The Best Recipes to Use a Plethora of Parsley

There are so many great conversations on the Hotline—it's hard to choose a favorite. But we'll be doing it, once a week, to spread the wealth of our community's knowledge—and to keep the conversation going.

Today: Parsley is a great herb to have in the kitchen—but what do you do with bunches and bunches of it (or even just a single bunch you bought for a recipe, but don't know what else to make with it)? One community member even found themselves with 10 pounds of the stuff; this might not be exactly the situation you're in, but we've got enough parsley recipe ideas below to prepare you just in case. 

Parsley is sort of like cilantro's fancier older sibling. Whereas cilantro is happy casually thrown in guacamole and chicken noodle soup, parsley does better sautéed with shrimp or mixed into a salad with beets and Welsh rarebit croutons. Some people have a strong aversion to cilantro, but parsley rarely offends anyone. Plus, when Alice Waters tells us she relies on an herb, we listen. 

Of course, parsley is often used in relatively small amounts. So when Pamela731 asked the Hotline what to do with 10 pounds of the herb, the community came to the rescue. It turns out there are a lot of wonderful ways to use and store parsley, even when it feels like you have an actual ton of it. Here's what fellow Food52ers had to say:

Use It Now:

• Tabbouleh is one of the most popular ways to utilize a lot of parsley. Maedl advises using "a large proportion of parsley and mint. In most Middle Eastern countries, they use a very fine bulghur and there is more parsley and mint in the salad than there is bulghur."
• HalfPint suggests turning the parsley into a chimichurri sauce and pairing that with a nice steak.
• In a similar vein, Matt Piazza says: "You could make a bucketful of pesto!"
• Parsley goes well in salads, too. Julie calls it a salad brightener, while ieatthepeach goes a step further and treats parsley like any other salad green, saying it's "really nice with some cucumber and a light vinaigrette."
• Elisabeth recommends throwing some parsley into your next green juice.
• She also recommends adding it to vegetable stock: "Parsley makes a great addition to homemade soup stock—just combine it with some potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery, onion, garlic, salt, allspice berries, black pepper, and water, and simmer for an hour."
• A few users, like Jonee Austin and EmFraiche, suggest making Roberta's Parsley Cake.
• Drbabs suggests chopping up the stuff and whipping up a big pot of gumbo z'herbes. It's traditionally eaten as a meatless alternative to gumbo during Lent, but there's no reason not to enjoy it all year round. 
• Chop it up, mix it into softened butter, and slather it on a crusty loaf for epic garlic bread. 
• You can also use it to enliven crispy-skinned chicken thighs, a dish about which community member Bonnie B.  asks, "What could be better?" (Not much, Bonnie.)
• Hearty slow-cooker squash with chewy whole grains is a perfect dish—only to be made more perfect with some brightness and freshness from a parsley-rich salad. Pinkowl02 hails it as "amazing!!" 
• Totally vegan chickpea alfredo needs something to cut through the luscious creaminess, and parsley does an excellent job.
• Eggs in purgatory are a great vehicle for briny capers and roughly chopped parsley, too. 
• If stuffed peppers are your thing (and boy, should they be), our Best Stuffed Peppers with lamb, orzo, and halloumi (plus a good amount of parsley) come highly recommended by community members Nick K. and Liz. O.

More: Here's how we make vegetable stock—no recipe required.

Save Some for Later:

• If you're feeling parsley-ed out, you can save it for later by freezing it in ice cube trays and then transferring the cubes to a zip-top bag.
• Keep it simple and freeze parsley straight-up in olive oil, or turn it into a sauce or pesto first. DianaAdams blends parsley with garlic, mint, and olive oil, and uses the mixture in soups, pastas, and eggs. 
• You can also dry parsley to keep it longer, as Sam1148 points out. "Put it in a 200° F oven on a sheet of parchment paper, then turn the oven off after 10 minutes or so and let it sit overnight." If the parsley isn't fully dried out in the morning, repeat the process. 
• You can even make parsley jelly, which QueenSashy says goes well with meat dishes—think roasted lamb or ham hock.

If you're feeling really overwhelmed, you can also give some of the parsley away, as Maedl and Sam1148 suggest.

Do you have a favorite way to use or store parsley? Tell us in the comments or join in the conversation over on the Hotline!