How to Dry Chives: Methods, Temperatures and Storage

Thinking of drying a big bunch of chives? Know what you’re signing up for. The leaves give up a lot of flavor,¹ and dried chives discolor and soak up moisture fast.² Both extension services we checked suggest freezing instead, but if you still want a jar, keep the heat low and use an airtight, vapor-proof container. The methods below come from extension guidance for leafy herbs in general, since none of our sources gives chive-specific temperatures or times.

At a glance

Question	Short answer
Dry or freeze?	Both work; drying costs a lot of flavor.¹ Freezing is offered by both extension services.²¹
Fresh chives keep	Up to a week in the refrigerator.
Dehydrator	95 to 115°F (35 to 46°C), up to 125°F in humid areas, 1 to 4 hours (NCHFP).³ Penn State says 95 to 110°F.⁴
Oven	Penn State: generally not recommended; if used, no hotter than 180°F (82°C), door open, 3 to 4 hours.⁴
Microwave	Small amounts; sources disagree on time (table below).
Sun	Not recommended.³⁵
Done when	Crispy and crumbles easily between your fingers.
Storage	Airtight, vapor-proof container in a cool, dark place, because dried chives pick up moisture.²⁴

Before you start

Pick healthy leaves, rinse them in cool water, shake off the excess, and toss any that are bruised or damaged. Illinois Extension suggests cutting the leaves about an inch above the soil. Dry them whole or snipped, depending on how you plan to use them. We found no source that tests one against the other.

Method 1: A food dehydrator

Spread the chives in a single layer on the trays. These temperatures are for leafy herbs in general:

Source	Temperature	Time
National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP)³	95 to 115°F (35 to 46°C); up to 125°F (52°C) in humid areas	1 to 4 hours; check periodically
Penn State Extension⁴	95 to 110°F (35 to 43°C)	not given
Illinois Extension⁶	follow the owner’s manual	not given

They’re done when they crumble and the stems break when you bend them.

Method 2: Air drying

Air drying only works when the air is dry and moving. If you hang them, keep the bunches small. The NCHFP warns that big bunches will mold. Illinois Extension gives two options: hang bunches in a warm, dry, ventilated spot out of the sun, or spread the herbs one layer deep on trays in the same kind of spot. It can take up to a month.⁶ We didn’t find a chive-specific time.

Method 3: The oven

Penn State generally doesn’t recommend the oven. If you use it anyway, set it as low as it goes, no higher than 180°F (82°C), and dry for 3 to 4 hours with the door open.⁴ Illinois Extension calls 90 to 110°F ideal, also for 3 to 4 hours, if your oven can hold a temperature that low.⁶ You’ll see a shortcut of about 20 minutes at 200°F floating around, but it has no named source behind it.

Method 4: The microwave

For small amounts, the NCHFP says, the microwave is a fast way to dry herbs. The sources that give times don’t agree:

Source	Method
Penn State Extension⁴	Single layer between microwave-safe paper towels; high for 2 to 3 minutes per cup; start with 1 minute and mix every 30 seconds
Illinois Extension⁶	Between two paper towels on high for 1 to 3 minutes; check every 30 seconds and turn the herbs
America’s Test Kitchen⁷	30 to 40 seconds

Start short and check often. Penn State warns that a microwave rated 1,000 watts or more may heat too fast, and that with too little herb inside, the paper towels can catch fire.⁴

Why not the sun

Sun drying gets suggested for chives a lot, but both the NCHFP and Penn State advise against it for herbs. The NCHFP says herbs lose flavor and color that way.³⁵

Storing dried chives

Dried chives pull in moisture quickly, so the container matters more than usual. Penn State recommends airtight, vapor-proof containers, which keep dried herbs from picking up moisture from the air, kept somewhere cool, dry and dark, away from the stove and sink.⁴ Penn State says most dried herbs keep well for up to a year, and Illinois says most hold their flavor for about a year.⁴⁶ ATK suggests up to 3 months for microwave-dried herbs.⁷ None of those numbers was measured on chives. If your dried chives smell like little or nothing, replace them.

Freezing instead

Both extension services say you can freeze chives. Illinois Extension calls freezing perhaps the easiest way to keep herbs, though frozen herbs won’t work as a garnish. Its tip: freeze generous pinches in ice cube trays filled with water.⁶

Using dried chives

Drying takes so much flavor out that you may need more dried chives than the usual herb conversion suggests. See chives for the conversion, and chives substitute if you want fresh flavor and don’t have any. To soften dried leaves before using them, see how to rehydrate herbs.

Not yet measured

Chive-specific drying temperatures or times from any named source.
How whole and snipped chives compare when dried.
Shelf life of home-dried chives, measured on chives.
How commercial freeze-dried chives compare with air-dried or dehydrator-dried chives.

Susan Mahr, Chives, Allium schoenoprasum, University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, 2026. hort.extension.wisc.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Herb Gardening: Chives, University of Illinois Extension. extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Drying Herbs, National Center for Home Food Preservation. nchfp.uga.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Zepp, Hirneisen and LaBorde, Let’s Preserve: Drying Herbs, Penn State Extension, 2023. extension.psu.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Stacy Reed, Preserving Herbs by Drying, Penn State Extension, 2024. extension.psu.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Herb Gardening: Preserving, University of Illinois Extension. extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Danielle Lapierre, When You Should Actually Use Dried Herbs, America’s Test Kitchen, 2022. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩²

How to Dry Chives, and Why Freezing Often Works Better