The Simple Box Grater Hack To Strip Fresh Herbs In A Flash

Fresh herbs are often a great way to add complexity and flavor to your favorite dishes. However, washing, de-stemming, and chopping your favored varieties can feel tedious, especially when you're hungry. While no one is denying the fact that herbs are rich in antioxidants and consuming them aids in the management of certain health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, at times, they're the essential element left out of your cucumber yogurt sauce when you sit down to a later-than-usual weeknight dinner.

If you're committed to using fresh herbs, destemming your mint and dill by hand is probably how you've been preparing these bright meal additions all these years. But what if there's an easier way? Sure enough, if you're looking for a new method of destemming your nightly parsley and cilantro, all you need is a trusty box grater. Surprisingly, a box grater isn't just handy for shredding a block of mozzarella cheese or grating carrots for your favorite carrot muffin recipe. Thanks to TikTok, all you need to do is poke your herb stems into a hole in your box grater and pull from the stem all the way through, leaving those precious leaves neatly detached. Yet, does this convenient hack work for every single one of your favorite herbs?

Before we get into why not all herbs may work for this convenient hack, let's get into the logistical side of this original technique. This box grater idea was born on none other than TikTok in 2020. In one of the many videos circulating the social media platform, a woman puts the stems of a few small sprigs of flat-leaf parsley through the hole of her box grater and pulls the herbs through from the stem ends, leaving the leaves conveniently attached to the outer side of her grater.

@anet_shevchenko

В прошлый раз это видео набрало 11М, повторим? #секретытиктока #лайфхаки #лайфхакидлядома #петрушка #lifehacks

♬ Laxed – Jawsh 685

While utilizing this everyday kitchen utensil may streamline your preparation of sheet pan haddock with fresh herbs, will it work for every single herb? Unlike a standard herb-stripper which contains up to nine sizes in one simple tool, box graters typically have one to three hole settings, so the stems of your favorite herbs may not always fit. Yet not everyone is willing to buy yet another one-use kitchen gadget, so the box grater may be the next best thing as long as you're mindful of which herbs you're attempting to strip. 

While one TikTok user did have success de-stemming delicate varieties, you may have more luck using this method if you stick to herbs with heartier stems like rosemary and oregano. If you're not fully convinced this technique is worth the effort, you may want to abandon the stripping process altogether.

As it turns out, using an herb stripper or box grater may be perfectly suited for sturdier herbs since the stems of delicate varieties are perfectly fine to leave intact and add to your favorite meals. First off, when it comes to more fragile bunches like dill and parsley, the stems of these herbs provide an entirely different texture in whatever meal you're cooking. Texturally, the leaves of delicate herbs are so soft and usually go unnoticed as a simple topping or add-in while the stems add a contrasting bite. While leaves from such varieties will shrivel under intense heat, the stems on the other hand can hold up to a bit of pan-frying, making for a much-welcomed flavor addition.

When dealing with sturdier varieties like thyme, oregano, and rosemary, you always want to destem the leaves since the stems tend to be very rough. On the whole, using a box grater is a great alternative for stripping your herbs when you don't want to buy another kitchen gadget with only one relegated use. If the thought of destemming delicate varieties causes any frustration, just finely dice your softer herb stems, and add them to your favorite marinade or fresh herb vinaigrette.