How easy is it to chop herbs?


How easy is it to chop herbs?
Whenever you have fresh herbs - parsley, chervil, coriander, mint, etc. - to incorporate into a recipe, we tell you to chop them up.

In this case, "chopping" means separating the leaves from the stems, keeping only the leaves, and chopping them more or less finely.

It's not very complicated, of course, but let's take a look at a few ways of doing it, and how to avoid certain pitfalls.
9,355 5/5 (3 reviews)
Grade this page:
Keywords for this post:TipsTricksHow toHerbChopCutMinceParsley
Last modified on: September 12th 2023
For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend
How easy is it to chop herbs?

Preparation

In most cases, as mentioned above, the first step is to separate the leaves from the stems, keeping only the leaves, the most tender and fragrant part of the herb.
This is done because, as a general rule, the stems are always a little hard, and not very pleasant raw. But you don't necessarily have to throw them away: parsley stems, for example, are wonderful for cooking in a sauce or dish, even if you have to remove them after cooking.

herbes avec tigesfeuilles uniquement


Let's chop!

Basically, just place the leaves on a chopping board, then chop them more or less finely, with a chopper or a knife, and you're done?

Well, it's not quite that simple. First of all, you have to get rid of a common misconception: "The finer the chop, the better the taste".
No, it's a culinary legend, because the finer you chop, the more the herbs oxidize and lose their flavour, and the more some of their flavour is lost on the utensils. Cooks have a phrase for this, they say "taste is on the board".

In any case, as a general rule, herbs age very badly once chopped, so whatever the method, you have to be quick.

So chop them, but don't overdo it, proceed quickly, and incorporate the herbs into your recipe as soon as they've been chopped. Don't let herbs that have already been chopped sit on a corner of your work surface, as they will quickly lose their taste.

How to chop

There are several ways to proceed, but here are 3:

Classic method
hachage traditionnel au couteau

Using a knife or chopper, chop the herbs you've grouped together on the board.
It's very simple, but you'll need to make quite a few strokes of the knife to chop all the herbs, which will need to be grouped together from time to time on the board.

The dumpling
hachage en boulette 1hachage en boulette 2hachage en boulette 3hachage en boulette 4

The herbs are grouped together until they form a small parcel, a "boulette", and then delicately sliced, as you would a shallot, for example.
It's very efficient, and the herbs are chopped very quickly.

By the glass
hachage en boulette 1hachage en boulette 2hachage en boulette 3


The herbs are placed in a glass, and a pair of scissors is used to cut directly into the glass, until the desired texture is obtained.
It's even quicker and more efficient, and all you have to do is pour the contents of the glass into the recipe. This is definitely my preferred method.

An electric chopper

As you may have noticed, all these methods are manual, so what about electric choppers?
They're handy, of course, for chopping herbs and other things at the same time (garlic, onions, etc.), but they're admittedly not indispensable, and with them you tend to chop too finely, by pressing the button a little too long. If you use one, remember to chop for a few seconds at most.

To sum up: Chopping herbs is a simple matter, you just have to remember 1) not to chop too finely and 2) not to keep your chopped herbs waiting (incorporate them into your recipe as soon as they have been chopped).

Lasts posts
Travel cakes
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27th 20252,058
The aromatic power of sugar
The aromatic power of sugar
In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...
December 25th 20242,3735
The little trap of thick cream
The little trap of thick cream
When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream? In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either. But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between...
December 13th 20243,0425
Sauce and salad: When and how to mix them?
Sauce and salad: When and how to mix them?
When dressing a salad, there's a kind of golden rule: add the dressing very shortly before serving, especially if your salad contains crunchy elements such as croutons or fresh vegetables, which will retain their crunchiness or crispiness. But, as is often the case in the kitchen, there are...
November 29th 20243,2235
No need to boil gelatin
No need to boil gelatin
Gelatin is a magical ingredient for making light, creamy, structured desserts, yet it's often misused in the kitchen. A common mistake in some recipes is the idea that it needs to be boiled for it to work properly, but this is a mistake indeed: gelatin melts at a much lower temperature, around...
November 21th 20243,0595
Other pages you may also like
The salad spinner is not only for salad
The salad spinner is not only for salad
Where we see that the salad spinner can be used for many other purposes.
March 25th 20228,3124.8
Tranché, dissociated, failed, in short... missed!
Tranché, dissociated, failed, in short... missed!
When preparing a sauce or a cream, there's always a (small) risk that the creamy preparation you're working on will suddenly separate into two parts of different textures: a liquid part, for example, and a more or less solid part, or even become lumpy. It's terribly frustrating, but we'll see...
June 19th 20238,1495
The long fermentation of bread
The long fermentation of bread
I had already told you in a previous article about the delicious little alchemy that happens when we make bread, let's try to go a little further this time, and try to discover what makes a good bread, in other words, which has taste. .
April 13th 20236,4274.9
When I was a kid, I didn't like...
When I was a kid, I didn't like...
Maybe you've already made this strange observation: when you were a kid, there were things you hated, but as an adult it's almost the opposite? For example, you used to hate spinach or chicory, but now you love it?
November 5th 20237,3345
Butter doesn't make you fat, unless you eat too much of it.
Butter doesn't make you fat, unless you eat too much of it.
Whenever I'm discussing cooking and recipes, there is one idea which comes up frequently, like this: "Oh no! But that's got butter in it" (I should add, for the sake of accuracy, that this is something I hear more frequently from women, who are almost all concerned with keeping their figure). ...
March 26th 201240 K4.5
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page