Thank you, thank you, thank you! I brag about how little food we waste but herbs are my downfall. This will help.
Just by chance I was reading an article about Tuscan herbs an hour ago. The recommendation for fresh herbs is to wrap them in a barely damp cloth or non-bleached paper napkin/towel, and put them in a dark cool place or right in the fridge. I don’t think it is a good idea to store things in soft plastic. In fact, the article specifically recommended against it, and I can see why. Ziplock and Tupperware are really overrated and overused and (worrisome) stuff.
I would not try to keep fresh herbs for any more than a couple of days anyway. If you use a lot of fresh herbs but don’t regularly shop at a store that will sell you small quantities, better to grow them. Even without an outdoor space, there are now lots of options for indoor herb growing if you have a few sunny spots in your house, including ways to keep them away from pets.
Don’t most good produce stores in the US sell herbs in soil these days?
I can vouch for his system as far as cilantro goes. Been about 10 days and it still looks and smells fresh.
I scored fresh basil and fresh cilantro on my supermarket outing today. So I’m bumping up this old thread about storing fresh herbs.
I have not had luck storing supermarket basil in a water-filled jar, like cut flowers. (In contrast, I have had great success with basil we get from our CSA during the season.) Yet I’m going to give this method another go to see if it will work this time.
Hope springs eternal.
Also going to experiment with storing my bunch of cilantro as recommended in the Serious Eats article at top of this thread.
