Frontier Natural Products, Organic Cut & Sifted Basil Leaf, Sweet, 16 oz (453 g)

I just love basil; the aroma sends me back in time to cooking with my Grandmother, and there's no substitute for the flavor; bright, a little sweet, and with subtle peppery notes. Like most herbs, you can substitute dried basil in the place of fresh for many recipes, with a notable exception being pesto, which really wants for the fresh stuff. As for this product you're looking at here, Frontier is my go-to for organic herbs and spices these days, and, as always, my basil arrived smelling fresh and looking lovely; just the right shade of green to tell me the quality was as high as I expect, with no stems of stray bits that you might encounter in a lower-quality bulk buy. It's a lot of basil, but you can make it keep for a year or more if you treat it right; simply put what you think you can reasonably use in a few month's time in a little spice jar (I use mason or jam jars for my spices, a trick I picked up from my Mom), press the air gently from the bag, tape it closed, and tuck it away in a spare drawer. Refill your spice jar as needed and you'll enjoy a great savings on a quality product. And basil has so many uses! In the US, oregano is typically considered the go-to Italian herb, but basil also works beautifully in its place. Basil is right at home on pizza (especially a nice, white sauce pie), tossed with pasta, or incorporated into a tomato sauce for your own homemade pies. Of course, basil has more uses than just Italian fare; do you like curry? Thai curry is marvelous with some basil, and this will do the trick just fine, no need to get a special variety; I add anywhere from 2 tablespoons to 1/4th a cup to my Thai curry dishes, and the bright, clean energy of the basil helps to cut some of the heat and give the dish a nice, fresh flavor. It can also do the trick in Indian dishes; though most will recommend you use cilantro in a curry, basil will (typically) do a similar job, and given that there are some out there who can't eat cilantro, this is a tasty alternative. There's also winter time just around the corner, and for me, that's always meant tomato soup. Whip up your favourite recipe (or your favourite can or box variety, I won't judge!) and add some basil; it's lovely, especially if you have a nice piece of crusty bread to pair with it. Basil also goes great on a fresh veggie sandwich, and does a fine job adding some depth to salad dressings and marinades. And I'm sure lots more other goodies aside! If you've made it this far into the review, well - I think it's obvious that you're interested. So go ahead, pick some up; there are far worse indulgences to be had out there than a big bag of wonderful, organic basil. :)

Has great flavor but it is of the Thai Basil variety, which has a strong fennel scent. Would have been nice if they mentioned it but the amazing flavor makes up for it.

I have bought this before and will buy it again. Frontier offers decent prices for excellent products. I use their basil, oregano, cinnamon (ground Ceylon cinnamon and Vietnamese cinnamon sticks), and other spices. We make pesto from this dried basil and the dried oregano. Buy a kitchen scale and you can make this (32 oz of "pesto"): 15g each of dried basil, oregano, and salt; 24g fresh garlic; 125-150g nuts (I like macadamias and Brazil nuts (I like pine nuts best, but they're crazy expensive), or walnuts, pecans, or any combination of them. Not peanuts, and almonds don't work well, either). Put all in blender jar; add JUST enough EVOO to process, and blend it until it's VERY SMOOTH. Stop blending and add EVOO until it's at the 4 cup mark, then blend on low speed just to stir it all in. Pour into 32 oz. bottle (we like glass, but a clean BBQ sauce bottle works, too). Shake before EACH use (before each person, not just each meal), because the solids settle quickly; there's nothing to keep them suspended). It's EXCELLENT on pizza, pasta, eggs, meatloaf, chicken, rice, stir fried veggies (makes them Italian style) ... you can even use it for dipping bread or toast - it adds such a great flavor to so many things! And the Frontier bulk basil and oregano make this easy to do.

Holly Moley sweet basil. 1lb is a LOT. I filled 2 containers that are about 2" in diameter and about 7" tall packed tightly and have enough for 2 more. Smells really good but haven't cooked with it yet. If I remeber I'll update the review once I do a little cooking with it. Great part is if you have a vacume sealer you can trim the corner to fill your daily use container and use you vacume sealer to heat seal the bag again. Minus the vacume of course or you'll probably make a big mess. I'm assuming that's the proper way because it was not vacume evacuated when it arrived.

I love this company.