12 Creative Ways To Use Fresh Dill

Fresh herbs are often an underutilized ingredient in the kitchen, as some people find them finicky to work with and they don't keep long in the fridge after they're purchased. This is a shame because even in tiny amounts, they bring so much flavor to a meal and can make it taste fresher and more sophisticated. Some fresh herbs are more popular than others, and chief among the ones that are usually overlooked in comparison to popular ones like parsley and cilantro is dill. Dill has a potent flavor and can be polarizing. However, those who like the taste understand how it can totally transform a dish into something exquisite.

There are numerous foods and recipes that work well with dill, like smoked salmon, cream cheese, and pickles, but there are plenty of other applications that are just as delicious and deserve a place on your cooking roster. Here are some creative ways to use fresh dill.

Compound butter is something you may have tried at a gourmet restaurant, but it's ridiculously easy to make at home. A dill compound butter is an easy way to elevate any meal, especially one you're serving at a dinner party or family gathering. It's so delicious melted onto some steak or grilled fish, added to a bowl of hearty soup, or even simply slathered on some bread. It's also amazing on a bagel with smoked salmon, if you want to go for a classic pairing.

You can make all kinds of different compound butters, but fresh herbs are always a great addition, and dill works particularly well because it's so fragrant that it stands up to the richness of the butter. Its grassy, lemony notes pair incredibly well with butter, especially with a little added salt and pepper. You can cut up some fresh dill and mix it by hand with some softened butter, or you can whip everything together in a food processor. Keep some in the fridge to add a pop of flavor to your meals throughout the week.

Crepes are a delicious way to start your day. Savory crepes are a great addition to breakfast or brunch. Not everyone has a sweet tooth, and savory crepes offer more room for creativity. You can add any breakfast filling you enjoy, including eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, cheese, or refried beans. But fillings are not the only way to introduce flavor. You can actually add various flavorings to the batter itself. Dill works perfectly in the batter because it's delicate enough not to ruin the texture yet still makes your crepes beautifully herbaceous.

The dill gives your crepes a refined look, as the little green strands are threaded through it seamlessly. Unlike parsley or other fresh herbs, which can be too chunky in a crepe batter that's meant to be paper-thin, you won't have to chop the dill to get it into small enough particles. The dill-infused crepes also taste amazing with most savory fillings, including mushrooms, cheese, eggs, or salmon.

There's no denying dill and pickles are a match made in heaven. What you may not know is that these two ingredients can be the star of the show in this hearty dill pickle soup recipe. This traditional Eastern European dish is both creamy and tangy, giving Kosher pickles the chance to shine, while balancing their sharpness with potatoes, broth, and sour cream. The soup is then topped with loads of fresh dill to really enhance the dill element that so many people love about this soup.

The best part about this recipe is that you might already have most of the ingredients in your fridge and pantry, as there's nothing fancy in it other than the pickles. You'll simmer all the veggies together in some broth until they're cooked through, then blend part of the soup. This leaves you with a satisfying texture in between a creamy, thick puree and a chunky soup. Then, top with a dollop of sour cream and fresh dill to finish. Serve with some crusty bread and you'll be in dill heaven.

Pesto is a crowd pleaser and it's so much better when you make your own than buying the store-bought stuff. Making your own also means that you can customize the ingredients — and this is where dill comes in. Not only is dill pesto incredibly tasty, but it's also a massively underrated pesto ingredient. It makes for a really lemony, earthy pesto that you can drizzle on all the same things you would any other pesto, including pasta, sandwiches, pizza, salads, and more.

Pesto is also a great way to use up a large amount of dill. So if you have some fresh dill on hand, or if you have some left over from another recipe and you don't want it to go to waste, pesto can help extend its life and use it up. Keep your pesto mixture in an airtight container in the fridge and top with a little more olive oil to keep it fresher for longer.

Looking for recipes from around the world can really help give you ideas about how to cook with certain ingredients. If you haven't done much Persian cooking before, it's likely you've never heard of Baghali polo, which is a rice and fava bean dish where fresh dill is the central flavor. Not only that, but it's used in large amounts. Lots of fresh dill is layered into rice as it cooks, delivering a strikingly herby rice dish that is sure to win you over.

Dill and rice may not sound like they should go together, but once you try Baghali polo, you'll realize how wrong that is. The dill mellows out a little as it cooks, but still perfumes the rice substantially, adding an earthy element that makes you want to go back for more. It's a great dish to take to a potluck or make a special meal out of, along with some lamb or another meaty companion.

Many Middle Eastern dishes feature large amounts of fresh herbs — amounts folks who cook outside of the cuisine may not be accustomed to. Dill is often the unsung hero of Middle Eastern dishes like dolma (stuffed grape leaves), stuffed cabbage rolls, and kofta. Kofta is a popular ground meat dish full of aromatic spices and herbs. Dill specifically gives kofta its depth of flavor.

