Freezing it after a puree. It can also be dried, but takes on a bit of odd taste. I put in dried at the last moment before serving. Using a fast dehydrator will help hold onto more flavor.

Two years ago, I froze little bunches in ice cubes, like I read online somewhere. Last year, I simply washed them, removed the stems, dried them off, and shoved as much as I could into each ziplock bag. (Labeled the bags, since I did the same thing with mint.) Much easier the later way, and pulls apart easily when we open the baggy, so we can grab just the amount we want, without it being diluted or turning colors. We had six plants last year, and they filled up three quart size baggies. Finished up the last of last year's, two nights before starting to pinch off this year's crop to use. Then again, there is only two of us, so it won't last that long for families.

Good to know that sprigs of basil can be frozen. Nice
tip--thanks!

I make "basil balls" by putting as many clean, fresh basil leaves as I can cram into my blender, then slowly adding vegetable oil (important--not olive or any other type of oil except vegetable oil) until it forms a thick slurry (you may have to poke the leaves down a bit during this process). Then I put the slurry into ice cube trays and freeze them, then put the balls into a freezer bag. Each basil ball is roughly equal to a tablespoon of chopped basil. The taste is very, very close to fresh, and makes a great addition to soups, sauces and salad dressings.

I freeze Cilantro like Valentinebear describes and am going to do basil that was this year. I have a ton of basil and it is in need of picking and curing...the plants are sending up flower spikes. I like to do the basil and oil thing too...different ways for different uses.