Natural form

Fresh mint sprigs showing upright stems, opposite serrated leaves, and pale green color.

Teaches the reader how to recognize whole mint by its distinctive leaf shape and stem structure.

Herbs

Mint

Cool, fragrant herb for teas, salads, and desserts

Refreshing and cooling, mint brightens a tabbouleh, sweetens a tea, and lifts a fruit salad or a mojito. Add it fresh and torn. Keep it cold with stems in water.

Mint is a cool, fragrant herb whose menthol lift refreshes everything from tea and cocktails to lamb, peas, and yogurt sauces. Spearmint is the kitchen workhorse — sweet and gentle — while peppermint is sharper and more menthol-forward, best for sweets and drinks. It spreads like a weed and bruises easily, so tear rather than chop and add it fresh and late. Mint is a bridge between savory and sweet, equally at home in tabbouleh, a raita, a mojito, or a fruit salad.

Measured in: g
Storage: Refrigerate
Shelf life: 7 days

Find it in

Produce

Types & varieties

Spearmint

Sweeter, gentler, lower menthol — the all-purpose cooking mint.

Peppermint

Sharper and more menthol; best for desserts, chocolate, and tea.

Moroccan mint

A spearmint type prized for sweet mint tea.

Chocolate or apple mint

Aromatic novelty varieties for drinks and garnish.

How to use

Tear or chiffonade mint and add it at the end — stirred into yogurt for raita, folded through a grain salad, muddled gently into a drink. Savory dishes love it with peas, lamb, and feta; sweet ones with melon, chocolate, and berries.

Bruise, don't pulverize, when muddling for cocktails
Pairs with yogurt to cool spicy food
Combine with parsley in tabbouleh

Fresh vs dried

Dried mint (common in Middle Eastern cooking) has a concentrated, slightly different flavor good for sprinkling over lentils, yogurt, or rice. For cooling freshness in salads and drinks, use fresh.

Common uses

Mojitos and mint julepsTabbouleh and fattoushRaita and yogurt saucesPeas, fava beans, and spring vegetablesLamb and grilled meatsFruit salads and sorbetsMint tea