The outdoor herb bed may be finished for the year, but the cooking herbs in it do not have to be. University of Illinois Extension names 9 culinary herbs that do well indoors through fall and winter: basil, chives, oregano, thyme, winter savory, rosemary, parsley, sage and mint.
The guidance comes from Christopher Enroth, an Illinois Extension horticulture educator, who points to light and humidity as the two main limits on indoor growth in winter. With the right window, a grow light and steady care, a kitchen can keep snipping fresh leaves for soups, roasts and holiday stuffing until spring.
The 9 Herbs on Illinois Extension’s List
According to the Illinois Extension guide, all 9 herbs do well indoors when their basic needs are met, and Enroth suggests harvesting them as needed for cooking. Here is how each one tends to earn its spot on the windowsill, whether it was dug from a backyard plot or from one of the elevated garden beds built for fall greens and herbs.
Basil. The summer favorite for pesto, caprese and tomato sauce. Leafy annuals like basil can be cut back hard at harvest, leaving about 4 to 6 inches of stem for regrowth, according to Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
Chives. A mild onion flavor for eggs, baked potatoes and dips, and a perennial that can be snipped repeatedly.
Oregano. A pizza and tomato-sauce staple that belongs to the mint family, as the University of Minnesota Extension classifies it.
Thyme. A small-leaved perennial used in roasts, stews and stuffing.
Winter savory. The least familiar name on the list. Winter savory is a hardy perennial with a flavor stronger than summer savory, and it is used in stuffing, soups and sauces.
Rosemary. A woody herb for roast chicken, potatoes and focaccia. Iowa State notes that rosemary, as a tender perennial, can move back outdoors once the danger of frost has passed in spring. In milder regions it grows much like the plants in this list of evergreen shrubs that stay green through winter.
Parsley. A garnish and a base flavor for sauces, grain salads and stuffing. Like basil, it is a leafy annual that can be cut back severely.
Sage. The signature herb of Thanksgiving stuffing and brown butter sauces.
Mint. Used for tea, desserts and lamb dishes. University of Minnesota Extension warns that hardy perennial mints can spread aggressively, which makes a pot a natural home for them.
Light Is the Biggest Hurdle
Herbs usually need six to eight hours of bright light each day, according to Illinois Extension, and south-facing windows work best. Plants lean toward their light source, a response called phototropism, so Enroth recommends turning containers every few days to keep growth even.
When winter windows fall short, grow lights fill the gap, but they have to run longer than daylight. Illinois Extension says plants need about two hours of artificial light for every hour of natural light, so most grow lights must be on for 12 to 16 hours a day, and an automatic timer helps. The Iowa State guide to growing herbs indoors recommends full-spectrum, high-output fixtures placed within 6 to 12 inches of the leaves, and it lists bright east- and west-facing windows as good options too. Fitting a light setup into a tight kitchen can take creativity, and these small kitchen ideas show ways to free up counter and shelf space. Rooms that cannot get that much light are better suited to the plants in this guide to houseplants that can handle low light.
Temperature, Humidity and Feeding
Room temperatures of 70 F and below are best, according to Illinois Extension, so potted herbs should sit away from direct heat sources. Winter heating also dries out indoor air. Enroth suggests clustering plants together to raise humidity, setting a humidifier nearby or growing herbs in an enclosure. Shoppers comparing models can look through this roundup of humidifiers for plants.
Every container needs drainage holes and a good-quality potting mix, not garden soil. Illinois Extension recommends a water-soluble fertilizer every two weeks and no more often, because fertilizing too often may affect the flavor and aroma of the herbs. Iowa State takes a lighter approach, suggesting half- or quarter-strength feeding from early spring through summer and skipping fertilizer in the winter months. University of Minnesota Extension adds that indoor herbs should be watered when the soil is dry half an inch below the surface.
Iowa State also recommends giving each herb its own container, since one pot rarely suits two species at once, and it calls clay or terracotta pots a strong choice because they dry out more readily.
Harvesting and the Fresh-to-Dried Swap
Indoor herbs grow more slowly than they do outside in summer, Illinois Extension says, even in ideal conditions. Iowa State adds that indoor-grown herbs are often milder in flavor than outdoor ones, though basil still tastes like basil. For perennials such as chives, mint, oregano and thyme, Iowa State recommends removing only the top one-third of growth at a time.
The swap that matters most in the kitchen is the conversion. Illinois Extension puts it at 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs for every 1 teaspoon of dried, a three-to-one ratio that holds for recipes written either way. Cooks who end up with more than they can use can preserve the extra. According to University of Minnesota Extension, herbs can be hung upside down in a dark, dry, well-ventilated spot, dried in a dehydrator at 95 to 115 degrees for 2 to 6 hours, or frozen whole or chopped in ice cube trays with water. Dried herbs keep up to one year, the extension says, and leaves are ready when they crumble easily.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Netha Hussain – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
