12 Ways with Fresh Basil

A member of the mint family, basil lends a sweet-spicy flavor with hints of clove and anise to Italian-style sauces, pesto, and pasta. It’s tomatoes’ best partner, and also adds a refreshing accent to stronger Southeast Asian flavors. Here are our favorite recipes highliting the fresh herb.

The traditional Genoese sauce of basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, and olive oil is delicious on pasta, chicken, and fish. Catering to modern tastes, we’ve reduced the amount of olive oil while keeping the flavors true.

Recipe: Classic Basil Pesto

Have a bumper crop of zucchini? This soup is the ultimate way to use up all that squash. In summertime, serve it with sliced tomatoes and hunks of baguette.

Recipe: Creamy Basil Zucchini Soup

This salad is summer in a bowl. You can cut up the vegetables a little ahead of time, but dress them fairly close to serving or they’ll get soupy.

Recipe: Tomato, Cucumber, and Basil Salad

Here’s a fun twist on the classic BLT: Instead of lettuce, sub in 4 to 6 basil leaves. We recommend Sunset’s Red Horizon tomato for this recipe; its meaty, heart-shaped fruit is perfect for sandwiches.

Recipe: BBT (Bacon Basil Tomato) Sandwich

Meet Eggs Benedict’s robust Italian cousin.

Recipe: Uova Benedetto (Poached Eggs on Polenta with Pesto and Crisp Prosciutto)

Brie cheese acts as a creamy sauce when melted by the warm pasta. For the most flavorful results, use tomatoes and basil in summer, at the height of their season.

Recipe: Tomato Orecchiette with Brie and Basil

Why not try scattering your Caprese salad over grilled chicken? It’s a great way to utilize summer produce, not to mention super delicious.

Recipe: Garlic-Basil Grilled Chicken with Caprese Salsa

It’s a snap to put together this fresh, flavorful stew with made with light coconut milk, halibut, Thai red curry paste (found in most supermarkets), and aromatic basil and mint.

Recipe: Thai Red Curry Fish Stew

The clean, natural flavor of grass-fed beef shines in this thick steak topped with a decadent lemon-herb butter.

Recipe: Grilled Grass-fed Rib-eyes with Herb Lemon Butter

Add flavor, color, and fragrance to this summer-inspired lemonade drink by choosing different varieties of basil, such as ‘African Blue’, ‘Cinnamon’, or ‘Pesto Perpetuo’.

Recipe: Basil Lemonade

Move over, mint: Basil’s spicy flavor puts a fresh spin on the traditional gimlet. Flavoring your cocktail is so easy―the basil steeps for 20 minutes in a simple syrup.

Recipe: Basil Gimlet

In the same family as mint (the usual choice for a mojito), basil takes the cocktail a step further, adding hints of clove and anise. Muddling turns the drink bright green.

Recipe: Basil Mojitos