Salt free Italian seasoning is a simple yet very useful herb blend to have in your pantry. It’s quick and easy to make and it can be used in many dishes and recipes like pastas, soups, salad dressings and many more. Best of all is that it adds a lot of flavors without a grain of salt.
Kidney nutrition
Italian seasoning does not usually contain salt. However, the best way to make sure of it and have a real flavorful seasoning is to make it yourself.
Being an unsalted herb blend, the nutritional values for this low sodium Italian seasoning are negligible.
Nutrition facts and claims
Here are the nutritional values and claims of this recipe.
For informational purposes only.
What is salt free Italian seasoning
A classic Italian spice blend is usually made up of a combination of dried herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram and rosemary. However, some proposed blends can be very different.
Some of them may contain onion flakes, dehydrated garlic, cayenne pepper flakes, salt, and other herbs and spices. These mixtures are typically used as all-purpose Italian seasonings for cooking.
Like most seasoning blends, there are no set rules for ingredients and their quantities. Although it is commonly used in Italian-type cooking, there is no clear origin for it.
How to make salt free Italian seasoning
Like any other dried herb blend, all you have to do is combine together all the ingredients mentioned in the recipe as well as any others you would like to add.
If you’re using dried rosemary or any other dried herb that has a needle shape, as in this recipe, I highly recommend crushing it before mixing it.
If you are going to use your unsalted Italian seasoning right away, you can simply crush it with your fingers. But if you want to keep it for the long term, I recommend you to avoid handling it directly with your hands and simply chop it finely.
How to use Italian seasoning
Using this salt free Italian seasoning is as easy as using it on anything that pairs with dried herbs.
Salad dressing
For a quick, low sodium salad dressing, you can simply combine your salt free Italian seasoning with oil and vinegar. This will give you a basic Italian dressing.
You can also substitute the same volume of this blend for dried herbs in salad dressing recipes like my low sodium Italian dressing recipe.
Pasta sauce
Generally, pasta sauces use dried herbs and no other mixture is more suitable for this than Italian seasoning. To use it, simply follow any recipe and use the Italian seasoning as directed or replace all dried herbs with the same amount of Italian seasoning.
Pizza
There are two easy ways to use this salt free Italian seasoning to make low sodium pizza. The first is to combine this blend with the other ingredients dough before combining. To try it, I suggest you take a look at my low sodium pizza dough recipe.
The second is to use it in pizza sauce. This is the same principle as pasta sauces. You just have to follow the recipe if it requires Italian seasoning or replace the required herbs with the same volume of that seasoning. You can try this with my easy low sodium pizza sauce recipe.
Roasted vegetables
Another way to enjoy this blend is to add it to vegetables before roasting them in the oven. To do this, you simply need to add this seasoning when you coat your vegetables with olive oil.
Bread
Just like pizza dough, you can add this Italian seasoning when you combine all the ingredients of the dough.
I recommend using the classic version of this blend to better adjust the amount of garlic powder and other spices according to your preferences. You can try this with my low sodium white bread recipe.
Marinades
This salt free Italian herbs mix can be used in your marinades too. To try it, you can use my homemade honey and rosemary marinade and replace rosemary for the same amount (or more) of salt free Italian seasoning.
Salt free Italian seasoning variations
Different dried herbs
You can use almost any dried herbs to make an Italian seasoning. Here is a list of different dried herbs you could use.
- Bay leaves
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Parsley
Add spices
As mentioned earlier in this post, Italian seasoning can be made with more than only dried herbs for a more versatile blend. Here is a short list of ingredients you can use to easily give it a twist.
- Red pepper flake
- Dried lemon zest
- Black pepper
- Fennel seeds
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Paprika
For gardeners
For anyone who like to garden, I suggest you try growing your own herbs and drying them yourself. When you prepare your dried herb blends like this, you’ll get even tastier blends than if you used store-bought dried herbs.
Storing salt free Italian seasoning
The best way to preserve your homemade Italian seasoning is to store it in a cool, dry, dark place in an airtight container. Personally, I use a small mason jar like the one below to store my homemade salt-free seasonings.
Its shelf life will depend on the remaining shelf life of the ingredients you use. Each herb and spice has its own duration.
Some blends can keep for months, others up to a year if stored properly. After its shelf life, it may still be edible, but it may become tasteless and therefore useless.
More salt free blends
Here are some other salt free herb and spice blends you might be interested in:
Salt Free Italian Seasoning
INGREDIENTS
Classic Italian Seasoning
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- ½ tbsp dried marjoram
- ½ tbsp dried thyme
- ½ tbsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried sage optional
- 1 tsp dried savory optional
All purpose Cooking Italian Seasoning (Optional – Note 2)
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried onion flakes
- 1 tsp dehydrated garlic (Note 3)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Carefully combine all the ingredients. If desired, lightly crush the dried rosemary before combining to avoid having whole needles in the foods you use this blend in.Depending on your culinary needs, you can also add the optional ingredients to make an all-purpose cooking Italian seasoning blend.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container in a cool, dry pantry. The shelf life will depend on the age of the spices and herbs used.
NOTES
NUTRITION FACTS
For informational purposes only. Nutrition data is primarily calculated from the USDA National Database. Values may vary from accuracy of measurements, brands, nutritional data and more. All measurements are metric (1 cup = 250ml). Readers are encouraged to make their own calculations.
Marc-Andre has been a kidney warrior since 2007. Since that time, he has learned to create his own kidney friendly recipes to preserve as much as possible his kidney functions. Now he wants to share what he has learned to help other kidney patients find tasty kidney friendly recipes.
Roxanne Papineau, RD, is a registered dietitian specializing in nephrology with over 15 years of experience in the field. She writes articles and reviews the content published on this site to ensure that it meets the most up-to-date recommendations for people with kidney disease.
