Cooking With Summer Savory: The Dos and Don'ts

In German, summer savory is Bohnenkraut, and that tells you where it shines: the pot of beans. It’s also the classic herb for poultry and stuffing, with a delicate, sweet and spicy flavor that most of America’s Test Kitchen’s tasters found closer to thyme and sage than to mint.¹ In Newfoundland it’s the herb that gives bread dressing its flavor. Below: how much to use, why timing matters in a long-cooked bean pot, and how it differs from winter savory.

Where summer savory belongs

Beans and lentils. In German, savory is Bohnenkraut, which Duden defines as a seasoning used especially for bean dishes.² Katzer says savory very often goes into legumes, especially dishes of dried lentils or beans.³ You’ll often hear that savory prevents gas from beans, but we couldn’t find a source for that.

Poultry and stuffing. Poultry and stuffings are its main uses. Barry C. Parsons of Rock Recipes calls summer savory the herb that gives Newfoundland dressing, a bread stuffing for poultry, its aroma and flavor. His recipe uses 2 to 4 tablespoons of dried savory to 4 cups of coarse breadcrumbs, with onion softened in butter and a little chicken stock. Parsons notes the herb is far less common elsewhere in Canada and North America.⁴

Herbes de Provence. France’s Label Rouge specification for herbes de Provence sets savory (sarriette) at 26 to 27 percent of the blend, with rosemary at the same share and thyme at 19 percent.⁵ The specification text we read doesn’t name the savory species. See herbes de Provence and cooking with herbes de Provence.

Bulgarian table blends. Katzer calls savory the most-used culinary herb in Bulgaria, and says Bulgarian blends may combine salt, paprika and dried herbs including savory, thyme, basil and lovage.³ He doesn’t say which savory species Bulgarian cooks use.

Bouquet garni. You’ll sometimes read that most bouquets garnis include savory. Britannica’s classic version is parsley, thyme and a bay leaf, no savory.⁶ Tucking a sprig of savory into a bundle for a bean pot makes sense, but it’s a variation on the classic. See bouquet garni.

How much to use

The University of Delaware puts savory in its medium-strength herb group with oregano, thyme and mint, and suggests moderate amounts for that group: 1 to 2 teaspoons for 6 servings. The fact sheet doesn’t say fresh or dried.⁷ Parsons’s Newfoundland dressing uses far more, 2 to 4 tablespoons of dried savory for 8 servings, because savory is the whole point of that dish.⁴

For a pot of beans or soup serving four to six, start with 1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh, and adjust at the end.

When to add it

Two sources point the same way. Katzer says boiling drastically reduces savory’s pungency,³ and the University of Delaware advises adding herbs during the last 45 minutes when a recipe calls for long simmering.⁷ So if you want a strong savory note in a long-cooked bean pot, add some near the end, not just at the start. A sprig or two at the start, fished out later, plus a pinch of chopped leaves toward the end covers both.

Whole sprigs have woody stems, so pull them out before serving or strip the leaves first. Run your fingers or the tines of a fork down the stem from the top.

Pairing

ATK’s tasters linked savory to thyme and sage, and it shares the Label Rouge herbes de Provence blend with rosemary and thyme. Those are its natural companions. Out of it? ATK replaced summer savory with 2 parts fresh thyme to 1 part fresh sage in sausage stuffing and chicken soup.¹ More on summer savory substitutes.

Summer vs. winter savory

Winter savory (Satureja montana) is the perennial relative. Britannica says you can use it much like summer savory, but it has a harsher, more bitter flavor,⁸ and ATK calls summer savory the more delicate of the two.¹ In a quick dish, use less winter savory. In a long-boiled bean pot, Katzer’s point about boiling suggests the gap narrows. Full comparison: summer savory vs. winter savory. We couldn’t trace the common claim that summer savory is preferred for sausages and salads.

Keeping it

These are general extension guidelines for herbs. None is specific to savory.

Refrigerator. Ohio State Extension says fresh herbs last only a few days in the fridge.⁹ We found no source for the “few weeks” often quoted for savory.
Freezer. Ohio State suggests chopping herbs into ice cube trays covered with water, broth or oil, and using frozen herbs within 3 to 6 months.⁹ Freeze oil cubes right away: Oregon State Extension says herbs in oil must be refrigerated and used within 4 days, or frozen.¹⁰
Drying. The National Center for Home Food Preservation gives a dehydrator setting of 95°F to 115°F and says to store dried herbs airtight somewhere cool, dry and dark.¹¹ Penn State Extension says most dried herbs keep well for one year.¹² Details and air-drying methods are on our how to store thyme page, which uses the same extension guidance.

“Cooking with Savory”, America’s Test Kitchen. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³
“Bohnenkraut”, Duden. duden.de · Reference work ↩
Gernot Katzer, “Savory”, Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Barry C. Parsons, “Newfoundland Dressing a.k.a. Summer Savoury Stuffing”, Rock Recipes. rockrecipes.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
Cahier des charges du Label Rouge « Herbes de Provence », INAO, 2014. extranet.inao.gouv.fr · Regulator ↩
“Bouquet garni”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Diane Oliver (rev.), “Using Herbs and Spices”, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, 2025. udel.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩²
“Savory”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Shari Gallup, “Preserving Herbs: Freezing and Drying” (HYG-5360), Ohio State University Extension, 2026. ohioline.osu.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Carolyn Raab and Margy Woodburn, “Herbs and vegetables in oil” (SP 50-701), Oregon State University Extension Service, 2025. extension.oregonstate.edu · Reference work ↩
“Herbs (drying)”, So Easy to Preserve, National Center for Home Food Preservation. nchfp.uga.edu · Reference work ↩
Stacy Reed, “Preserving Herbs by Drying”, Penn State Extension, 2024. extension.psu.edu · Reference work ↩

Cooking With Summer Savory: Beans, Stuffing and When to Add It