How to Chop Fresh Basil for Recipes
Everything you need to make the most of your fresh basil! Learn how to cut, chop, mince and julienne fresh basil with all the tools, helpful tips and storage suggestions.
Equipment
- pair of kitchen shears optional
- mezzaluna optional
- chef's knife optional
Instructions
Tearing Basil
- Truly the best method! Use clean hands and tear the basil into small pieces for use in salads, spaghetti sauces and soups.
Rolling basil into a cigar
- Stack several leaves together and roll them tightly into a cylinder. Then, use a sharp knife to slice the rolled basil into thin strips.
- You can slice the cigar in half lengthwise before cutting across for smaller pieces.
Cutting basil with a mezzaluna or scissors
- My other favorite method for cutting basil is to use a mezzaluna or kitchen shears. Similar to julienning basil above, using either of these produces finely and evenly chopped basil quickly which helps you save time.
To chop basil with scissors:
- Stack leaves of basil on top of each other and make small snips vertically and then long snips across the leaves onto a board or into a bowl.
To chop basil with a mezzaluna:
- Stack basil leaves on a cutting board and holding the ends of the mezzaluna handle with your hands, gently rock the blade (or blades if you have a double mezzaluna) over the basil leaves back and forth, forward and backwards.
