13 Recipes That Justify Buying the Entire Bunch of Fresh Herbs

All the more reason to buy an entire bunch.

By Robin Shreeves
Published September 08, 2025
Served dish of chimichurri chicken thighs with rice and vegetables on a plate

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

If you’re like me, you’re a sucker for a great farmers market deal. Four bunches of herbs for $10? Yes, please! Invariably, I fall short of my intention to use up all my produce before it goes south, and fresh herbs are usually the first to end up in the compost bin. It pains me to pay more upfront for a small package of herbs, but sometimes that turns out to be the more cost-effective option. If I had a collection of herb-centric recipes at the ready, though, I could totally justify buying a few bunches without fear of wasting the greens—and my money.

The following 13 recipes put fresh herbs front and center. They include intensely flavorful sauces, such as an herby feta dip that's perfect for dunking fries into, a wonderfully balanced pesto, easy weeknight suppers, and even drinks and dessert. Whether you’re trying to use up that last bit of parsley or want to make the most of your farmers market haul, these herb-forward recipes have you covered.

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  • Mixed‑Herbs Salad With Olives, Tomatoes, and Fresh Mozzarella

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    Vicky Wasik

    We're starting things off with a mélange of fresh herbs tossed with arugula, olives, ripe tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Shredding the mozzarella—instead of cubing it—makes it easier to incorporate into the salad. The cheese's mild, creamy flavor balances the intensity of the herbs and the brininess of the olives. Whip up a lemony balsamic vinaigrette, then toss it all together.

  • Baked Zucchini Fries with Herby Feta Dip

    Baked Zucchini fries on a white dish, with a bowl of dip on the side. The table has green printed table cloth and two glasses of water.

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

    The crunchy, golden zucchini fries are delicious, but that’s just half the story. It’s the herb-forward feta and yogurt dip—fragrant with fresh thyme and dill—that makes this dish so over-the-top delicious. You’ll probably want to dip everything else in it, too.

  • Pesto alla Genovese

    pesto in a mortar and pestle
    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Pesto is one of the most straightforward sauces you can make, and after extensive testing, we found the very best method for preparing it. For a luxuriously silky sauce, skip the food processor and pound fresh basil, pine nuts, cheese, and olive oil together with a mortar and pestle.

  • Tabbouleh Salad

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    Vicky Wasik

    Though tabbouleh is often thought of as a grain salad, it's really a parsley salad with some bulgur or couscous and tomatoes. This recipe uses two whole bunches of parsley and an entire bunch of fresh mint, and employs two clever techniques: salting and draining the parsley and tomatoes to remove excess moisture, and using that tomato water to soak the bulgur. The result is an herbaceous, flavorful salad that isn't waterlogged.

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  • Grilled Chermoula Sardines

    Cooked chermoula sardines arranged on a decorative plate with a garnish

    Serious Eats / Vy Tran

    There are many interpretations of chermoula, the fragrant, oil-based marinade made with cilantro, parsley, garlic, lemon, cumin, and paprika—but the combination is always vibrant and balanced. Here, the marinade clings to the sardines as they grill, so the fish comes off the heat deeply seasoned, with a delicately briny interior.

  • Sheet-Pan Chimichurri Chicken

    A dish with grilled chicken thighs vegetables chimichurri sauce and white rice on a plate utensils and a sauce bowl beside it

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

    This zesty chimichurri calls for a hefty bunch of each cilantro and parsley, making it an excellent way to use up fresh herbs. In this easy sheet-pan dinner, the chimichurri doubles as a flavorful marinade and a punchy sauce for the finished chicken and vegetables.

  • Kookoo-Sabzi (Persian Eggs With Green Herbs)

    Platter of sliced kookoo, flatbread, and rice on a floral tablecloth

    Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari

    It might be tempting to think of kookoos—a genre of Persian egg-centric dishes—as omelettes, frittatas, or quiches. But those terms don't quite adequately describe the dishes. Kookoo-sabzi, the most famous of them, is loaded with parsley, cilantro, and dill, and it's delicious as a starter, side dish, or main, stuffed inside a sandwich, or served with Persian yogurt with cucumber.

  • Egyptian Bissara (Split Fava Bean Dip)

    Egyptian Bissara

    Serious Eats / Greg Dupree

    This beautifully vibrant split fava bean dip—topped with crispy fried shallots and served with toasted pita—is a popular vegan dish eaten by  Copts—Egypt’s indigenous and Christian ethnoreligious minority who represent 10% of the population—during Lent. The beans are cooked with an ample amount of cilantro and parsley, along with a little fresh and dry mint, then blended with reserved fresh cilantro after cooking to enhance their green color.

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  • Zucchini‑Basil Soup

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    J. Kenji López-Alt

    This recipe provides an easy and delicious solution to the conundrum of surplus zucchini at the end of summer. The squash's watery nature and spongy texture mean it breaks down quickly as it cooks, blending to a smooth, creamy consistency. Fresh basil, garlic, and olive oil give it a fragrant pesto-like aroma.

  • Zhug (Yemenite Hot Sauce)

    A square dish of bright-green zhug (Yemenite hot sauce) next to a head of garlic, peppers, and herbs
    J. Kenji López-Alt

    Think of this Middle Eastern hot sauce as a fresh, bright cousin of chimichurri, chermoula, and salsa verde. Here, cilantro is the star, with parsley as a supporting player. Green cardamom adds a floral, spiced note that accentuates the cilantro's flavor. Spoon it over grilled eggplant, swirl it into a bowl of hummus, or add it to falafel.

  • Fresh Basil Mousse

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    Vicky Wasik

    Whether it's in a caprese salad or a Thai green curry with coconut milk, basil just hits when paired with something creamy. Safe to say, the sweet herb is equally wonderful in fruit and cream desserts, such as this cool, smooth basil mousse. White chocolate adds richness and body to the cream base, and briefly infusing the dairy with basil draw prevents the herb from becoming bitter.

  • Smoked Derby Julep

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    Vicky Wasik

    Looking to venture outside the well-trodden julep lane? Swap the bourbon for smoky mezcal and the mint for fresh basil, then muddle it with some refreshing cucumber and jalapeño for a hit of vegetal spice. Sweeten with agave syrup, and you've got a drink that's efinitely not your typical julep—but just as thirst-quenching.

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  • Honey‑Basil Lemonade

    20120618-lemonade-variations-09.jpg
    Dave Katz

    It doesn't take much to zhoosh up lemonade. Here, we blitz fresh basil leaves, lemon juice, honey, and a touch of salt in a blender, then strain out the solids for an aromatic base with a peppery kick. Just add cold water and ice to your liking.

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