The Best Way To Keep Fresh Basil From Wilting In The Refrigerator
Keeping fresh herbs on hand is an excellent way to pack lots of flavor into your cooking. But trying to keep those herbs as fresh as the day you bought them can sometimes seem impossible, though many claim to have the right solution. Some people might simply leave the herbs in their original packaging, while others might place them in a glass of water. Others might have even given up on managing anything in the fridge and have instead resorted to keeping a pot of growing herbs on their kitchen windowsill. A bit of home gardening is perfectly fine, though it doesn't mean you have to give up on buying fresh herbs from time to time. To really make the most of store-bought fresh herbs, you need to pay closer attention to them, just like you would a potted plant.
While there are several different ways you can store your fresh basil in the fridge, there is one method that clearly stands above the rest. That's simply storing it in a glass of water, much like a bouquet of flowers (via Food52). That's where the method ends for most people, but instead, there are a few additional steps that you should be taking to ensure maximum herb freshness.
Trim the stems and use a plastic bag
When basil is exposed to extreme temperatures, including the cold environment of your refrigerator, it causes the leaves to wilt more rapidly, as the Gardener Report shares. That's why the cup of water storage method needs a bit of a boost. That comes by using a plastic bag to cover the basil leaves. This helps to protect the delicate basil leaves, slowing down the wilting process and helping to keep your fresh basil green and beautiful for as long as the plant can stick around (via The Spruce Eats).
But there's one additional step you might want to take in order to really keep your fresh basil good for as long as possible. It comes in the form of a quick tip from celebrity chef Samin Nosrat. The author of the cookbook "Salt Fat Acid Heat" shared in her Netflix show that trimming the stems of herbs before placing them back in the water can help keep them fresh for up to a whole week (via Food & Wine).