How To Store Fresh Basil...For A Month

Are you ready for a life changing tip?  You're gonna think of me every time you buy basil at the grocery store (for an ungodly amount), and then it's actually still good when you go to use it.  A MONTH LATER.  Uh huh.  I'm about to tell you how to store fresh basil for up to a month. Or more.

Okay, so you buy your typical bunch of basil in one of those clam shell containers.

You bring it home, throw it in the fridge, and when you go to use it, all the leaves are black. 

Or wilted, slimy and gross.

Or maybe you've tried putting it in water, either in the fridge or on the counter.

Sometimes it works for a day or two, and sometimes it immediately turns into a limp, shriveled up mess.

Here I come to save the daaay...

(said in my best Mighty Mouse voice)

Okay, follow closely, this is a tough one.

Take your basil out of the package it came in.

Cut the stems.

Plop them down in a glass of water.

(Or a vase if you're feelin' fancy.)

Grab a plastic bag.

(I used a produce bag from the grocery store.)

Put it over the top of your glass and tuck the opening under the bottom.

Make it a happy little greenhouse.

Set it on the counter.

Voila.  

You're done.

So how long ago do you think I bought the basil in these pictures?

I'll give ya hint:  It wasn't yesterday.

I bought it on March 8th.

I took these photos on March 18th.

That's ten days.

I was super impressed with ten days.

Then I was super impressed with 2 weeks.

Then 3 weeks.

As I type this, it's the 9th of April.

I used the last stem of this same basil last night for dinner.

That's a month, kids!

And it would have kept on goin', had I not needed it for dinner.

So there ya go.

The ONLY way to store your fresh basil from now on.

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