Prepping Herbs

Be a Better Home Cook! This Just Maika Cooking: Cook’s Notebook section will focus on everything related to prepping herbs connected to all my recipe posts, updated frequently.

Jump to:

You Don’t Always Have to Chop!
How to Chop Dill?
How to Use a Salad Spinner?
Highly Rated Salad Spinners
Video Overview: Use Roughly Chopped Herbs
How to Chop Herbs
Cook's Notebook: Become a Better Cook!

two hands holding a sprig of cilantro while pinching it at the last leaf on a cutting board with a small container of picked cilantro

You Don’t Always Have to Chop!

Some recipes will call for herbs to be prepared, like greens. Just like the Fresh Hoisin Mushrooms Noodle Bowl with Spicy Peanut Sauce, giving it that extra kick of flavor.

Check out other helpful tips on Prepping to Save Time in the Kitchen.

How to Chop Dill?

two hands pinching a dill sprig to remove the leaves

Pinch off the dark green dill leaves between the bottom of the last leaves and stem.

a pile of dill leaves being bunched up by a hand on a plastic cutting board

Bunch the dill leaves together with one hand.

a knife chopping dill leaves while the other hand holds the pile

Chop the bunch moving horizontally.

dill leaves being chopped with a knife for chopping herbs tutorial

Keep a hold of the rest of the dill bunched up while chopping.

two hands holding a knife, one at the tip and the other on the handle to rock the knife to chop the dill leaves for the chopping herbs tutorial

Use the hand to hold the blade's tip to move in a rocking motion to chop.

two hands holding a knife, one at the tip and the other on the handle to rock the knife to chop the dill leaves horizontally

Then, turn your knife horizontally while holding down the blade's tip and chop, moving it vertically while rocking it.

chopped dill scrapped together to form a pile on a cutting board with knife for the chopping herbs tutorial

Chop one more time, moving horizontally with the blade.

a small glass bowl with chopped dill leaves held in the hand

Voila!

Chopping dill for the Aleppo Pepper Siced Vegetarian Borscht recipe.

How to Use a Salad Spinner?

salad spinner opened with baby spinach in the basket

Learn how to use the Salad Spinner to Wash and Dry your Herbs

Highly Rated Salad Spinners

Video Overview: Use Roughly Chopped Herbs

Subscribe to my Youtube Channel @JustMaikaCooking

How to Chop Herbs

parsley leaves bunched up by hands on a plastic cutting board

You can do this with any small flat-leaf herbs but do not use this for basil or mint leaves, which require a different cutting method. Start by bunching the herbs together with your hands.

parsley chopped by a knife while another hand hold the leaf bunch for chopping herbs tutorial

Hold the bunch with one hand and your knife with the other. Slice the leaves thinly as you move across the bunch.

hands holding the knife at the tip and hand to do a rocking motion to chop the parsley leaves

Turn your knife to a horizontal position and, with a rocking motion, chop from top to bottom.

hands holding the knife vertically at the tip and hand to do a rocking motion to chop the parsley leaves

Turn your knife back to a vertical position and, with a rocking motion, again go from right to left; unless you are left-handed, you’ll start from the opposite direction.