One minute your garden cress is just a tiny sprout, and the next, it’s ready for the kitchen! Ideally, you want to enjoy cress while it’s at its peak freshness. Once cut, it doesn’t stay snappy for long—and even if you leave it on its growing medium, it has a very short shelf life. But what happens if you have a massive harvest and can’t eat it all at once? You might be tempted to dry it, but I’ve got some news that might be a bit of a letdown.
Does drying ruin the flavor?
To be honest, cress isn’t really meant for the spice rack. When the moisture leaves the plant, most of those zesty flavors and healthy vitamins go right along with it. While dried cress is perfectly safe to eat, it’s definitely not a culinary highlight. Freezing isn’t much better; it tends to turn the greens into a mushy mess and kills the flavor profile. If you’re in a pinch, you can try these methods as a last resort, but don’t expect that signature peppery kick.
Got a bumper crop? Here’s what to do.
If you’re just growing a little bit on your windowsill, you probably won’t have much left over. You can pop small amounts of cress sprouts into a plastic bag and store them in the crisper drawer of your fridge. They’ll stay fresh for up to a week that way. Just make sure they aren’t soaking wet when you put them in, or they might get moldy. It’s always a good idea to give your greens a quick look-over for mold before you eat them.
If you’ve planted a large patch in your garden—maybe as a cover crop—you might find yourself with a mountain of greens all at once. Instead of drying them, try making cress butter, pesto, or a vibrant cress oil. These methods can stretch that delicious flavor out for several weeks!
Pro Tip:
Don’t sow all your seeds at once! It’s much better to practice “succession planting”—sowing small batches every few days or weeks—so you have a steady supply of fresh greens instead of a giant harvest you can’t finish.
If you really must dry it, here’s how.
If your garden is overflowing and you can’t give enough away to neighbors, drying is better than letting it go to waste. If your cress is particularly flavorful to begin with, the dried version might still hold enough punch for your cooking. Here is the best way to do it:
- Harvest your cress in the early morning when the essential oils are at their peak.
- Cut the stems close to the ground.
- Tie them into small bundles.
- Hang them upside down in a well-ventilated, airy spot.
- Alternatively, use a food dehydrator at a very low temperature.
Once the cress is completely dry, crumble the leaves off the stems. Store them in a sealed glass jar—ideally an amber-colored one—to keep the light out and preserve what’s left of the aroma.