DIY Herbal Soup Wreath – Unique & Cozy Culinary Creations

This unique herbal soup wreath will add another level to your next batch of homemade soup. Plus they look cute too – what is not to love about that. They are also a great way to preserve your herbs in the fall as your garden is finishing.

I don’t know about you, but every fall and winter I get so excited for soup. There is really nothing more cozy and comforting than that. It really warms you up from the inside out and makes you feel so relaxed.

I also love how versatile soup is. You can literally make so many different kinds of soup. So it never feels like you are just eating the same thing again and again.

What is an herbal soup wreath

Essentially an herbal soup wreath is a mini wreath that you make to simmer in your pot of soup. It is a great way to add some of the best flavor and nutrition to your soup recipes. Its like a “bouquet garni” in French cooking but in wreath form. Bouquet garni are herb bundles that typically use parsley, thyme, and bay leaf.

An herbal soup wreath is a simple way to add sprigs of herbs to your soup for flavouring and then easily remove all of them at once. No more trying to find and fish out that one random bay leaf that’s in there… somewhere.

These edible wreaths can really be tailored to any cuisine. Certain herbs can really affect the flavour, flare, and overall feel of a dish. Many cultures have specific herbs that they go to regularly to really let their dishes shine in a way that is unique to them.

Best Culinary herbs to add to soup

There really is no “best” herbs to add to your soup. It is such a personal preference kind of thing. These wreaths can be adapted to your taste buds and the recipes you like to make.

You can keep it more simple and just use one type of herb, or you can go crazy and add a lot of herbs.

You can’t really go wrong. I don’t think there would be any combination of herbs that wouldn’t go together. So get creative, use your nose, and find some of your favorite herbs. The combinations are endless.

However; all that being said, I have scoured the internet for you and looked a many, many soup recipes to find some good sounding combinations. Here is a list of herb pairings for you to get some inspiration from.

Ideas for different herb combinations:

• Rosemary, Thyme, Sage – classic chicken soup
• Italian parsley, Chives, Tarragon – vegetarian (bean and orzo)
• Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Marjoram, Bay leaf – beef stew or other meat dishes
• Thyme, Basil, Rosemary, Tarragon, Savory, Marjoram, Oregano, Bay leaf – ‘Herbs de Provence’ mix
• Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Marjoram – ‘Italian Seasoning’ mix
• Cilantro, Lemongrass, Thai basil, Lime peel, Dried chili – Thai inspired soup
• Cilantro, Mint, Thai basil, Lemongrass – Asian inspired chicken soup
• Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Bay leaves, Lemon peel – Greek chicken soup
• Parsley, Thyme, Bay – the traditional French ‘Bouquet Garni’ trio
• Parsley, Rosemary, Chives, Sage and Thyme – British or English Inspired
• Thyme, Bay leaf – French onion soup (One of my favourite soups!!)
• Thyme, Scallions (green onions) – Jamaican “rice and peas”

Please feel free to add to the comments at the end of this post if you have any other ideas.

How to make a herbal soup wreath

All you need to do is collect your herbs, wind them together to form a wreath, and then tie them off to secure loose ends. This is a fun project, and you really don’t need much to make it happen.

This would be a perfect project to do inside on a nice fall afternoon with some of your friends over a cup of tea. You could make a whole batch of them and then everyone can take their herbal wreaths home to dry and enjoy throughout the winter months. Like an old fashioned gathering.

Let’s start off with a list of the supplies you will need:

• Scissors
• Fresh Herbs
• Bakers or Cooking twine
• optional: additional ingredients other than herbs such as citrus peel or other fruits

I looked around and found a few different ways to make these. I saw that you can braid the stems together, or just loop them and then hold it in place while you wind together and then tie with string.

I tried a bunch the these methods and have now come up with a way that I think is the easiest and will give you the best results.

Here is what you need to do:

1. Cut some longer pieces of herbs from your garden or purchase form the store
2. Select some woody-stemmed herbs for your base – I used one sprig of rosemary (it is best to cut into it just above where the stem turns brown)
3. Form a loop and tie the ends together with the cooking twine
4. Create small bunches of herbs to then tie into the wreath and weave through, continuing to tie where needed
5. Give your wreath a final trim to make sure it looks right

Remember that the wreaths will shrink up as they dry so tie them off tight.

Storing your Wreaths

After the wreaths have been made, you can either use them right away, leave them to dry, or freeze them.

If you are drying them, be sure to do so in a well ventilated, dark space so they retain their colour and do not mould. The drying process should take anywhere from 1 – 2 weeks depending on where you dry them. Make sure you check on them often during the drying process.

When drying these wreaths you want as much air flow around them as possible so the less they touch each other the better. I decided to string them on some natural twine and hang them in my pantry like a little wreath garland. I love when things are practical and yet can also be used in decorative ways.

You can store your wreaths the same way in which you would store other dried herbs. I store mine in an airtight container which in my case is a large glass jar in my pantry. Make sure that your herbs are absolutely, completely dry before storing or they will mould.

I found this out the hard way once with some chamomile flowers – so sad.

How to use your soup wreath

When you are ready to use your wreath, you will just pop the entire wreath in a soup or stew so it floats around in the pot for the last 15-20 minutes of cooking. It is important to keep tasting the soup for the flavour. Once it is to your liking, then you can remove the wreath and enjoy.

Once you are finished with them you can go ahead and add them to your compost since you made them using 100% natural ingredients. It is ok if some pieces of the herbs fall into your soup – it is no different then if you had of added chopped herbs in there in the first place.

These wreaths are also great to use in recipes other than soup:

• You can use them for stuffed chicken or turkey by adding one to the cavity of the bird before baking
• Add to a pot of boiling potatoes, beans, or rice (not minute rice – something that cooks longer)
• My husbands favourite is to add to a cast iron skillet with some steak and butter

All of these ideas will give you that beautifully infused herb aroma to your cooking with very little effort.

Besides cooking, these would make a great gift as wedding favours, party favours, hostest gifts, or Christmas gifts. You could buy some dry soup mix, add it to a mason jar, then attach a card with instructions and the wreath to the outside.

A last thought I had is once these are dried you can use them as part of your home decor. Can I say witchy vibes in October, or lovely aromatic mini holiday decorations.

Soup Recipe Inspiration

I made a wreath using 1 large sprig of rosemary as my base, 3 small springs of thyme, and a couple sprigs of curly leaf parsley. I actually couldn’t wait so I used this one fresh.

I added the wreath to a beef stew recipe that I found on the blog ‘Farmhouse on Boone’, and it was soooo good. I do not have einkorn flour in my house, so I just used regular unbleached all purpose flour for the recipe. I found that I used a little more butter and a little less flour (equal quantities) to get the rue right.

I also omitted all the herbs and instead just added my little culinary wreath into the pot to simmer for the last 15 minutes of cooking. This was so hearty and filling – especially if you serve it with some nice fresh biscuits. Yum.

I hope you found this helpful and that you give it a try. Also don’t forget to pin this one for later and share with your friends.

Well, after all that soup talk – I think it is about time I went and got myself a bowl.

Until next time!