The mint in my garden grows like wild. I barely do anything to it, and every time I go out to pick a few sprigs, there’s more than I need. My family loves eating fresh mint alongside a meal, and I often add a few leaves to a salad. Even then, there’s plenty left in the garden.
If you’ve got more mint than you can use, here are 14 ways to enjoy it fresh, save some for later, and share it with friends. You can even pot up a little piece of your plant so someone else can start picking their own.
Easy Ways to Use a Few Sprigs of Fresh Mint
1. Serve Fresh Mint Alongside Dinner
This is one of my family’s favourite ways to eat mint. I rinse a few sprigs and put them on a plate with other fresh herbs and spring onions. Everyone can pick what they like and eat it alongside the meal. Try it with dolma, grilled chicken, or warm flatbread.
2. Chop Fresh Mint Into Tabbouleh or Fattoush
Fresh mint is lovely in both of these salads. For tabbouleh, finely chop it with plenty of parsley, then toss it with tomatoes, spring onions, bulgur, lemon juice, and olive oil.
For fattoush, tear a few mint leaves into a bowl of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and radishes. Add a lemon and sumac dressing, then toss in the crunchy pita just before serving.
3. Toss It With Watermelon and Lime
Cut cold watermelon into cubes and toss it with torn mint leaves and a squeeze of lime. It’s lovely on a warm afternoon. If you want to serve it as part of lunch, add cucumber and a little crumbled feta.
4. Make Fresh Mint Tea
Lightly crush a few sprigs between your fingers, put them in a mug, and pour hot water over them. Let the mint steep for about five minutes, then taste it. Leave it a little longer if you like a stronger flavour. You can also strain it, chill it, and serve it over ice with lemon.
What to Make With a Bigger Handful of Mint
5. Make a Jug of Mint Lemonade
For a jug, start with the juice of two lemons, a generous handful of mint, and about one litre of cold water. Gently press the mint with the back of a spoon to release its flavour, then sweeten to taste and add ice. Taste before serving and add more lemon if you like it tangier.
6. Stir It Into Cucumber and Yoghurt
Mix a cup of plain yoghurt with half a finely chopped cucumber and two tablespoons of chopped mint. Add a pinch of salt and, if you like, a little crushed garlic. Spoon it next to grilled meat, rice, or roasted vegetables, or serve it as a dip with flatbread.
7. Blend a Fresh Mint and Coriander Chutney
Blend a packed cup of mint leaves with a handful of coriander, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt, and just enough water to bring it together. Add a little green chilli if you like heat. Serve it with samosas, spoon it onto grilled chicken, or spread it inside a wrap.
8. Stir It Into a Rice or Pea Side Dish
Chop a small handful of mint and stir it through warm cooked rice with lemon zest and a drizzle of olive oil. Or toss the mint through cooked peas with a little butter and lemon juice. Add the leaves just before serving so their fresh flavour comes through.
9. Make Mint and Goat Cheese Balls With Olive Oil
One of my favourite ways to use mint from the garden is to mix finely chopped leaves into soft goat cheese and roll it into little balls, like the ones in my photos. I serve them in a shallow dish with extra virgin olive oil. The fresh mint goes beautifully with the tangy cheese, especially spread onto warm flatbread or served with olives and sliced tomatoes.
Keep the cheese balls refrigerated until you’re ready to eat, then add the olive oil just before serving. If you make extra, refrigerate the cheese balls separately and add oil to the next batch when you serve it.
10. Blend a Fresh Mint Pesto
If you’ve picked a whole bunch, turn it into a bright, lemony pesto. Blend a loosely packed cup of mint leaves with a handful of parsley, a quarter cup of toasted almonds, a quarter cup of grated Parmesan, and a squeeze of lemon. Add olive oil a little at a time until it’s loose enough to spoon.
Toss it through warm pasta with a splash of pasta water, or spoon it over roasted potatoes, grilled chicken, or vegetables. If you’d like a milder mint flavour, replace some of the mint with parsley.
