There are many herbs that are easy to grow indoors. They’ll give your dishes a fresh taste and smell amazing! Not only are they tasty and aromatic, they’re pretty too and will give your home a touch of greenery during these gray winter days. Herbs stay small and aren’t finicky about bright light like most other plants are.

Here are some herbs that are particularly easy to grow inside the house:

Basil prefers bright light, so this herb would be perfect for a window that gets bright, direct sunlight. You can also grow basil under a grow light. These plants are easy to start from seed. Did you know the seeds are edible? You can eat them like chia seeds!

This vigorous perennial does best outside but can also thrive on a bright windowsill. All herbs respond well to pruning, but this is especially true for mint.

Parsley is an easy-to-grow herb that is actually related to carrots! Like carrots, parsley prefers a sunny and cooler spot. Parsley, along with cilantro, responds very well to pruning. If you are starting these from seed, sow a LOT of seeds in the same container so you get a full plant.

This herb has woody stems and is a much longer-lived plant. I don’t recommend starting rosemary from seed, but I definitely recommend growing them. They are easy houseplants if you have a bright windowsill. They can also survive mild winters outside as long as temperatures stay above 15 degrees. I keep mine in the garage during cold winter days. Rosemary does not tolerate extreme pruning, unlike other herbs that prefer to be pruned regularly.

Many grocery stores sell small herbs as seedlings, but these are usually grown in very humid greenhouses that do not give them the sun they need. They typically do not live for a long time in the house. If you are looking for herbs that will last a while, it’s better to find plants at a local nursery or start them from seed.

When you’re cutting herbs, it’s important to know where to cut. Basil should always be cut at the stem just above a set of leaves. New branches will emerge at the leaf nodes and a well-branched plant will have tasty leaves (and a whole lot more leaves too). Other perennial herbs like parsley, cilantro, and mint can have most of their leaves cut off and still return beautifully. Each herb has different requirements, but most of them taste better and live longer if they are pruned regularly. The exception of course are woody herbs like rosemary and bay leaf, which are actually aromatic trees and are not true herbs.