Bouquet Garni Substitutes: What to Use When an Herb Is Missing

Recipe calls for a bouquet garni and you’re missing an herb, or all of them? Relax: it’s a bundle, not a fixed blend, so there’s no single right substitute. The classic version is parsley, thyme and a bay leaf, simmered in a soup, stew, sauce or poaching liquid and pulled out before serving. Dried thyme and a bay leaf, loose or in cheesecloth, make an easy stand-in, and a quarter teaspoon of dried thyme stands in for a missing bay leaf. Pick the swap based on which herb you’re missing and how long the dish cooks.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
• Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

There’s no standard size for a bouquet garni. Escoffier’s white veal stock uses an ounce of parsley, one bay leaf and a small sprig of thyme,¹ while the classic version gives no amounts at all. So treat every “per bouquet garni” amount below as a starting point.

If you have no fresh herbs at all

1. A dried bouquet garni

Wrap dried herbs in cheesecloth, drop the bundle in the liquid, and pull it out before serving.

Formula (Attributed): Camellia Brand, which sells dried beans, publishes the dried bouquet garni its older bean-package recipes called for: 1/4 teaspoon each of dried thyme, dried parsley flakes, dried basil and dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns and 4 dried bay leaves. No cheesecloth? Camellia suggests a tea ball.² Keep in mind this is one company’s blend for a pot of beans, not a universal standard, and it adds basil and oregano to the classic three.

Dried works here because a bouquet garni cooks as long as the dish does, and thyme and bay hold up. LSU AgCenter lists thyme among the less delicate herbs, and America’s Test Kitchen says the flavor compounds in hearty herbs are somewhat more heat-stable.³ Parsley’s another story. LSU classes it as a delicate herb and notes that long heat can cost it flavor and aroma.⁴ Dried parsley adds little to a long simmer. If you’ve got fresh parsley, chop a little and add it at the end instead.

2. Dried thyme and a bay leaf, loose

No cheesecloth or tea ball? Add dried thyme and a whole bay leaf straight to the pot. The thyme stays in the dish. Fish out the bay leaf before serving. Bay leaves are stiff and can have sharp points, and a published case report describes a swallowed leaf perforating the bowel.⁵

Ratio (Method): Start with about 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme and one bay leaf for a pot of soup or stew that serves four to six, then taste near the end. The University of Delaware suggests 1 to 2 teaspoons for 6 servings as a moderate amount of a medium-strength herb,⁶ so this starts below that.

If one herb is missing

Fresh thyme: use dried thyme

Ratio (Computed): LSU AgCenter gives the general rule that one tablespoon of finely cut fresh herbs equals one teaspoon of crumbled dried herbs.⁴ The University of Delaware’s range lines up: 3/4 to 1 teaspoon dried for 2 to 3 teaspoons fresh.⁶ Both are general herb rules, not thyme measurements. A sprig isn’t a fixed amount, so judge it by how many leaves it would give you.

The bay leaf: use dried thyme

Ratio (Attributed): Tasting Table’s Cassie Womack advises “¼ teaspoon of dried thyme per bay leaf.” She says thyme comes closer than other herbs to bay’s subtle flavor, but it’s stronger, so go easy.⁷

Thyme fills the herbal gap, but it won’t taste like bay. If your bouquet garni already has thyme in it, just leave the bay leaf out and taste.

Parsley: add it fresh at the end, or leave it out

Ratio (Method): Parsley is a delicate herb, so chopped fresh parsley stirred in just before serving gives you more of its flavor than simmering a substitute would. If you don’t have any, skip it.

If you only have a dried herb blend

1. Herbes de Provence

The French Label Rouge specification for herbes de Provence sets fixed proportions of thyme (19 percent), rosemary, savory and oregano.⁸ Thyme is what it shares with a bouquet garni, and savory and oregano bring similar thyme-like notes. Rosemary is the big difference.

Skip blends with lavender for a bouquet garni dish. The Label Rouge specification leaves lavender out, and The Takeout reports that some commercial blends add it “to appease tourists.”⁹ The blend has no bay leaf and no parsley either, so add a bay leaf if you have one.

Ratio (Method): Start with about 1 teaspoon in cheesecloth or a tea ball per bouquet garni called for. That matches the total dried leafy herbs in Camellia’s blend,² but it’s a starting point we picked, not a tested swap.

2. Italian seasoning

The USDA’s purchasing specification lists thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano and basil as Italian seasoning’s minimum ingredients.¹⁰ McCormick’s version lists marjoram first.¹¹ Like herbes de Provence, it has thyme but no bay or parsley.

Ratio (Method): Start with about 1 teaspoon per bouquet garni, add a bay leaf if you have one, and taste.

3. Fines herbes, only for short-cooked dishes

Fines herbes is a different kind of mix: usually parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil, used as a seasoning or garnish. These are delicate herbs. LSU puts parsley and chives in that group,⁴ and the University of Illinois says tarragon’s flavor “is quickly lost if leaves are dried.”¹² So fines herbes is a poor fit for a long braise or stock, which is exactly where a bouquet garni shines.

Ratio (Method): In a quick sauce or a poaching liquid, stir chopped fresh fines herbes in at the end, to taste.

What isn’t known

• There’s no standard size for a bouquet garni, so no substitute can be an exact equivalent.
• Tarragon and peppercorns sometimes get listed as standard additions. Peppercorns show up in Camellia’s dried version,² and chervil appears in Pierre de Lune’s 1656 bundle,¹³ but we found no source that includes tarragon.

Related

• Bouquet garni and French spices
• Bay leaves, bay leaf substitutes, cooking with bay leaves and too much bay leaf
• Thyme, thyme substitutes, fresh vs. dried thyme and cooking with thyme
• Parsley, fresh vs. dried parsley and chervil
• Herbes de Provence, herbes de Provence vs. Italian seasoning, Italian seasoning and fines herbes
• Tarragon and dried vs. fresh tarragon