How to Store Tarragon for the Best Flavor

Tarragon is fussier to keep than hearty herbs. Fresh, it needs moisture without sitting wet. Frozen, it stays usable for months. Dried, it’s a real compromise: the University of Illinois Extension says to use tarragon fresh whenever you can, because its flavor goes fast once the leaves are dried.¹ If you want tarragon’s anise flavor on the shelf, tarragon vinegar is the classic way to keep it.

At a glance

Method	How	How long	Notes
Refrigerator	Damp paper towels in an open bag, or stems in water; sources differ²³	“A few days” is the only figure we found⁴	Longer figures are untraced
Freezer	Leaves frozen flat, or chopped into ice cube trays⁵⁴	3 to 6 months for best quality⁵⁴	Best in cooked dishes⁶
Dried	Gentle heat, at or below about 43–46°C (109–115°F)⁷⁸	Loses oil steadily in storage⁹	Milder than fresh¹⁰
In oil	Refrigerate and use within 4 days, or freeze¹¹	4 days refrigerated	Never at room temperature
Tarragon vinegar	Steep in a cool, dark place¹²	Up to 3 months cool and dark; 6 to 8 months refrigerated¹²	A classic use⁷

Fresh tarragon in the refrigerator

The only fridge figure we found is a general one: Ohio State University Extension says harvested fresh herbs keep only a few days.⁴ Claims that tarragon lasts two weeks in a damp towel, or three weeks in a jar of water, have no source we could trace.

America’s Test Kitchen has published two methods:

Source	Method for tarragon
America’s Test Kitchen, 2016³	Store in the refrigerator with its stems in water.
America’s Test Kitchen, 2019²	Delicate herbs, tarragon included: wrap in slightly damp paper towels, put in an open zipper-lock bag, and refrigerate.

The 2019 guide explains that delicate herbs take in and give off a lot of water, so they have to stay moist or they wilt. But the leaves shouldn’t touch liquid, because that encourages rot.² The two methods can work together (stems in water, leaves dry), but neither article says how long the tarragon lasted, so we can’t rank them. Whichever you use, toss leaves that have gone dark or slimy.

Freezing tarragon

The Royal Horticultural Society says you can freeze tarragon leaves for later,¹⁰ and South Dakota State University Extension names tarragon among herbs that freeze well.⁵

Flat freeze. Spread leaves, or leaves on their stems, on a baking sheet in a single layer, freeze, then move them to freezer bags. Illinois Extension warns that if the leaves thaw during the move, they’ll freeze together.⁶ Lining the sheet makes the transfer easier.
Ice cubes. Chop the leaves, pack them into ice cube trays, and cover with water, broth or oil before freezing. Oil cubes go straight into the freezer; herbs in oil should never sit at room temperature.⁵ Herb cubes suit soups, stews, sauces and other cooked dishes.
Blanching. Some guides tell you to blanch tarragon first. Illinois Extension calls blanching optional and not necessary.⁶ We found no test on tarragon either way.

How long frozen tarragon keeps:

Source	Frozen herbs, best quality
Ohio State University Extension⁴	Use within 3 to 6 months
South Dakota State University Extension⁵	Up to 6 months in an airtight container

You’ll sometimes read that frozen tarragon keeps indefinitely, or for years. No source we found says so. The figures above are quality limits for herbs in general.

Drying tarragon

Dried tarragon works, but it’s milder. The RHS says dried leaves taste milder,¹⁰ and Illinois Extension says the flavor goes quickly on drying.¹ The popular claim that drying strips out “most” of the flavor goes further than these sources do. Nobody we found has measured how much you lose in taste.

What has been measured is the essential oil. A 2007 study dried tarragon leaves at 45, 60 and 90°C and tracked the oil over 120 days of storage.⁹

Oil content fell in storage under every drying condition, and the color changed too.
Leaves dried at 90°C changed most, losing about half their essential oil within 30 days.
Drying at 45°C caused the smallest quality changes.

