Not plastic tubs, not foil: the humble jar that keeps chopped herbs fresh for a week, say restaurant chefs

You meant to use them all week.

You bought that lush bunch of parsley because it looked like a small forest on the market stall. You used two polite sprigs for dinner, shoved the rest into a plastic tub “for later”, and forgot about it until Thursday. When you opened the box, the herbs smelt vaguely pond-like and clung together in a sad, green mat. Later never arrived.

Foil isn’t much kinder. Coriander wrapped like leftovers looks fine for a night, then emerges two days on as a compressed, fragrant bruise. You trim the worst bits, feel faintly guilty, and throw more away than you use. Herbs start as optimism and end as bin fodder.

In restaurant kitchens, that would be chaos. Herbs aren’t decorative there; they’re ingredients with a shift pattern. They have to last days, not hours, and still taste of something other than fridge. So chefs quietly stopped treating herbs like fragile garnish and started treating them like cut flowers.

On the pass, in the prep fridges, on cluttered shelves, the same solution repeats: glass jars, a little water or a damp lining, and a loose cover. Not plastic tubs. Not foil. The sort of jar you put jam in on a good year.

Why plastic tubs and foil quietly ruin your herbs

Herbs are mostly water wrapped in very thin skin. Lock that water in an airtight plastic box with no airflow and every exhale they give turns into condensation. The leaves sit in their own humidity, and within a day or two, the delicate edges start to blacken. By day four, you’re growing compost.

Foil has a different problem. It hugs. Soft leaves like basil, coriander and dill bruise every time you drag the foil tighter. Any small tear invites drying at the edges and slime at the centre, especially if the herbs went in slightly damp. You get both extremes in one wrap: crisp on the outside, swamp within.

Restaurant fridges also cycle temperature more than you think. Doors open and close, hot pans slide in and out. In a sealed tub, those fluctuations build condensation and encourage bacteria. In foil, they bake the herbs lightly, then chill them again. Either way, by midweek the bunch you were counting on has turned into garnish you apologise for.

The point isn’t that plastic is evil and foil is forbidden. It’s that they trap herbs in a microclimate they never signed up for. Your parsley is still breathing. Your coriander wants to stand, drink and exhale, not suffocate flat against cold plastic.

The jar trick chefs quietly rely on

Walk into a busy kitchen at 11am and look along the prep shelf. You’ll often see what looks like a tiny florist shop: jars of chopped chives, fronds of dill, basil like a bouquet. It’s not for Instagram. It’s logistics.

Jars do three simple things that matter:

• They let stems drink a little, like flowers in a vase.
• They keep leaves upright and lightly supported instead of squashed.
• They create a small, cooler microclimate without sealing in steam.

For tender, leafy herbs, chefs use the bouquet method: trimmed stems in a few centimetres of cold water, leaves kept above the waterline, jar loosely covered with a lid, saucer or small plastic bag. For pre-chopped woody herbs and chives, they use the damp nest method: herbs in a jar lined with just-moist paper towel or a very clean cloth, lid sitting on but not cranked tight.

The result? Herbs that are still bright, fragrant and perky five to seven days later, not clumped and grey by Tuesday. They don’t stay perfect forever, but they stay useful for far longer than in a sweaty tub.

“We treat herbs like salad with a job to do,” one London chef put it. “Give them water and air, they show up for service.”

Step-by-step: how to jar your herbs for a whole week

Start the moment you bring them home. Herbs that get rescued after two days in a sweaty bag won’t bounce back as well.

1. Rinse and dry properly

Rinse bunches quickly under cold running water to remove soil and grit. Shake off the excess, then pat dry gently in a clean tea towel or spin briefly in a salad spinner. The aim is dry-on-the-surface, not bone-dry. Visible droplets become trouble later.

For pre-chopped herbs, rinse whole first, dry, then chop. Putting wetly chopped herbs straight into jar confinement is a shortcut to sludge.

2. Trim the stems

Using a sharp knife or scissors, slice 0.5–1cm off the bottom of the stems, just like you would with flowers. That fresh cut drinks better. Discard any yellowing or slimy leaves now rather than letting them infect the jar.

If the bunch came with thick bottoms wrapped in elastic, remove the band and separate the stems a little so air can flow between them.

3. Choose the right jar

You don’t need anything fancy. Any clean glass jar works:

• Jam jars for parsley, coriander, dill, mint.
• Taller jars or bottles for chives and tarragon.
• Wider jars for basil, so leaves aren’t crushed.

Plastic can work in a pinch, but glass stays colder and doesn’t absorb odours. Let’s be honest: you’ll be much more likely to actually use your herbs if they look inviting in clear jars, not like anonymous leftovers.

