Salt Free Italian Seasoning

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.

What is salt free Italian seasoning

Classic Italian seasoning is usually made from a blend of dried herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram and rosemary. However, some blends may be very different.

Some may contain onion and garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and other dried herbs and spices. These blends are generally used as all-purpose Italian seasonings.

Personally, I prefer to make a classic blend of dried herbs only. This allows me to adjust the amounts of the other spices individually depending on what I’m going to cook. For example, if I want to make an Italian dressing, I might want to use finely grated garlic instead of garlic powder.

Like most seasoning blends, there is no set rules for ingredients and quantities. And while it’s commonly used in Italian cuisine, there is no clear origin for this seasoning.

How to make salt free Italian seasoning

Like any other dried herb blend, all you need to do is combine in a bowl all the ingredients mentioned in the recipe plus any additional ones you want to add.

If you use dried rosemary or any other dried herb that has a needle shape, like in this recipe, I highly recommend crushing it before combining.

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.

Pasta sauce

Generally, pasta sauce uses dried herbs and no other blend is more appropriate than Italian seasoning. To use it, simply follow any recipe and use Italian seasoning as directed or substitute 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 for pizza sauce. It’s the same as pasta sauce. You just need to follow the recipe if it calls for Italian seasoning, or substitute the herbs listed with it. You can try it with my easy low sodium pizza sauce.

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 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

Storing salt free Italian seasoning

The ideal 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 little jar like this 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 shelf life.

Some can last for months, others up to a year if stored properly. So, in the best case, your mixture could last up to a year. After that, it may still be edible, but it may also become tasteless and therefore useless.

More salt free blends

Here are some other salt free herb and spice blends you might be interested in:

Apple Pie Spices

Baharat Spice Blend