How to Store Fresh Rosemary

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By Julie Elefante
eHow Contributing Writer

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Properly stored rosemary can last at least a week.

Rosemary's versatility makes it a valuable herb to keep in your kitchen. You can use fresh rosemary in many dishes, such as rubbed onto roast meat and poultry, tossed with vegetables before grilling and mixed into stuffing. Fresh rosemary is readily available in most supermarkets throughout the entire year. However, it's almost always packaged in greater amounts than you'll need for a single meal. Instead of letting the rosemary go to waste by throwing it out or having it rot in the refrigerator, you can learn how to store it properly and have access to fresh rosemary for at least a week.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Fresh rosemary
Drinking glass or jar, or plastic bag
Clean paper towels
Fresh, clean water

Step 1

Dry the rosemary with a paper towel and trim off just the tip of the rosemary's cut stem.
Step 2

Fill the drinking glass with 1 inch of clean, fresh water and rest the rosemary's stem in the water.
Step 3

Slide an open plastic bag over the top of the rosemary, tenting all the branches, and store the rosemary in the fridge.
Step 4

Change the water in the glass every few days, drying the leaves with a paper towel with each change.
Step 5

Wrap your rosemary in a damp paper towel and store it in an open plastic bag if you do not want to store it in a glass. Store the bag in your fridge's produce drawer.
Step 6

Replace the paper towel with a clean freshly damp towel every few days.

Tips & Warnings

The fresher your rosemary is when you buy it, the longer you'll be able to store it and keep it fresh. Fresh rosemary has soft, supple, greenish-blue leaves that aren't dry and don't fall easily off the branch.

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