Here are the best fresh dill recipes! This herb brings a unique punchy flavor to everything from dips to potato salad to salmon.
There’s nothing better than a big bunch of dill to spice up your cooking! Fresh dill has a unique flavor that’s hard to substitute: herby with a vaguely licorice-like aftertaste. It’s an herb related to celery and parsley, used often in Mediterranean cuisine and throughout Europe and Asia. Here in the US, you likely know it for pickles and potato salads. But it’s got so much more to offer than that!
Here are all our top fresh dill recipes to try. Sure, there’s the classics like dill pickles and dill potato salad. But there’s so much more, like Greek orzo salad scented with herbs and feta cheese, and dill pickle dip that’s perfect for crunchy potato chips. Ready to get started?
And now: the best fresh dill recipes to try!
One of the best dill recipes there is: dill potato salad! This one is just like Grandma’s: it’s bursting with fresh herbs and flavored with olive oil and vinegar. Think: tangy potatoes, drenched in a naturally creamy sauce made with olive oil and vinegar, punchy fresh herbs, and savory capers to round it out. It's full of beautiful, herby flavor.
Here's a dill recipe that's an weeknight meal: lemon dill salmon! It’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s even fancy enough for a dinner party. The baked salmon is perfectly savory, and doused in a zingy lemon dill sauce it’s pretty irresistible. We just brought it to some friends who just had a baby and it got rave reviews. Here’s how to make it!
Need a creamy sauce for drizzling or dipping? Enter this easy dill sauce! This dill recipe is all purpose and can be used for everything from salmon to grilled veggies to falafel sandwiches. The best part: it takes only 5 minutes and a handful of ingredients. The Mediterranean flavors of Greek yogurt, fresh dill and lemon combine into a beautiful sauce that’s simple and totally versatile. Also try: Authentic Tzatziki
Here's the most classic of all dill recipes: the dill pickle! We're all about quick pickles: pickles that can be made in minutes and stored in the refrigerator. We don’t have the time or energy for canning equipment and sterilizing…and we’d rather make a quick batch for easy snacking! You can pickle just about any vegetable, but there’s really nothing like the classic dill pickle.
Love dill pickles? Love dip? Good. Because we’ve got the perfect dill recipe for you: pickle dip! Creamy and tangy, the flavor is like biting into a dill pickle spear. It’s absolutely perfect with potato chips or cucumber slices.
Here's a dill recipe that is full of Mediterranean flavor: Greek orzo salad! Though it looks a little like rice, orzo is actually a small pasta in the shape of rice often used in Italian and Greek cuisine. This salad features has all the flavors of Greece: salty feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and of course, powerhouse herbs like mint and dill! It’s one of our crowd favorite salad recipes perfect for summer.
Here's another classic dill recipe: cucumber salad! It’s so refreshing: in fact, it’s hard to stop eating! Try creamy cucumber salad made with sour cream: adding a bit of sour cream makes an irresistibly creamy sauce. Or, make the classic cucumber salad with vinegar. While it has a summery vibe, this delicious salad works any time of the year.
What’s better than that classic combination of cucumber and dill? This dill recipe makes small sandwiches perfect for picnics and parties. Turns out they’re a bit of a retro snack, served on those little cocktail rye breads. But they go back even further than that: cucumber sandwiches come from Britain and were served as tea sandwiches! They’re simple to make and seriously refreshing.
Here's a dill recipe that will blow you away with its flavor and beautiful colors! These roasted apples with cauliflower are a unique pairing that everyone will be talking about. The sweetness of the apple works perfectly with the savory cauliflower: and topping with fresh dill brings an herbaceous note. The best part? The bright purple of the roasted onion against the bright pink of the apple is stunning.
Dill is perfect in pasta recipes! Here fresh dill is mixed with bowtie pasta (farfalle) and Mediterranean-style flavors like feta cheese and lemon. It's a fantastic vegetarian main dish, or a pasta salad side dish that works for potlucks.
How to grow dill: some tips!
Want to grow your own dill in your garden for these dill recipes? Here are some tips on how to grow dill:
- Buy a start plant. Go to a farmers market or garden store and find dill starts! You can grow herbs from seed, but that involves a bit more time and energy. For beginners, we find it easier to begin with starts.
- Place in a pot with potting soil and lava rocks. Make sure to find pots with drainage holes. Add lava rocks to the bottom of the pot to increase drainage, then add potting soil.
- Place the pots in a sunny place, on a deck or front steps, or even a sunny ledge. Dill loves the sun!
- Water every few days, making sure that the soil does not dry out.
- Harvest the dill by snipping off the tops after plants have reached 8 inches tall or more. It will continue regrowing throughout the summer until it gets too hot. Dill is heat sensitive so it will bolt (grow flowers) when the temperatures get too hot.
More recipes with fresh herbs
Love to grow herbs? Here are a few more recipes you’ll enjoy:
- Best Basil Recipes Here are the best basil recipes for using that peppery herb, from pesto to drinks to pizza.
- Thyme Recipes There’s almost nothing that a sprig of fresh thyme doesn’t make better.
- Creamy Cilantro Dressing or Creamy Cilantro Sauce Tasty herby sauces!
- Simple Carrot Salad with Parsley A tangy and simple summer salad.
- Rosemary Roasted Potatoes Spice up your potatoes with fresh herbs.
- Mushroom Pizza with Fresh Herbs Top your pizza with loads of herbs.
I didn’t see when to add the capers in the recipe. Can you say when to do so?
Updated the recipe. Thank you!!