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If your garden is abundant with basil, let’s explore what to make with fresh basil with these 10 yummy fresh basil recipes.
I assumed not many of my basil seedlings would grow very well, so I planted 10 plants.
Imagine my delight and overwhelm when all ten plants thrived and now I have basil in great abundance!
Besides drying some and giving some away to family, neighbors and friends, I’ve been enjoying an internet hunt to find amazing recipes that I can make with fresh basil.
I thought I would share the fruit of my labors with you and give us a list of diverse fresh basil recipes for us to make while basil is fresh for the taking.
Enjoy! And be sure to let me know in the comments what you like to make with your fresh basil.
1 – PESTO WITH BASIL
Fresh, nutritious ingredients come together so fast for the best recipe for pesto with basil! This pesto recipe is one I played around with and made perfect for my liking. I hope you like it too!
2 – HEALTHY AND REFRESHING BASIL ICED TEA
Add fresh basil in tea for a refreshing and nourishing lemon basil iced tea, naturally sweetened with honey. Such a perfect way to use that abundant basil harvest on a hot day! This is another recipe of mine shared on this blog.
3 – FRESH BASIL BUTTER
I’ve tried this fresh basil butter and it was to-die-for yummy! Spread it on anything from fresh sourdough bread, deli sandwich, grilled cheese . . . you name it. It elevates your buttered dish like you wouldn’t believe
4 – FRESH BASIL HUMMUS
What an amazing idea to elevate a boring ol’ hummus. I love the green color and can imagine myself downing a box of crackers and bowl of this basil hummus in no time!
5 – FRESH BASIL LEMON VINAIGRETTE
This sounds good enough to pour over every salad imaginable. There is nothing better than a fresh homemade vinaigrette and I’d love to try this basil version.
6 – CAPRESE TORTILLA PIZZA
Doesn’t this sound like the easiest and freshest dinner to throw together on a busy night? I love that she just uses a tortilla for the base and adds the toppings with the fresh basil. I imagine you could do this for naan bread, flatbread, bagels, toast . . . any bread base! You can go wrong with a Caprese anything!
7 – BLUEBERRY BASIL SMOOTHIE
I’m sure you’ve heard of throwing spinach into smoothies, but who would have thought about throwing basil in! This combo of blueberry and basil sounds so intriguing and I can’t wait to try it.
8 – FRESH LEMON BASIL COOKIES
Basil for dessert? Yes please! My mouth is salivating just thinking about basil as a tasty treat.
9 – BASIL SALT
What a concept! An herb infused salt sound dreamy to cook and season your food and meats with all throughout the year. Who wants to try this with me!?
10 – FRESH BASIL MEDICINAL TINCTURE
If you want the medicinal benefits of basil all year long (there are so many!), check out this post all about making a basil tincture.
I could definitely continue further down this basil rabbit hole, but let’s work on these 10 ideas and go from there! I hope you discovered some new great ways to use up fresh basil from the garden.
These all sound so yummy! I have quite a bit of basil this year, so these ideas will come in handy. Pinning! One of my favorite summer cocktails is a cucumber basil smash. Muddled basil and cucumber, vodka (or gin), freshly squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup to taste (I like mine a bit less sweet) and a splash of soda over ice. Yummy and refreshing.
That sounds so so yummy Donna! Thanks for sharing with me!