Plant These 8 Herbs Now to Make These Recipes Later

There’s no better feeling than harvesting your own fresh herbs for your home-cooked meals. This year, plant any of these eight herbs to transform your bland foods into beautiful, flavorful meals.

An herb garden can be pretty low maintenance, and the results produce loads of fresh flavor for your meals. Fresh herbs are best for garnishing plates, as dried herbs don’t do justice in embellishing.

Sauces, soups, and stews that simmer for hours do better with dried herbs, as their flavor is a bit more potent and marries well with the juices.

Without further ado, let’s check out some recipes!

Parsley: Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

If you aren’t particularly sure which herbs to start with, parsley is a fantastic starting point. This earthy herb works flawlessly in soups, stews, sauces, and so much more. It adds a vibrant green finish, and its attractive curly leaves garnish all sorts of meals with ease.

One of our favorite ways to use up loads of fresh parsley is by making up a fresh chimichurri sauce. This gorgeous Argentinian sauce contains just a few ingredients, including herbs, vinegar, and olive oil. Once drizzled over a flame-kissed steak, you’ll fall in love with the fresh and flavorful take on grilling season.

Get the Recipe: RecipeTin Eats

Basil: Pesto Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Basil is a wildly aromatic herb that you’ll find in a plethora of Mediterranean classics. Its fresh and delicate features add incredible brightness to meals like eggplant parmesan, pasta, garlicky bruschettas, and homemade pizzas.

If you love basil, then you’ll love pesto. Making it from scratch is much easier than you think, and the results are out of this world. Using extra virgin olive oil, garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, and fresh basil leaves, you’ll quickly create a gorgeously green pesto that tastes amazing on pasta. Serve with roasted tomatoes and fresh mozzarella pearls, and you’ll be in heaven.

Get the Recipe: The Mediterranean Dish

Thyme: Swirled Blueberry Lemon Thyme Cake

Thyme is a fragrant herb that adds something special to all sorts of meals. Stews, braises love bathing in thyme-infused broths, and roasted meats and potatoes taste amazing peppered with fresh thyme.

This summer, be sure to use up your fresh thyme in this unique blueberry lemon cake coated with a tangy thyme glaze. The lemon juice and blueberry jam work hand in hand and taste complete once finished with thyme specks. The recipe says it’s optional; we say sprinkle away.

Get the Recipe: Half Baked Harvest

Rosemary: Pan Seared Rosemary Lemon Chicken

Rosemary is an aromatic evergreen shrub that pairs perfectly with roasted meats and savory stuffing. Whether you need quick rosemary infused au jus for a French dip sandwich or a lovely garnish for that herb encrusted roast lamb, rosemary comes in clutch.

This pan-seared lemon rosemary chicken recipe is only one way to serve it up, but it’s a dinner worth making. Serve with angel hair or garlic roasted potatoes.

Get the Recipe: Dinner at the Zoo

Chives: Compound Chive Butter

Chives thrive indoors and outdoors and pair favorably with savory breakfast dishes like quiche or omelets and just about always belong on potatoes.

Serve up your chives with homemade compound butter. Melt butter, mix in chives, then let it cool into a formed brick. Use this unique herbed butter on steak, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, and so much more.

Get the Recipe: Champagne Tastes

Sage: Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Sage is a lovely herb that boasts soft and delicate leaves and tastes really nice in savory dishes, especially around the holidays. You’ll find sage in many thanksgiving recipes, but subtle herb does wonders to many other seasonal dishes.

It’s particularly known for pairing excellently with brown butter, and this gnocchi and butternut squash is proof. Combined with crunchy kale and toasty walnuts, this dish screams fall, but we say, break the rules and enjoy it anytime.

Get the Recipe: Gimme Some Oven

Mint: Mediterranean Tabouli Salad

Mint is the dessert lover’s herb, as it works wonders in many chocolate desserts, but you’ll also love its ability to transform many beverages, too. From minty hot teas to summery mojitos, mint leaves are a must!

If you are looking for a refreshing way to serve this herb in a meal, tabouli salad is an excellent option. Using finely chopped veggies, bulgur wheat, parsley, and mint, you’ll make a quick and zesty salad you’ll feel good about eating.

Get the Recipe: The Mediterranean Dish

Dill: Tzatziki Sauce

Dill is best known for helping pickles reach that fresh flavor, but it also tastes excellent on fish, lamb, and veggies. Our favorite way to enjoy this distinctive herb is in tzatziki sauce, a fresh dill-infused yogurt dip that adds so much depth to countless meals.

Make authentic gyros or dip your flame-kissed chicken breast in for optimal flavor. Otherwise, serve it up with warm pita bread for a fancy fresh snack you’ll love.

Get the Recipe: Love and Lemons

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Growing fresh herbs is a great way to develop that green thumb, add a nutritional, fresh twist to home-cooked meals, and embellish plates like no other.