How to Store Fresh Herbs to Make Them Last for Weeks

The Delicate Nature of Herbs

Buying fresh herbs is often a frustrating experience. You purchase a massive bunch of parsley or cilantro, use a handful for a single recipe, and throw the rest back into the crisper drawer in its thin plastic grocery bag. Three days later, you pull it out to find a dark green, slimy, foul-smelling liquid.

Herbs are incredibly delicate plants that require a highly specific balance of moisture and airflow to survive. If they are too dry, they wilt and die. If they are too wet and suffocated in plastic, they rot instantly.

The Flower Bouquet Method (For Soft Herbs)

This method works miraculously for soft-stemmed herbs like cilantro, parsley, dill, and mint.

Step 1: Prep the stems. The moment you bring the herbs home, unwrap them. Use sharp scissors to snip off the bottom half-inch of the stems. This removes the dried-out ends and exposes fresh capillaries, just like trimming a bouquet of flowers.
Step 2: The Water Glass. Fill a heavy glass or a mason jar with about one inch of cold water. Do not fill it to the top; only the stems should touch the water, not the leaves.
Step 3: The Placement. Place the herb bundle into the water, ensuring the cut stems are submerged.
Step 4: The Greenhouse Effect. Take a loose plastic produce bag (the one they came in is fine) and loosely drape it over the top of the herbs, covering the leaves and the top of the glass. Do NOT seal it tightly with a rubber band; the plant needs to breathe.
Step 5: Refrigerate. Place the entire glass contraption in the refrigerator (preferably in the door or near the front, away from the freezing back wall).
Step 6: Maintenance. Change the water in the glass every 3 to 4 days.

The Paper Towel Roll (For Hard Herbs)

Woody, hard-stemmed herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, and chives require a slightly drier environment.

Step 1: Do not wash them. If they are wet, pat them completely bone dry.
Step 2: Take a slightly damp (not soaking wet) paper towel and lay it flat on the counter.
Step 3: Lay the hard herbs on the paper towel and roll it up like a loose burrito.
Step 4: Place the paper towel roll into a ziplock bag. Do not seal the bag completely; leave it slightly open for airflow. Place it in the crisper drawer.

The Basil Exception

Basil is the diva of the herb world. It hates the cold. If you put basil in the refrigerator, its leaves will instantly turn black.

Treat basil exactly like the soft herbs (trim the stems, put in a glass of water), but leave the glass sitting on your kitchen counter at room temperature. Do not cover it with a bag.

By treating your herbs like fresh cut flowers, you can stretch their lifespan from three days to three weeks, completely eliminating herb waste.