Bay Leaves: What They Are, What They Taste Like, and the Other Bays

Bay leaves aren’t poisonous, whatever you may have heard.¹ The real reason recipes tell you to fish them out is physical: whole leaves stay rigid and sharp-edged, and doctors have reported them stuck in the esophagus.² While they’re in the pot, a leaf or two gives soups, stocks, braises and beans a subtle herbal, faintly medicinal background. They’re the dried leaves of bay laurel, Laurus nobilis, an evergreen Mediterranean tree in the laurel family. Watch the label, though: several unrelated leaves are also sold as “bay,” and they don’t taste the same.

At a glance

What bay leaves are

Kew’s Plants of the World Online describes Laurus nobilis as a subtropical tree native to the Mediterranean. Its native list runs from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya through France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon-Syria and Palestine to Türkiye. Kew records it as introduced in Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caucasus, Korea and Vietnam, among other places. A 2017 review describes it as native to the southern Mediterranean and grown mainly in Europe and the US as an ornamental and medicinal plant, with the dried leaves and leaf oil used as a spice. Atlas Obscura notes that “Turkish bay leaf” is a variety of this same species, known for being especially mild and sweet.

You’ll often read that bay trees are native to Asia Minor and spread from there around the Mediterranean. Kew’s range includes Türkiye but treats the whole Mediterranean as native, so nothing supports Asia Minor as a single starting point.

Flavor and aroma

J. Kenji López-Alt says bay leaves have a very subtle flavor next to many other herbs and spices, and that they bring out the meaty flavors of beef and chicken. He calls Turkish bay leaves milder, more nuanced and a little sweeter than California bay, which has a stronger menthol and eucalyptus note. Atlas Obscura describes bay laurel’s flavor as herbal, bitter and slightly piney, and points out that the leaves taste unpleasantly intense if you chew them. A long-simmered pot with bay in it smells faintly of tea and eucalyptus.

The compounds

Bay’s aroma comes from the leaf oil. In one 2017 analysis of leaves gathered in February 2016 at Montecorice in southern Italy, the oil yield was 0.57%, and 55 compounds were identified, accounting for 91.6% of the oil.³ The main ones:

Source: Caputo et al., 2017.³ The paper’s table gives a different linalool figure than its text does, so take that one value with a grain of salt.

The same review compares its 1,8-cineole figure with oils from other countries, which ran higher: 44.97% in a Turkish sample, 56.0% in Tunisia, 58.59% in Cyprus and 52.43% in Morocco, and 34.62% in Algeria.³ Those are separate studies with separate methods, so read them as a sign of how much bay oil varies, not as a ranking of countries. The common claim that bay contains “more than 50 compounds” fits the 55 identified in the Italian sample, but that number belongs to one sample and one method.

Origin and history

According to Atlas Obscura, the ancient Greeks and Romans used laurel leaves in food and medicine and to crown the winners of competitions. Laurel was the symbol of Apollo, whose oracle at Delphi held a laurel branch while prophesying.¹

How bay leaves are used

Bay goes into liquids that cook for a while: stocks, soups, stews, braises, sauces, beans and lentils. One or two leaves per pot is plenty; you don’t need a handful. Neither of those is a sourced rule, just how cooks use it.

• Bouquet garni. Britannica gives the classic French bouquet garni as sprigs of parsley and thyme and a bay leaf. See bouquet garni.
• Spice blends. Great British Chefs lists bay leaf among the spices commonly used in garam masala. In South Asian cooking, “bay leaf” often means a different leaf from a cinnamon relative (see below), so check which one a recipe means.
• Strength. The University of Delaware’s extension service groups bay leaf with the strong or dominant flavors, alongside rosemary and sage.

López-Alt’s take is that bay is optional in most dishes, but things are better with it. Whole leaves come out before serving because they stay tough. He compares the texture to a fish bone. For whole versus crushed leaves, see crushed vs. whole bay leaves, and for more ideas, see cooking with bay leaves. If a dish has gone overboard, see too much bay leaf.

The other “bays”

Several unrelated leaves share the name, and they aren’t interchangeable.

Making a recipe written for Turkish bay with California bay? López-Alt suggests starting with a quarter to half the amount.⁵ See bay leaf substitutes, curry leaves vs. bay leaves and bay leaves vs. basil.

Buying and quality

We didn’t find a Codex standard for bay leaves. Kenya’s national standard for bay leaf (KS 2263:2016) sets a maximum of 10% moisture, 5% total ash and an acid-insoluble ash limit of 0.5 (the table gives no unit), and requires under 2% extraneous matter. It sets no minimum for volatile oil and defines no grades.⁶ It’s just one country’s standard, but it gives you an idea of what a specification checks. In practice, look for dried leaves that are whole, olive-green instead of brown, and smell clearly when you crush one.

Storage

López-Alt buys dried bay leaves in bulk and keeps the jar in the freezer, where he says they last indefinitely.⁵ We found no published shelf-life figure from a regulator or standards body. If a crushed leaf smells faint, it’s faded.

Safety

Bay leaves aren’t poisonous. Atlas Obscura calls that belief a misconception and says they’re safe to eat.¹ The FDA lists bay (Laurus nobilis) among spices generally recognized as safe.⁴

The real reason to take them out is physical. Whole leaves are rigid, can have sharp points and edges, and stay intact on the way through the gut.⁷ Doctors have reported two cases of bay leaves stuck in the esophagus,² and one where a 2 cm piece of bay leaf went through the bowel wall at a Meckel’s diverticulum.⁷ These are case reports, so they show the hazard exists, not how common it is. Count the leaves in and count them out.

Other plants called bay are a different story. Atlas Obscura identifies West Indian bay as having poisonous parts (see the table above).¹

Health claims

You’ll see long lists of conditions bay leaves supposedly treat, from blood sugar to migraines. We found no regulator or systematic review that supports any of them, and the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has no fact sheet on bay leaf.⁸ The 2017 review notes that the leaves have been used in Iranian folk medicine.³ We’re not claiming bay leaves treat or prevent any condition.

Related pages

• Bay leaf substitutes
• Cooking with bay leaves
• Too much bay leaf
• Thyme
• Old Bay seasoning