The guidance agrees on low heat:

Source	Drying guidance
PROSEA (commercial drying)⁷	Shade, or dryers not exceeding 43°C (109°F)
National Center for Home Food Preservation⁸	Dehydrator at 95 to 115°F (35 to 46°C); 1 to 4 hours
University of Illinois Extension¹	A cool, dark, well-ventilated place
Arabhosseini et al., 2007⁹	45°C gave the smallest changes of the temperatures tested

You can also air-dry tender herbs in small bunches hung inside a bag closed with a rubber band. Big bunches will mold.⁸ Illinois Extension doesn’t recommend oven drying.⁶ The leaves are done when they’re brittle and crumble at a touch.

Storing dried tarragon

Illinois Extension says to get tarragon into sealed containers quickly once it’s dry,¹ and the RHS says to keep dried leaves in airtight containers. Store them somewhere cool, dry and dark, and leave the leaves whole until you use them, which Penn State prefers for dried herbs.

General guidance gives most dried herbs about a year.¹³ Given how much oil tarragon loses in storage,⁹ we’d call that generous for this herb, and we found no shelf-life figure for tarragon itself. Crush a pinch before you cook. If the anise smell is faint, the jar has faded and it’s time to replace it.

Tarragon in oil and vinegar

Illinois Extension suggests tarragon for vinegars, oils, marinades and salads.¹ Oil needs care. Herbs are low-acid foods that can carry Clostridium botulinum, and covering them with oil creates oxygen-free conditions. Oregon State University Extension says to refrigerate herb-and-oil mixtures and use them within 4 days, or freeze them.¹¹

Vinegar is the classic way to keep it: PROSEA says tarragon vinegar is made by adding the herb to wine vinegar.⁷ Colorado State University Extension lists tarragon among suitable fresh herbs, with this method: heat commercial vinegar to just below boiling, use 3 to 4 sprigs per pint, and steep somewhere cool and dark for at least 10 days. Strain it, then refrigerate for up to six to eight months, or keep it somewhere cool and dark (65°F or below) for up to three months.¹²

Not yet measured

How long fresh tarragon lasts in the fridge under either America’s Test Kitchen method.
A shelf-life figure for frozen or dried tarragon specifically.
How much tarragon flavor survives drying, judged by taste and not just oil content.
Whether blanching before freezing helps tarragon.

“Tarragon: French”, University of Illinois Extension. extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Liz Bomze, “Our Guide to Fresh Herbs”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2019. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³
“How & Where to Buy, Use, and Store Fresh Herbs”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2016. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
Shari Gallup, “Food Preservation: Preserving Herbs—Freezing and Drying”, Ohio State University Extension, 2026. ohioline.osu.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Lambert, Erickson and Kleine, “Preserving Herbs”, South Dakota State University Extension, 2022. extension.sdstate.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Emily Swihart, “Preserving garden-grown herbs”, University of Illinois Extension, 2025. extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
C.C. de Guzman & R.A. Reglos, Artemisia dracunculus, Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
“Herbs”, National Center for Home Food Preservation (from So Easy to Preserve, 6th ed., 2014). nchfp.uga.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Arabhosseini et al., “Long term effects of drying conditions on the essential oil and color of tarragon leaves during storage”, Journal of Food Engineering, 2007 (abstract). agrar.uni-hohenheim.de · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
“How to grow tarragon”, Royal Horticultural Society. rhs.org.uk · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Raab and Woodburn, “Herbs and vegetables in oil” (SP 50-701), Oregon State University Extension Service, 2025. extension.oregonstate.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Grubb, Shackelton and Bunning, “Making Flavored Vinegar” (9.340), Colorado State University Extension, 2021. foodsmartcolorado.colostate.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Stacy Reed, “Preserving Herbs by Drying”, Penn State Extension, 2024. extension.psu.edu · Reference work ↩

How to Store Tarragon: Keep It Fresh, Freeze It, and Why Drying Costs Flavor