Lessons > How to Use & Cook w/ Herbs

Your culinary journey starts here

★★★★ (52)

23,866 Students
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Lesson Overview

One of the easiest ways to enhance the flavor of the food you prepare is to add herbs. Whether fresh or dried, you need to know how to use herbs and when to add them during the cooking process.

In this lesson, you will learn about common types of culinary herbs and the difference between delic…

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Lesson Objectives

At the end of this lesson you'll be able to:
  • understand the difference between delicate and hardy herbs
  • identify common types of delicate and hardy herbs
  • identify common types of fresh herbs
  • properly store both fresh and dried herbs
  • prepare herbs for cooking
  • understand how to cook with herbs and when to add them to a dish
  • understand how to begin to pair herbs with food

Course Syllabus

START: Watch Lesson Platform Tour
1. Introduction: How to Use and Cook with Herbs
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2. Complete Your Self Assessment
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3. Types of Herbs
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4. How to Buy & Store Fresh Herbs
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5. How to Buy & Store Dried Herbs
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6. How to Prepare Herbs for Cooking
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7. How to Cook with Herbs
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8. Practice Activities & Recipes
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9. Lesson Quiz
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Practice Recipes

A few of the practice recipes you'll learn in this lesson.

Prerequisites & Related Lessons

Please consider these additional lessons to support your learning and discovery. Some of these lessons are prerequisites that may help contextualize what you are learning and form a baseline of knowledge and skill. Other lessons are related and may help you explore next steps or dive deeper on a learning topic.

How to Brine

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How to Season w/ Salt

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How to Marinate Foods

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What People Are Saying

"Very helpful. No more wasting herbs. Yeah!" ★★★★★
"This lesson was very helpful!" ★★★★★
"I enjoyed the lesson on herbs and learned how to use and experiment with them" ★★★★
"Wasn't thrilled w having to look at dead animal carcuses but great lesson." ★★★★
"Although I have had a culinary herb garden out my kitchen door, this gem of a course on culinary herbs immediately refined my knowledge and understanding of how to make the most of these aromatics. First off, knowing the difference between delicate and hardy herbs and when and how to add them to a dish was quite helpful. I also appreciated learning that delicate herbs are best with delicate foods and stronger hearty herbs with stronger flavored foods. It would be of value to know which plant based foods have stronger flavors. (I'm guessing maybe pumpkin, yams, celeriac, beets, dark beans, red cabbage, and also stews or baked roots which tend to have a more robust flavor.) I would like to learn more about combining herbs with spices, and also, about which herbs are best to dry and which aren't. For instance, I note that my fresh Tarragon doesn't dry nicely, but "browns" as it air dries, so it might be a better herb to freeze as suggested in your course. Lastly, I really enjoyed adding the sprigs of sage to the polenta I prepared for this course. I hadn't used fresh sage much, but was pleasantly surprised by unique undertone it imparted to the dish. Since I don't usually prepare polenta as a stand-alone, I improvised and topped it off with a plant based, creamy sauce of red lentils. I added some finely chopped cilantro to the lentils after turning off the heat. Although I enjoyed them over spooned over my polenta serving, I couldn't taste the cilantro at all. Now I realize that I chopped the delicate herb too early and let it sit too long before adding, allowing its volatile oils to dissipate. Also, I may have not used enough cilantro or perhaps overpowered the herb with use of heavier spices (curry and cumin). I also noted that the the subtler flavor of the sage-infused polenta was less distinct when combined with the sauce. So as you can see, the learning process has only just begun with this test run. Thank you for breaking down this course in a way that has engaged me and has improved my experience with culinary herbs. I certainly look forward to learning more with Rouxbe!" ★★★★★
"This lesson provided some good information, however, I was also hoping to find more examples of how to combine and layer herbs." ★★★★
"I thought I knew quite a bit about herbs but I learned so much! Great course." ★★★★★
"I think this lesson needs an upgrade....more elaboration...more info.." ★★
"This was a great class. I had no idea on how to store herbs and how long they last and especially cutting them." ★★★★★
"very good i learned a lot on preparing to enhance flavor of the food i will be cooking ' ''" ★★★★★
"Lots of good information!" ★★★★★
"Great information, but kinda long and hard to pay attention after a while." ★★★★★
"I've grown & cooked with fresh herbs for years, and with this lesson, I still learned something." ★★★★★
"We may have only discussed a few herbs but it’s still a lot to remember. I’ve always used dry but I have to say I did go out a buy a bunch of cilantro the other day to do one of the recipes. These lessons are starting to make me cook differently." ★★★★★
"lessons & videos #5-7 are worthy of repeating the study MULTIPLE TIMES!" ★★★★★
"the person who made this is not far off from a neo-nazi"
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17 Videos | 9 Tasks
Task 1: Introduction: How to Use and Cook with Herbs
Task 2: Complete Your Self Assessment
Task 3: Types of Herbs
Task 4: How to Buy & Store Fresh Herbs
Task 5: How to Buy & Store Dried Herbs
Task 6: How to Prepare Herbs for Cooking
Task 7: How to Cook with Herbs
Task 8: Practice Activities & Recipes

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