 1 pound nettle leaf
• 1 pound alfalfa leaf
• 1 pound peppermint leaf
• 1 pound plantain leaf (or from backyard)
• 1 pound yarrow flowers
• 1 pound catnip leaf
• 1-2 pounds dried elderberries

And non-herb ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs shea butter
• 1-2 lbs cocoa butter
• 1 pound mango butter
• 1 pound beeswax
• coconut oil (a lot-because we use it for everything)
• liquid carrier oil like almond or apricot seed
• arrowroot powder
• essential oils
• liquid castile soap
• castor oil (for oil cleansing)

Do you make your own spices? What is in your herb and spice cabinet? Share below!