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Bay Leaves vs. Basil: Two Unrelated Herbs That Do Opposite Jobs

By · Reviewed · 20 sources

Bay Leaves Vs. Basil

Bay leaves and basil can share a tomato sauce, but they never do the same job, and they aren’t even related. Bay is the tough, dried leaf of the bay laurel tree, dropped into a pot whole to give a long-simmered liquid a quiet herbal background and fished out before serving. Basil is a tender herb in the mint family, at its best fresh and added at the end or not cooked at all. The University of Delaware’s extension service even puts them in different strength classes: bay among the strong or dominant flavors, basil among the medium ones.1 Fishing out the bay matters, too: the leaves aren’t poisonous,2 but whole ones are a physical hazard if swallowed.34

Side by side

Bay leavesBasil
SpeciesLaurus nobilis (bay laurel)Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil)
FamilyLauraceae (laurel family)Lamiaceae (mint family)
PlantTreeAnnual or subshrub, extremely frost-sensitive
Native rangeMediterraneanTropical and subtropical Asia to northern Australia
Part usedLeaves, usually driedLeaves, fresh or dried
The leafLeathery, narrowly elliptic to ovate, 5 to 10 cm long, glossy dark green aboveGlossy, oval, smooth or slightly toothed edges that typically cup slightly
Leading aroma compounds1,8-Cineole, sabinene, linalool (one Italian sample)5Methyl chavicol (estragole) and linalool, in proportions that vary by type67
Strength classStrong or dominant1Medium
FlavorVery subtle on its own (López-Alt); herbal, bitter and slightly piney (Atlas Obscura)Sweet and green, with a peppery, faintly anise-like edge
Forms soldWhole dried leaves, crushed, groundFresh, dried, ground dried
Typical usesStocks, soups, braises, beans; the French bouquet garni; garam masalaPizza, pasta and pesto in Italy; omelets and soups in France; Thai cooking
SafetyWhole leaves are a physical hazard if swallowed (see below)34Estragole, assessed by EU and German regulators (see below)89

For more on each herb, see the bay leaves and basil profiles.

The difference in the oil

Both herbs get their aroma from a volatile leaf oil, but the oils are built differently. The figures below come from separate studies, so they show which compounds lead, not a like-for-like measurement.

Sample (scope)Main compounds, % of oilSource
Bay leaf oil, leaves gathered at Montecorice, southern Italy, February 20161,8-Cineole 31.9, sabinene 12.2, linalool 10.2Caputo et al. 20175
Bay leaf oil, other studies compared in the same review1,8-Cineole 44.97 (Turkey), 56.0 (Tunisia), 58.59 (Cyprus), 52.43 (Morocco), 34.62 (Algeria)Caputo et al. 20175
“French basil” oil distilled in the PhilippinesMethyl chavicol 53.3, linalool 22.0, eugenol 1.4PROSEA6
Sweet basil oil, range in the EU assessmentEstragole 20 to 43EU Scientific Committee on Food8

The two oils share linalool, but bay leads with 1,8-cineole and basil with estragole (another name for methyl chavicol).56 PROSEA describes French-type basil oil as sweet-spicy, slightly green and fresh. That’s a different direction from bay’s herbal, slightly piney character.

Differences that change the dish

When each goes in. Bay needs time in liquid, which is why it shows up in stocks and braises. America’s Test Kitchen found that hardy dried herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage held up reasonably well in dishes with fairly long cooking times (more than 20 minutes) and a good amount of liquid,10 the same conditions bay gets used in. Basil works the other way. It’s one of the delicate herbs best added a minute or two before cooking ends, because long heat costs them flavor and aroma. For long-simmered dishes in general, the University of Delaware suggests adding herbs in the last 45 minutes, or part at the start and the rest later.1

Whether it stays in. You eat basil. You don’t eat bay: whole leaves stay tough, and López-Alt compares the texture to a fish bone.11 There’s a safety reason too, covered below.

Fresh or dried. Bay is almost always used dried. Basil is the opposite: it’s one of the herbs to use fresh, not dried. Dried basil still has a place in cooked tomato sauces, just not in pesto or as a garnish.

Together. The two can share a pot: bay simmering in a tomato sauce from the start, basil going in at the end.

Can one stand in for the other?

Not well, and no source we found recommends either swap.

  • Basil for bay. The substitutes we reviewed for bay are dried thyme first and dried oregano second. Ratio (Attributed): The Spice House and Tasting Table both give 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme per bay leaf, and The Spice House gives the same for dried Greek oregano.1213 Basil is a poor fit for bay’s long simmer because it’s a delicate herb meant to go in late. If dried basil is all you have, just leave the bay out. López-Alt considers bay optional in most dishes.11 See bay leaf substitutes.
  • Bay for basil. Bay can’t replace basil anywhere basil is the point: pesto, a raw garnish, a tomato salad. In a long-simmered sauce, one bay leaf adds its own background note but none of basil’s sweetness. We wouldn’t make this swap.

Safety

Bay. Bay leaves aren’t poisonous; Atlas Obscura calls that belief a misconception.2 The hazard is physical. Doctors have reported two cases of bay leaves stuck in the esophagus,3 and one where a 2 cm piece of bay leaf went through the bowel wall. The authors note that the leaves are rigid, can have sharp points and edges, and stay intact.4 These are case reports, so they show the risk exists, not how common it is. Count the leaves in and count them out.

Basil. In 2001 the EU Scientific Committee on Food concluded that estragole, the leading compound in many basil oils, is genotoxic and carcinogenic, based mainly on studies in mice, and couldn’t set a safe exposure limit.8 In 2022 Germany’s BfR said the risk from estragole and related compounds in food can’t yet be conclusively assessed, and made no consumption recommendation for consumers.9 Neither body tells people to stop eating basil.

What isn’t known

  • No study compares the oils of bay and basil measured the same way. The figures above come from separate studies.
  • We found no source that describes how bay’s flavor changes between fresh and dried leaves.

Footnotes

  1. “Using Herbs and Spices”, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, 2025. udel.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Andrew Coletti, “What Is a Bay Leaf, Exactly?”, Atlas Obscura, 2023. atlasobscura.com · Publication ↩ ↩2

  3. Ahmed and McCormick, “Bay-leaf: an unusual oesophageal foreign body”, J Laryngol Otol, 1993. cambridge.org · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Bell and Mustard, “Bay leaf perforation of Meckel’s diverticulum”, Can J Surg, 1997. canjsurg.ca · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Caputo et al., “Laurus nobilis: Composition of Essential Oil and Its Biological Activities”, Molecules, 2017. mdpi.com · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. N.O. Aguilar, Pham Truong Thi Tho and L.P.A. Oyen, Ocimum basilicum, Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. “Basil”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026. britannica.com · Reference work ↩

  8. Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food on Estragole, European Commission, 2001. food.ec.europa.eu · Regulator ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. “Alkenylbenzenes in food: how large is the health risk?”, BfR Communication No. 22/2022. bfr.bund.de · Regulator ↩ ↩2

  10. “Science: Substituting Dried Herbs for Fresh”, America’s Test Kitchen. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩

  11. David Leite with J. Kenji López-Alt, “Bay leaves are an optional ingredient, ‘but things are definitely better with them’”, The Splendid Table, 2014. splendidtable.org · Publication ↩ ↩2

  12. “Bay Leaf Substitute”, The Spice House, 2021. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩

  13. Cassie Womack, “If You’re Out Of Bay Leaves, Use Dried Thyme”, Tasting Table, 2024. tastingtable.com · Publication ↩

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