Ways to Serve Sweet Basil -- Harvest to Table (2024)

Basil with tomato, basil with garlic, basil with onion, and basil with olives.

The sweet, clove-like aroma and warm and peppery yet minty flavor of basil can liven up mixed green salads, vegetables and vegetable soups, pasta and pizza, eggs dishes and eggplant salad, fish and seafood, veal, lamb, pork, and chicken.

Basil—which is native to India–is a key herb in the Mediterranean regional cooking of France and Italy and is important to Thai, Vietnamese, and Laotian cookery as well.

Sweet basil—like other basils—is available from the garden in summer; hothouse basil can be found year-round. Hothouse basil can be tenderer than garden-grown basil but less aromatic.

Serving sweet basil

Sweet basil is the definitive herb for tomatoes. To a salad of firm ripe tomatoes that have been cored and peeled, add ½ cup vinaigrette, 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley, and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sweet basil.

To liven up any fresh green salad, add fresh chopped sweet basil leaves or whole tiny basil leaves.
For a summery pesto, blend 2 cups of loosely packed fresh sweet basil leaves with ½ cup light olive oil, 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, 4 large minced garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon coarse salt. Afterward, stir in ½ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons freshly grated Romano cheese, and 2 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter.

Favorite basil recipes

How to Make Classic Basil Pesto

Basil and Tomato Soup

Other basils

There are more than 60 varieties of basil in various shades of green, reddish, and purple. Sweet basil—also called Genoese basil, with large, bright green, silky leaves–is most often used for cooking in the Western world.

Here are other basils also used in the kitchen:

Purple basil—which is often called opal basil—has purple to purple-black leaves and is often used to add color to green salads and is especially good with rice dishes.
Lemon basil has bright, yellowish-green leaves and is used to add a lemon scent and flavor to dishes.
‘Green Ruffles’ basil is larger than sweet basil and is spicier and aniseed-flavored and is used in salads and stir-fries.
Cinnamon basil has olive-brown-green leaves, is cinnamon-scented when rubbed, and is used in spicy dishes and salad dressings.
Greek basil has small leaves and can be added unchopped to salads and tomato sauces.

Ways to Serve Sweet Basil -- Harvest to Table (2)

How to choose basil

Select fresh, aromatic basil. Avoid basil that is wilted, slimy, or has dark spots. Young basil is the best flavored. Basil becomes bitter after flowering.

How to store basil

Basil that has been washed and dried will keep for 3 to 4 days wrapped in a damp paper towel and placed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. You can also trim the stems and stand basil in water covering the base of the stems and keep it for 2 or 3 days making sure to change the water daily.

Serving basil

Use basil fresh or dried to add a mild, sweet flavor to soups, salads, stews, fish, meat, sauces, and eggs. Use basil fresh with ripe tomatoes adding a little oil and lemon juice.

Use lemon basil to add a sharp, spicy, lemon flavor to cooked fish.
Toss cooked pasta or rice in heated olive oil to which turn purple basil has been added.
Combine sweet basil with crushed garlic, bread crumbs, chopped nuts, lemon peel and beaten egg to make stuffing for chicken.

Tear basil with your fingers rather than chop.

Basil flavor partners

Basil has a flavor affinity for carrot, chicken, corn, cream cheese, eggplant, eggs, fish, garlic, goat cheese, lemon, mozzarella, olives, olive oil, pasta, peas, pizza, potatoes, rice, tomato, veal, white beans, and zucchini.

Basil combines well with capers, chives, cilantro, garlic, marjoram, oregano, mint, parsley, rosemary, and thyme.

About basil

Sweet basil is a warm-season annual that grows upright from 12 to 24 inches (30-60 cm) tall and almost as wide. Basil leaves are shiny and succulent, toothed, and pointed oval.

While sweet basil is native to India, there are other basils that are native to the Middle East, Africa, Central America, and the Pacific Islands.

The name basil is said to be an abbreviation of Basilikon photon which is Greek for “kingly herb.”

The botanical name for sweet basil is Ocimum basilicum. The botanical name for purple basil is O. b. var. purpurascens; for lemon basil O. x citriodorum; for Greek basil O. minimum ‘Greek’.

Articles of interest:

How to Grow Basil

How to Start an Herb Garden

Best Herbs for Container Growing

Herbs for Cool Season Growing

Growing Herbs for Cooking

Garden Planning Books at Amazon:

More kitchen tips:

Bring your harvest to the table. Kitchen prep tips and easy recipes for the vegetables you grow. Click below for vegetable prep and recipes you can use now.

Almonds
Apples
Apricot
Aprium
Artichoke
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocado
Bamboo Shoots
Banana
Basil
Beans, Dried
Beans. Long
Beans, Shell
Beans, Snap
Beets
Bitter Melon
Blackberry
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Broccoli Raab
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cardoon
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celeriac
Celery
Chard
Chayote Squash
Cherimoya
Cherries
Chestnut
Chickpea
Chinese Cabbage
Chives
Cilantro
Citron
Clementine
Collards
Coriander
Corn, Sweet
Corn, Baby
Corn Salad, Mache
Cranberry
Cress
Cucumber
Daikon
Dandelion
Dill
Eggplant
Endive, Belgian
Endive and Escarole
Fava Beans
Fig
Florence Fennel
Garlic
Ginger
Grapefruit
Grapes
Guava
Horseradish
Jerusalem Artichoke
Jicama
Jujube
Kale
Kiwifruit
Kohlrabi
Kumquat
Leeks
Lemongrass
Lemons
Lettuce
Lime
Mache (Corn Salad)
Mandarin Orange
Mango
Maple Syrup
Marjoram
Melons
Michihili
Mint
Mizuna
Mushrooms
Mushrooms, Cremini
Mustard Greens
Napa Cabbage
Nectarine
Okra
Olives
Olive oil
Onions
Oranges
Oregano
Parsley
Parsley Root
Parsnips
Passion Fruit
Pawpaw
Peaches
Pears
Peas, Garden Snap
Peas, Snow
Pei Tsai
Peppers, Chili
Peppers, Sweet
Persimmon
Pineapple
Pineapple Guava
Plantain
Plums
Pluots
Pomegranate
Potatoes
Prickly Pear
Pumpkin
Quince
Radicchio
Radishes
Raspberries
Rosemary
Rhubarb
Rutabaga
Sage
Salsify
Sauerkraut
Savory
Shallots
Sorrel
Spinach
Squash, Summer
Squash, Winter
Strawberries
Sunchokes
Sunflower
Sweet Potato
Swiss Chard
Tangerine
Taro
Tarragon
Thyme
Tomatillo
Tomato
Turnip
Turnip Greens
Yams