Finely chop some fresh dill, along with parsley and cilantro, and mix it into the raw ground meat mixture. You can then shape it into little patties and grill or pan-fry them. You can use the same concept for any ground meat or fish dish, like burger patties, fish cakes, or tuna patties. Throw some chopped dill into the mixture and you'll be amazed at how delicious the result is. 

Dill is always good in a creamy dip; it adds a whole lot of freshness that makes you want to keep "dipping" in for more. However, if you want to keep things a little lighter, or you're eating plant-based or vegan, try this creamy vegan dill dip. It's still creamy, despite not containing dairy. This is a recipe you can chow down on as a midday snack or while watching sports with friends, without that heavy, greasy feeling you'd get with most chip and dip recipes. 

The avocado works as the "creamy" element and provides the base for the dip. Then dill is added, along with some fresh parsley, vinegar, and some other seasonings, to achieve a flavor-packed dip. The dill brings a whole lot of herbaceousness and stands out next to the more neutral avocado. Dip some celery sticks, cucumber slices, radishes, chips, or crackers into this green, zingy concoction and enjoy!

Nowadays one can find all kinds of pasta varieties made with different veggies. Everything from beetroot and pumpkin to spinach has been incorporated into pasta dough to create nutrient-dense and colorful pasta shapes. You can also add dill to your pasta for a riff on an already-popular Central Asian dish. A popular Uzbekistani dish called shivit oshi consists of dill-infused noodles, often topped with beef stew and served alongside tangy yogurt.

These bright green noodles are beautiful to look at, but their earthiness and savoriness are the main attraction. Plus, shivit oshi it's not as hard to make as it looks. Fresh dill needs to be blitzed in a blender or food processor and mixed with some water. The dill infuses both color and flavor into the water, which can then be strained and used to make the noodle dough. It's a low-effort, high-reward technique resulting in smooth noodles with a vibrant green hue and delicious dill flavor.

A lot of mayo lovers would agree that adding layers of flavor to the creamy condiment only makes it better. There are so many ways to do this, but herbs are a natural choice. Plus, flavored mayo is a genius way to use leftover herbs. Dill is especially good with mayo because of how grassy and fresh it tastes, which balances the oiliness and richness of mayo — as well as dairy, butter, and other ingredients on this list. 

If you've never made your own herby mayo, you might be thinking it's a little tricky to get right, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Of course, you can make your own homemade mayo and simply add some chopped dill into the mix while making it, but you can also take a shortcut and jazz up some store-bought mayo with dill. Using store-bought mayo means you only need two ingredients, so you barely have to think twice about it. You don't even need a food processor or blender because you can just lightly chop some dill (having removed any woody stems) and mix it into the mayo with a spoon. Any chunky bits of dill will add to the experience, and the herb is fine enough that you won't end up chewing on stubborn pieces as you eat. Slather some on your burger buns or sandwiches for a delicious sauce or use it in your next egg or potato salad.

Focaccia is the bread that keeps on giving. Its chewy texture makes it so much fun to eat, it's deliciously decadent, and it's also a bread that even novice bakers can make. Plus, you can add in any flavoring element that you desire. Everything from garlic to onions, tomatoes, olives, cheeses, and herbs can make a focaccia even tastier and prettier. That's why garden art vegetable focaccias have become so popular on social media. And why stick to the expected herbs like rosemary when you can use fresh dill in your bread? Dill is just as good as rosemary in focaccia because it's just as pungent.

Focaccia plays well with the dill's powerful herby, earthy, and woody flavors. Its grassiness is unexpected in a focaccia but still so yummy. Next time you're getting your fingers into a focaccia dough, knead in some fresh dill and prepare to be delighted.

Seeing as dill works so well with mayo, butter, and dips in general, then it seems natural that it should be tried with hummus, too. Dill pickle hummus is actually a revelation, as the tangy pickles are a natural companion to nutty, velvety hummus. Pickles and hummus are often eaten with shawarma and in falafel wraps and sandwiches, so we know the flavors work.

You can make dill pickle hummus by adding some chopped pickles into your food processor along with everything you usually make your hummus with. If you get your ratios right, the pickles won't overpower the hummus, but will instead add a hint of sour tanginess. Sprinkle some fresh dill on top to reinforce this herbaceous flavor element, and you'll be good to go.

We've already established that dill and cream work like a dream. So why not keep it simple with a flavorful, creamy dill sauce that only requires a few ingredients? Mix some fresh dill into a creamy base with some lemon juice and a handful of seasonings, and you've got yourself a dill cream that you can serve alongside some grilled kebabs, barbecued shrimp, or as a dip for a veggie platter.

You can even use it as a cooking ingredient in its own right, like by adding a tablespoon to your homemade scrambled eggs or omelet or leveling up your creamy mushroom sauce with a dollop of homemade dill cream. 

You can use crème fraîche or sour cream as the creamy base, or use a lighter ingredient like Greek yogurt. It's totally customizable based on your preferences and what you have in your fridge. If you go with the yogurt, you'll almost have a tzatziki — just add cucumbers for a sauce that's good with lamb, pita, or fried foods, or just enjoyed by the spoonful.