How to Save Extra Mint for Later
11. Freeze Chopped Mint in Ice Cube Trays
Rinse the mint, strip the leaves from the stems, and chop them. Divide the mint between the wells of an ice cube tray, add enough water to cover it, and freeze. Once the cubes are solid, transfer them to a labelled freezer bag. Drop one into a sauce, soup, or stew straight from the freezer. The leaves soften after freezing, so I’d save fresh leaves for salads.
12. Air-Dry Mint for Tea and Cooking
You can turn extra garden mint into a dried herb with a paper bag, a rubber band, and a dry spot indoors with good airflow.
- Rinse and pat dry. Pick healthy sprigs, rinse them under cool running water, and gently pat them dry with a clean tea towel.
- Hang a few sprigs in a paper bag. Make several holes in the sides of the bag for airflow. Tie the stems into a small bunch and hang it upside down inside the bag, securing the top around the stems with a rubber band. If you have lots of mint, make several small bunches so they dry more evenly.
- Check for crisp leaves. Hang the bag in a dry, airy spot away from direct sun. Check the leaves every day or two. They’re ready when they crumble easily between your fingers. If you see mould, discard the affected bunch. If your kitchen is humid, use a microwave with herb-drying instructions for small batches.
- Store in a jar. Strip the fully dried leaves from the stems and put them in a clean, dry jar with an airtight lid. Label it with the date and keep it in a cool, dark cupboard. Leave the leaves whole and crumble a little as you need it for mint tea, cucumber yoghurt, or a salad dressing.
13. Pick a Bunch of Fresh Mint for a Friend
If you’re visiting a friend or having someone over for lunch, snip a small bunch of mint from the garden to give them. Freshly picked, homegrown mint smells lovely, and it’s the sort of little gift they can use the same day. They might chop it into tabbouleh, stir it into yoghurt, or put a few sprigs on the table to eat alongside dinner.
If they’ve never used fresh mint before, tell them how you like to eat it. Sometimes a bunch of herbs and one simple idea are all someone needs to try something new.
14. Pot Up Some Mint to Give Away
I moved a little mint from my garden into the pink hanging pot in the photo. It’s a lovely way to give a friend something from your garden that they can keep picking from.
If you’d like to try it, lift a small clump with some roots attached and plant it in a pot with drainage holes and fresh potting mix. Water it after planting and give it time to settle in before you pass it on. A pot also gives your friend a way to grow mint without it spreading through their garden bed.
You could tuck in a little handwritten tag that says, “Pick a few leaves for your next salad.”
Why Grow Mint in Your Garden?
The mint in my garden grows almost wild. It’s one of the herbs I do the least for, yet there’s usually plenty to pick. If you have a yard, even a small one, a pot of mint near the back door gives you something fresh to snip for dinner, a cup of tea, or a bunch to give to a friend.
What I love about growing mint. You can pick just a few leaves when you need them. Once the plant fills out, there’s enough to use a bigger handful in lemonade or chutney. You can also divide an established plant and pot up a rooted piece for someone else, like I did with my pink hanging pot.
What to watch for. A small patch can spread across a surprisingly large area by itself. Mint sends out horizontal stems called runners that can put down new roots as they grow. That’s handy if you want a big patch, but it can creep into neighbouring beds and become hard to pull out. A pot makes it easier to contain. Trim any runners that hang over the edge before they reach the soil. Gardening Australia’s advice on containing mint
How to get started. Plant a small rooted piece in a pot with drainage holes and fresh potting mix. Mint likes soil that stays moist and drains well, and some afternoon shade can help in hot weather. Check potted mint more often in summer because it can dry out faster than mint in a garden bed. If it eventually fills the pot, you can divide it and use one of the pieces to start another plant.
The next time you come in from the garden with more mint than you planned to pick, put a few sprigs on the dinner table and see how much you have left. A handful can go into a jug of lemonade, and a bigger bunch might make a friend’s day. If your mint is growing like mine, there’ll be more to pick next time.
What’s your favourite way to use fresh mint? I’d love to hear what you make when you have a whole bunch to use up.