Herbes de Provence Uses: Roasts, Braises, Vegetables, Cheese and More

Herbes de Provence is named for the south of France, but most of the herbs sold under that name aren’t grown there.¹ What’s in the jar is a blend of dried, mostly woody Mediterranean herbs, and it goes anywhere thyme and rosemary would: roasts, braises, vegetables and anything cooked in olive oil. Recipes put it in everything from a long-simmered ratatouille to a goat cheese log rolled in the blend. Check your jar first, though, since some blends include lavender and some don’t. For general timing and amounts, see cooking with herbes de Provence; for what’s in it, see the herbes de Provence profile.

At a glance

These are Attributed amounts from individual recipes. They range widely because some recipes make the blend the main seasoning and others use it as a background note.

Check your jar first

How a dish turns out depends on your blend. The French Label Rouge recipe is thyme, rosemary, savory and oregano, with no lavender.⁸ Ducros’s version is rosemary, savory and oregano at 27% each and thyme at 19%: all herbs, no salt.⁹ Commercial blends elsewhere may add marjoram, fennel seed, basil, mint, tarragon or culinary lavender.⁷

A rule of thumb: a lavender blend suits roast chicken, lamb and vegetables in modest amounts, and it’s easy to overdo in sauces and dressings. A thyme-and-savory blend is the safer all-purpose pick. The Spice House suggests leaving lavender out of a homemade blend, or using a very small pinch of lemon zest instead.² Most blends have no salt, so season separately unless the label lists it (the Ducros blend above is salt-free).⁹

Roast and grilled meat and fish

The Takeout recommends the blend for grilling fish and marinating meat.⁷ Beth Schreibman-Gehring, writing for the Herb Society of America, uses it on grilled fish and lamb. She also blends it into butter with a little garlic to tuck under the skin of a roasting chicken.⁴ The Spice House’s starting point for meat is 1 to 2 teaspoons of the blend per pound.²

For a rub, mix the blend with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread it over the meat before cooking. It’s as good on pork chops and pork loin as on lamb and chicken. See spices for lamb and good spices for chicken.

Braises, stews and soups

Long, moist cooking suits a dried blend of woody herbs. America’s Test Kitchen found that dried rosemary, sage and thyme held up reasonably well in dishes cooked more than 20 minutes with a good amount of liquid.¹⁰ ATK’s Classic Chicken Provençal stirs in an optional teaspoon of the blend with the broth, tomatoes and fresh herbs before braising,³ and Schreibman-Gehring calls the blend integral to her beef stew.⁴ White bean soups, lentils and tomato-based stews are natural next steps. Timing details are on cooking with herbes de Provence.

Ratatouille and roasted vegetables

Ratatouille. Schreibman-Gehring adds three tablespoons of the blend to her ratatouille after the vegetables are cooked, simmers it gently for about two and a half hours, and stirs in fresh basil at the end.⁴

Roasted vegetables. The Takeout recommends the blend for roasting vegetables.⁷ Giada De Laurentiis’s roasted potatoes toss 24 ounces of small potatoes with sliced onion, 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of herbes de Provence and a teaspoon of kosher salt, then roast at 450°F for 25 to 35 minutes, with the herbs on from the start.⁵ Eggplant, zucchini, squash, carrots and tomatoes take the same treatment. See eggplant spices.

Goat cheese and soft cheese

Cook’s Country’s goat cheese log blends goat cheese and cream cheese with olive oil, garlic and pepper, freezes it until firm, then rolls it in 3 tablespoons of herbes de Provence and finishes it with a drizzle of oil.⁶ The same coating works on a round of fresh chèvre, or you can stir the blend into fromage blanc or ricotta for a spread.

Oils, dressings and dips

Stir a spoonful of the blend into olive oil for a quick bread dip, or crush a pinch between your fingers into a vinaigrette. Give it a few minutes in the oil or vinegar to soften. Making a flavored oil ahead? Oregon State University Extension’s guidance for oil seasoned with dried herbs is to refrigerate it and use it within 4 days, or freeze it.¹¹

Pizza, flatbread and bread

Oregano is one of the four Label Rouge herbs,⁸ so the blend is right at home on pizza: a pinch in tomato sauce, or over a white pizza with goat cheese. Home cooks also brush focaccia or flatbread with olive oil and a sprinkle of the blend before baking, or knead a teaspoon into a loaf. None of the sources we checked give tested amounts for those. See good spices for pizza.

Fresh instead of dried

You can make the blend from fresh herbs for quick-cooking dishes and finishing. The Spice House says to use roughly three times as much fresh as dried,² and ATK’s tests with single herbs found 1 part dried to 3 parts fresh came closest, with tasters preferring fresh in all but one application.¹⁰ Add fresh herbs later in cooking than you would the dried blend.

Not yet measured

• A general per-serving amount. The figures above come from individual recipes.
• How blends with and without lavender compare in specific dishes.
• Tested amounts for bread, pizza or vinaigrette.

Related

• Herbes de Provence and cooking with herbes de Provence
• Herbes de Provence substitutes and herbes de Provence vs. Italian seasoning
• Lavender and cooking with lavender
• French spices and fines herbes
• Thyme uses, rosemary uses and summer savory uses