1,510 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Thinning out herbs

If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves.

Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do it quickly?

216 5/5 (1 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Herbs Leaves Stems Gestures

Last modified on: August 8^th 2025

For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend

Thinning out herbs

How do you do it?

Logically, it's simple, if a little time-consuming: you remove, one by one, the most beautiful leaves, which you add or use in your recipe, and you throw the rest in the composter.
Of course, if you've got a lot of branches to deal with - a handful of basil for a pesto, for example - it's a real pain in the ass...

Can you do it faster?

Yes, because there's a trick, a precise gesture that makes it possible to do it very quickly. Here's an example with verbena:

1) Remove and discard any leaves that are not quite green.

2) Pick the leaves just for your recipe, to do this pinch the sprig and pull from top to bottom, in a second all the leaves are in your hand.
Note that it's important to start at the top and work your way down, as the other way round the leaves will resist.

3) Keep only the leaves, send the stems to compost (if possible).

To sum up: To remove the leaves from a long-stemmed herb, there's no need to go leaf by leaf. Just pinch and pull, from top to bottom.

Lasts posts

Add a bay leaf

Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...
July 31^th 20251,0875

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?
July 28^th 20251,086 13

A drizzle of olive oil

Often in a recipe, you have to "baste" vegetables, for example, before sending them to the oven. What the author means by this is that you need to put oil on top of the vegetables to cook them in the oven. Typically, we just quickly drizzle oil over the vegetables, hoping not to miss any, but...
July 13^th 20251,3405

Always secure your cutting board

When using a cutting board, it's very important that it's stable and doesn't move while you're cutting, for safety's sake. Boards have a natural tendency to slide on the work surface, but here are 2 ways to block them effectively.
July 1^st 20251,4155

Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?

When it comes to cherry clafoutis recipes, there's often a camp of those who argue that you absolutely have to leave the stones in because it tastes better, and the other camp (myself included) who prefer cherries without stones, which makes a much more pleasant clafoutis to eat. But is it true...
June 29^th 20251,2025

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

The "pith" of the cauliflower

When using cauliflower in a recipe, there is a lot of preparation work at the beginning: removing the leaves, taking the tops or florets, etc. It's a bit tedious, but in the end you're left with the best of the cauliflower, ready to be used in your recipe.
February 5^th 202211 K4.9

What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?

This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7^th 2017130 K 14.1

Candied fruits: don't get ripped off

Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
June 21^th 201763 K 24.2

For well opened (puffed) cakes

It's always nice to have a well puffed up cake after baking, not only will it taste good but it looks great too. Let's see how to get this beautiful shape almost every time.
January 23^th 201930 K4.2

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 201375 K4.0