1,597 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 77 videos

Parsley stems

Parsley, whether curly or flat, is a delicious ingredient in many recipes, where it is used both raw and cooked.

When used raw, in a salad for example, where it always provides, alone or with other herbs, a remarkable freshness, only the leaves are kept.

And when used cooked?

11 K 1× 3/5 (2 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Parsley Herbs Stems Taste Sauces Cooking Bouquet

Last modified on: July 28^th 2025

For this post Comments Lasts posts Follow

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

Parsley, unlike chives, for example, can be used both raw and cooked, but when cooking, don't neglect the stems, also known as "tails".

It's not obvious at first glance, but much of parsley's flavour is in the stems, so it's a good idea to put them in your saucepan for cooking.

moules marinières

Let's take a recipe for mussels marinière as an example: heat a base of dry white wine with onion and parsley, and open the mussels (I'm oversimplifying).

Well, the big difference here is that the recipe uses the whole parsley, not just the leaves, because parsley tails are just as, if not more, important than the leaves when cooking. You can't eat them, but they add a lot to the taste, so you have to read "whole parsley sprigs (leaves + stems)" in the recipe, even if it says "parsley" in the list of ingredients, because it's very important for the recipe.

As they can't be eaten, it's a good idea to tie them with string into small bunches for easy removal at the end of cooking.

As a general rule, when a recipe calls for whole parsley, we often indicate "parsley sprig" instead of "parsley".

If you ever come across an old cookery book (before 1960/50, roughly speaking), you'll see that it's not uncommon to find recipes with "parsley tails" as an ingredient, mainly sauces in fact.
And parsley is one of the essential ingredients in the famous bouquet garni I've already told you about.

To sum up: for a recipe using cooked parsley, it's essential to use the whole sprig, leaves + stems.

Lasts posts

In baking, cold is your friend

When you bake at home—especially when making pie crusts—you’ve probably noticed that it’s quite difficult to work with the dough when it’s hot. It gets soft, is hard to roll out, and breaks or crumples very easily. And this doesn’t just happen when it’s hot—even in a comfortable...
August 26^th 20265445

With vinegar?

When you buy a jar of pickles labeled “in vinegar,” you’re looking for their tangy, crunchy flavor to go with cold cuts, sandwiches, or salads. You expect to find small gherkins preserved in vinegar, with salt and herbs, but is that really the case?
July 15^th 20261,6184.8

Congratulate the chef

You've just finished a meal that you really enjoyed. The server approaches with the usual question: “How was it?” And then, as a natural reflex, you simply reply, “Yes, it was very good.” However, when the meal was truly outstanding, this brief exchange deserves a little more. .
July 7^th 20261,054 35

Cut twice as fast

When you need to cut something long into small pieces, for example chopped chives or the stem of a spring onion, there's a simple gesture that doubles your cutting speed. Let's see how.
May 21^th 20262,5025

The other use for bowl scraper

Your kitchen or bakery utensils may include a horn (left) or a pastry cutter (right). These practical utensils are normally used to scoop the contents of a bowl or salad bowl - the horn - or to cut dough - the pastry cutter. But they also have another, very practical use - let's see what it is.
May 9^th 20262,2113

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

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 13^th 20249,4535

Fruits which can ruin your jelly

There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...
March 6^th 201381 K4.0

The so-called "nervous" meats

You've probably heard this before, we're talking about "nervous" meat, or meat with nerves, to describe what is indicated by the blue arrow on the left. This is a piece of beef, and what we call a nerve is not a nerve, it is in fact collagen (chemists sometimes call it a "collagen sink"), a...
April 16^th 202141 K4.5

Sausage broth

I've already talked to you about vegetable cooking water, which becomes a precious broth after cooking that would be a shame to throw away. Now let's look at the special case of meat cooking broth, and in particular sausages, which are often poached.
June 28^th 202315 K5

Grilled bacon is much better in the oven

Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25^th 20258,8885

The 1 comment already posted on this page

A useful article, and that many younger folks may not have considered using the tails. (I always include full sprigs when making stock, for example.

Thank you.
Posted by Dave august 4^th 2025 at 13:26 n° 1

Follow this page

Receive an e-mail as soon as this page is modified or receives a new comment.

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.