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Mint: How to Use Fresh Mint in Cooking

Fresh mint is one of the most refreshing culinary herbs you can keep in the kitchen.

It’s easy to think of mint as something reserved for tea, cocktails, or dessert, but this fragrant green herb can do much more.

Mint works in sweet and savory dishes and pairs beautifully with fruit, cucumber, lemon, vegetables, sauces, salads, and drinks.

If you have a bunch of fresh mint and aren’t sure what to make with it, here are some of the easiest ways to start.

What Is Mint?

Mint is an aromatic herb known for its distinctive cool, refreshing flavor.

There are many varieties, with spearmint and peppermint among the most familiar.

Different varieties can vary considerably in intensity, which is worth remembering when cooking.

What Does Mint Taste Like?

Mint tastes fresh, cool, slightly sweet, and intensely aromatic.

Some varieties have a gentler sweetness, while others have a much stronger cooling quality.

What Foods Go With Mint?

Mint pairs beautifully with:

• Lemon
• Lime
• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Pineapple
• Cucumber
• Peas
• Chocolate
• Yogurt
• Feta
• Lamb
• Melon
• Berries
• Tea

The combination of mint + cucumber + lemon or lime is especially refreshing.

How to Use Fresh Mint

Fresh mint can be chopped, torn, muddled, infused, or used whole as a garnish.

Add it to fruit salads, green salads, yogurt sauces, iced tea, lemonade, cocktails, desserts, vegetables, and savory dishes.

Because fresh mint is delicate, it is often added near the end rather than cooked for long periods.

What Can I Do With Lots of Fresh Mint?

If your mint plant has taken over the garden, that’s actually a pretty good problem to have.

Use extra mint for homemade mint tea, lemonade, infused water, fruit salad, mojitos, sauces, salad dressings, desserts, and flavored syrups.

You can also freeze mint for future recipes.

Mint in Sweet Recipes

Mint and chocolate may be the most famous dessert combination, but mint also works wonderfully with fruit.

Try it with watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, peaches, berries, or citrus.

A few freshly chopped mint leaves can completely change a simple bowl of fruit.

Mint in Savory Recipes

Mint is also widely used in savory cooking.

It can add freshness to salads, yogurt sauces, vegetables, grains, and meat dishes.

Try combining mint with cucumber and yogurt for an especially refreshing flavor combination.

Fresh Mint vs. Dried Mint

Fresh and dried mint have noticeably different characters.

Fresh mint provides the bright, refreshing flavor most people associate with summer drinks and salads.

Dried mint has a more concentrated flavor and can work well in sauces, seasonings, teas, and certain savory dishes.

They aren’t always interchangeable depending on the recipe.

Common Culinary Herbs

Once you’re comfortable cooking with mint, start experimenting with other herbs.

My Common Culinary Herbs guide covers mint, basil, rosemary, and other useful herbs and explains how home cooks can start choosing the right herb for a recipe.