Caraway Seed Substitutes, Ranked by the Job Caraway Is Doing

Out of caraway? Dill seed is your closest match: it shares caraway’s two main flavor compounds, carvone and limonene.¹ Fennel or anise seed work when you want a sweeter result, especially in sauerkraut or pastries. And if the seeds are mostly there for looks on a rye loaf, nigella gives you the same speckled top with a very different flavor.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

• 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.

If caraway is flavoring bread

Breads are among caraway’s main uses, along with meat dishes and cheese. For rye bread in particular, The Spice House names dill and anise seed as the best substitutes.²

1. Dill seed: the closest chemical match

Dill seed shares caraway’s main compounds,¹ and its flavor is “somewhat reminiscent of caraway.”³ It’s the only common spice on this list with carvone as its main note. Dill seed is a little smaller, broadly oval and light brown, so your bread will look slightly different.

Use the seed, not the leaf. Dill weed’s flavor comes from different compounds, not carvone.¹

Ratio (Method): The flavor is close, so start one for one and adjust after a test loaf.

2. Anise seed

Anise comes at it from a different angle. Caraway’s aroma is reminiscent of anise,⁴ and anise’s sweet, licorice-like note comes from trans-anethole.⁵ Caraway itself isn’t built on anethole; carvone gives it its signature flavor.⁶ Anise gives you caraway’s sweet side without the sharper carvone edge, and it’s widely used to flavor pastries.

Ratio (Method): The Spice House says dill and anise are more pungent than fennel and should be used more sparingly.² Start with half the caraway amount and taste.

If caraway is seasoning sauerkraut, cabbage or pork

Katzer writes that sauerkraut is always flavored with caraway, and calls caraway the spice that gives Southern German and Austrian food its character.⁷ The Spice House names fennel seed as the best substitute in sauerkraut, with dill or anise also working.²

1. Fennel seed

Fennel is another carrot-family seed, and its main flavor compound is the same one that dominates anise. Fennel and anise fruits often get confused with each other.⁸ So fennel gives a sweeter, rounder result than caraway, without the carvone.

Ratio (Method): Start with three quarters of the caraway amount and taste, since fennel brings a sweetness caraway doesn’t have.

2. Dill seed

Dill seed works here for the same reason it works in bread: it shares caraway’s main compounds. Reach for it if you want the dish to taste most like caraway and least like anise.

Ratio (Method): Start one for one, as above.

If caraway is ground into a blend

Caraway matters in North African cooking, mostly in Tunisia, where it goes into harissa. For ground caraway, The Spice House suggests ground fennel or ground anise.²

1. Ground fennel or ground anise

Ratio (Method): Start with half the caraway amount for anise and three quarters for fennel, then taste.

2. Cumin, for harissa and savory rubs

Cumin tastes warm and “reminiscent of caraway,”⁹ but it’s built on different compounds, so the dish will taste more of cumin than caraway. The Spice House lists cumin among caraway substitutes.² In a harissa that already has chile, garlic and coriander, you’ll notice the difference less.

Ratio (Method): Start with half the caraway amount and add more to taste.

If the seeds are mostly for show

Caraway seeds on a rye loaf or a roll are partly decoration. Nigella seed gives a similar look in a darker color, and Turkish bread is often studded with it. The Spice House includes nigella on its list of caraway substitutes.²

The flavor isn’t close, though. Katzer says whole nigella has little smell, turns vaguely oregano-like when ground or chewed, and tastes aromatic and slightly bitter.¹⁰

Ratio (Method): Start one for one for a topping, and expect a different flavor.

Use with care: star anise

Star anise packs the same main compound as anise and fennel, and a lot of it.¹¹ A whole pod is a lot of flavor for a dish that wanted a teaspoon of caraway, so if you use it at all, use a fragment of one point and taste.

Buy star anise sold for food. In 2003 the FDA advised consumers not to drink teas brewed from star anise after about 40 people got sick, warning that Chinese star anise may contain Japanese star anise, which “has long been recognized as toxic in many countries.”¹²

What isn’t known

• You’ll often read that nigella tastes of licorice like caraway. No source we read supports that. Katzer describes it as oregano-like and slightly bitter.¹⁰
• Another claim says nigella was used in Tutankhamun’s time. We couldn’t trace it to a source we could open.

Related

• Caraway seeds and cooking with caraway seeds
• Caraway seeds vs. cumin and caraway seeds vs. fennel seeds
• Dill and dill seed vs. dill weed
• Anise seed, fennel seed and fennel seed vs. anise seed
• Nigella seeds, star anise and star anise vs. anise seed
• Harissa powder and cumin

Footnotes

1. Nguyen Thi Tâm et al., Anethum graveolens, PROSEA, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Caraway Seeds Substitute, The Spice House, 2018. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. Dill, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩

4. Caraway, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩

5. Cardenas and de Guzman, Pimpinella anisum, PROSEA, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

6. Toxopeus and Lubberts, Carum carvi, PROSEA, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

7. Katzer, Caraway, Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩

8. Purwaningsih et al., Foeniculum vulgare, PROSEA, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

9. Cumin, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩

10. Katzer, Nigella, Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩ ↩²

11. Vu Ngoc Lô, Illicium verum, PROSEA, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

12. Teas Made from Star Anise Were Associated With Illnesses Including Seizures, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2003. fda.gov · Regulator ↩

Also drawn on

• Anise (Britannica Editors, revised by Urnesha Bhattacherjee), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com
• Fennel (Britannica Editors, revised by Melissa Petruzzello), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com