Don’t Know What to Do With Leftover Herbs? Here are Some Delicious Ideas

Where would humankind be without our culinary herbs? If you aren’t using fresh herbs in your cooking, you’re missing out — herbs liven up otherwise one-note dishes and add a depth of flavor to your meals. Try to imagine having to choke down a basil-less pesto, or a scoopful of salsa bereft of any cilantro. Herbs infuse our recipes with color and life; use them correctly, and they’ll elevate your dish so that every component complements each other, and every bite is harmonious.

When you pick up fresh herbs at the grocery, you usually end up having to buy them in bulk. Most recipes don’t require an entire bunch of herbs, so more than likely, you’ve found yourself facing an herb-surplus at one point or another in your culinary escapades. But what is a poor cook to do with leftover herbs? The good news is, you don’t have to throw them out or toss them into the depths of your fridge, never to be seen again. We have some useful tips and tricks to help you use up all of your herbs, ranging from basic and easy to time-consuming and gourmet.

Toss Leftover Herbs into a Grain-Based Salad

From millet to quinoa, and from oats to filling, sprouted grains, salads made with a base of grains tend to pack a slew of essential vitamins and minerals into every bite. You can suffuse your grain-based salad by adding in a mix of whatever herbs you have on hand; the Pomegranate and Hazelnut Moroccan Grain Salad pictured above, for example, uses both mint leaves and parsley to brighten up its flavors. However, you could also easily just add a pinch of a single herb to achieve a similar effect.

We love how this Quinoa Salad With Creamy Balsamic Dressing uses rosemary, for example, and drool over how yummy this Green Bean and Wild Rice Salad with chopped Italian parsley sounds.

Make an Aromatic Plant-Based Pesto

Pesto adds a burst of flavor to pizza, pasta, salad, sandwiches, and more. Pesto is often considered to taste indulgent, due to the rich flavors of its common ingredients, such as pine nuts, high-quality olive oil, and fresh basil.

Traditionally, a pesto sauce includes cheese — if you go on a dedicated hunt for plant-based pesto, you might be able to find a jar at a vegan specialty store, but it’s much easier to just make your own at home.

We suggest taking your homemade pesto and making this 3-Step Spinach Pesto Pasta Salad with it, or the absolutely divine Pesto Twist pictured above. If you’re looking for a unique spin on the classic green plant-based pesto, we suggest trying out this Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto for something new.

Infuse Your Ice, Water, and Oil With Herbs

Herbs serve as an anti-inflammatory, they can boost brainpower, and some even help to get rid of nausea, so it makes sense that you would want to infuse them into as many different ingredients as possible. We love this guide on how to make flavorful, herb-infused ice cubes, which suggests infusing mint in water, mixing basil in water, or even making a rosemary-and-oregano flavored water. If you freeze your herb-infused ice cubes like normal, you can enjoy them in anything you like to drink, or even plop them into something you’re cooking to conveniently add herbs, such as a blended soup recipe.

We also love this guide on How to Infuse Your Own Olive Oil With Herbs and Spices and this one on How to Make Herbal-Infused Water in 3 Easy Steps.

Educate Yourself About Herbs

The best way to learn about different herbs’ flavor profiles and how they pair with others foods is to continue learning about their benefits and testing them out in dishes. We suggest continuing your education by reading up on 7 Fabulous Herbs for Your Health, and How Herbs and Spices Can Transform Your Health.

If you’re athletic, learning about Anti-Inflammatory Herbs and Spices for Athletes is always a helpful tool, while this feature on Uncovering the Mysteries of Medicinal Herbs is a useful guide for anyone looking to supplement their health with herbal treatments.

Once you’ve learned all you can about herbs, we recommend checking out all these fabulous Herbs & Spices-Infused Recipes from our Food Monster App, which is available for both Android and iPhone, and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. The app has more than 8,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to ten new recipes per day. Check out how to make your own Herb and Garlic Almond Cheese, for example, or this decadent Brown Butter Gnocchi With Fresh Herbs. Let us know what you think!

Lead image source: Pesto Twist