What to Do With Too Much Mint (Beyond the Obvious)

Even with a contained, well-managed plant, mint's productivity means most home cooks eventually end up staring at far more mint than any single recipe can use. Here's what to do with it beyond the obvious mojito or cup of tea.

1. Make a Big Batch of Simple Syrup

A large amount of mint reduces down efficiently into mint simple syrup, which stores well and can be portioned into an ice cube tray for long-term freezer storage. This is one of the most effective ways to convert a large fresh harvest into something with real shelf life.

2. Freeze It in Bulk

Rather than trying to use fresh mint immediately, freezing a large batch in oil or syrup (covered in our storage guide) lets you spread its use out over months rather than trying to force it all into recipes in a single week.

3. Make a Big Batch of Mint Sauce or Chimichurri

Both our mint sauce and mint chimichurri use a substantial amount of mint per batch and keep well in the fridge for a week or more, making them a good way to process a large harvest into something genuinely useful rather than letting it wilt.

4. Dry a Large Batch for Tea

If you drink much tea, drying a large quantity of mint at once (see the drying methods in our storage guide) gives you a shelf-stable supply that will last for months, using up far more fresh mint at once than a handful of fresh leaves steeped occasionally.

5. Add It to Green Smoothies

A handful of mint blended into a green smoothie adds a bright, fresh flavor and is a low-effort way to use up mint that doesn't fit neatly into a specific recipe.

6. Make a Big Batch of Mint Pesto and Freeze It

Similar to the syrup, mint pesto freezes well in small portions, giving you a flavor-packed sauce ready to go for months after the fresh mint itself would have wilted.

7. Give It Away

If you've genuinely exhausted the cooking options, a large bunch of fresh mint is a welcome, low-cost gift for a neighbor, friend, or coworker who cooks - mint is universally useful enough that it's rarely an unwanted gift, unlike some more specialized herbs.

8. Make Mint-Infused Vinegar

Similar to a fruit or herb vinegar, packing mint into a jar and covering it with white wine vinegar for a couple of weeks produces a flavored vinegar useful in dressings, extending the herb's usefulness well past its fresh shelf life.

9. Add It to Bath or Foot Soak Water

Slightly outside the kitchen, but worth mentioning - a handful of mint steeped in hot water and added to a bath or foot soak makes use of a surplus that's genuinely too much for the kitchen alone, with the same cooling, refreshing quality mint brings to food and drinks.

Between all of these, a mint glut is rarely a real problem once you have a few go-to methods in rotation. For the full range of recipes, see the complete mint guide.