4. Decide: bouquet or damp nest

Use this simple rule:

• Soft, leafy herbs with stems (parsley, coriander, dill, mint, basil, tarragon): bouquet in water.
• Woody or pre-chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, chopped chives, chopped parsley): damp nest.

Bouquet method:

1. Pour 2–3cm of cold water into the jar.
2. Stand the herbs upright, stems in the water, leaves above the rim if possible.
3. Cover loosely:
   • A jar lid balanced on top, not screwed tight; or
   • A small food bag placed over the leaves and secured gently round the jar neck with a band.
4. Store in the fridge door or front shelf so they don’t freeze at the back.

Damp nest method:

1. Fold a small piece of kitchen paper or a clean cloth, dampen it, then squeeze so it’s just moist, not dripping.
2. Line the bottom of the jar and up one side.
3. Add your chopped herbs in a loose layer, not compacted.
4. Rest the lid on top or screw it on half a turn, leaving a hint of air.

Every day or two, open the jar, let it breathe for 20–30 seconds, and change the water or paper if it looks cloudy.

5. Label and rotate

Write the herb name and date on a bit of masking tape or a sticky label. It sounds fussy, but it stops parsley and coriander playing swap-dress in your brain, and you know what needs using first.

When you cook, grab the oldest jar first. A quick visual check – any blackened leaves, clouded water, or strong whiff – tells you when a jar’s shift is over.

Make it work for different herbs

Not all herbs behave the same. Some love the cold, some sulk in it. Jars help either way, but the details change.

Herb type	Best jar method	Lasts about*
Parsley	Bouquet, in fridge	5–7 days
Coriander	Bouquet, in fridge	4–6 days
Dill	Bouquet, in fridge	4–5 days
Mint	Bouquet, in fridge	5–7 days
Basil	Bouquet, room temp**	3–5 days
Chives (chopped)	Damp nest, in fridge	5–7 days
Rosemary/thyme	Damp nest, in fridge	7+ days

*Assuming you started with fresh, lively bunches.
**Basil blackens easily in cold fridges. Keep in a cool spot on the counter, away from direct sun, and change the water often.

For supermarket “living” herbs in pots, you can still use the jar trick. Snip what you need, treat the cut stems like any other bunch, and keep the pot watered and in decent light. The jar buys you time between aggressive harvests.

Small habits that make jars actually work

A jar on its own doesn’t perform miracles. The little routines around it do.

• Don’t overfill. If leaves are crushed against the lid, they’ll rot there first. Better two half-full jars than one brimming one.
• Change cloudy water. If the bouquet water turns milky or smells vegetal, tip it, rinse the stems, refresh.
• Keep away from the fridge fan. The back or very cold spots will freeze delicate leaves, even in a jar. Middle shelves or the door are kinder.
• Use from the top. For chopped herbs, fluff with a fork and spoon from the top layer, rather than compacting the middle each time with fingers.
• Rescue on day five. If a bunch looks tired but not gone, chop what’s still good, move it to a smaller “damp nest” jar, and plan a herb-heavy dish: chimichurri, pesto, salsa verde, omelette.

Think of it like a tiny herb rota. Five minutes of care on shopping day, plus a 30-second check every other morning, and you suddenly have flavour on tap all week.

When jars change how you cook

Once you have herbs standing to attention in the fridge, you use them differently. A Tuesday omelette gets a fistful of chives because they’re right there, not hidden under a pile of half-forgotten veg. Leftover roast potatoes meet chopped rosemary and lemon, instead of ketchup. Lunches taste less like “making do” and more like “someone thought about this”.

You may also start buying fewer sad, bagged “mixed herbs” that go slimy in two days and more proper bunches you can see and smell. It’s a quiet upgrade. The same food, sharper edges.

The side effect restaurants already know: food waste drops. A chef can’t afford to bin a kilo of coriander every service. You can’t either, really, once you’ve seen how long it could have lasted in a jar.

Joy deserves fresh herbs. Fresh herbs deserve decent treatment.

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FAQ:

• Do I have to wash herbs before jarring? It’s best to, yes. A quick rinse removes grit and bugs. Just make sure you dry them well so you’re not trapping puddles in the jar.
• Can I seal the jar completely to lock in freshness? You can lightly close it, but avoid screwing it down hard. A tiny bit of airflow helps prevent condensation and mould.
• What if I only use a little at a time – will constant opening ruin them? Opening the jar briefly is actually helpful. Treat it like airing a room: quick in, quick out, and watch for any leaves that need removing.
• Can I use jars for supermarket salad bags too? Yes. Rinse, dry thoroughly, then pack loosely into a jar with a barely damp paper towel. They’ll usually last longer than in the original bag.
• My herbs still went slimy – what did I do wrong? Most often they went in too wet, were crammed too tightly, or you left cloudy water or a soggy paper lining too long. Go lighter on moisture, looser on packing, and check them every day or two.