Italian Seasoning Substitutes: Homemade, Herbes de Provence, Fresh Herbs and More

Despite the name, Tasting Table’s history calls bottled Italian seasoning “more than likely an American invention,” noting that Italian cooks are more likely to reach for fresh herbs.¹ It has no fixed recipe either, so any mix of the same dried herbs will do the job: oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary and sage, with marjoram or savory in some brands. America’s Test Kitchen’s homemade version takes five jars from the spice rack. Herbes de Provence can typically swap in one for one, and oregano with basil or thyme covers most uses.

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.

What the herbs contribute

Each herb in the blend brings its own aroma. Oregano and thyme share the same main flavor compounds, so either one can carry most of the blend’s character when the other’s missing.

If you want the closest match

1. Make your own

Formula (Attributed): America’s Test Kitchen’s homemade Italian seasoning uses 2 1/2 tablespoons each dried oregano and dried thyme, and 1 tablespoon each dried basil, dried rosemary and dried sage. It makes about 1/2 cup. ATK suggests crushing the rosemary by hand, or pulsing it a few times in a spice grinder, for a finer texture, and calls the blend ideal for pasta, meats and soups.²

Amount (Method): ATK’s blend has the same herbs as the store versions, so use it 1:1. Proportions vary between brands anyway. McCormick lists marjoram first and Simply Organic lists oregano first, and since US labels list ingredients in descending order by weight, those are each blend’s biggest share.³ Add marjoram or a pinch of savory if you want to get closer to McCormick’s.

2. Herbes de Provence

The French Label Rouge herbes de Provence, as specified by Ducros, is rosemary, savory, oregano and thyme.⁴ That shares oregano, thyme and rosemary with Italian seasoning, and savory with McCormick’s blend, but has no basil, marjoram or sage. Outside the Label Rouge there’s no fixed recipe. The Takeout’s Leah Kaplan lists rosemary, fennel seeds, thyme, marjoram and savory as common, and notes that some blends add culinary lavender.⁵ The Spice House, writing about the swap the other way around, says Italian seasoning lacks herbes de Provence’s lavender and savory, so the flavor will be different.⁶

Ratio (Attributed): The Takeout says herbes de Provence and Italian seasoning “can typically be a 1-to-1 substitute,” especially for grilling fish, marinating meat or roasting vegetables.⁵ Pick a blend without lavender if you can, since the Spice House points to lavender as what sets herbes de Provence apart.⁶

If you have the single herbs

Oregano with basil or thyme

Oregano is essential in Italian pizza and pasta sauces. Tasting Table’s history points out that Italian recipes don’t call for a mix of dried herbs in equal measure.¹ Two or three herbs you already have can cover most uses: oregano with basil for tomato sauce and pizza, or oregano with thyme for roasts and soups, since those two share carvacrol and thymol.

Ratio (Method): Use the herbs together at the same total amount as the Italian seasoning, roughly half and half, then taste. That’s a starting point, not a measured equivalent.

Fresh herbs

Ratio (Computed): Penn State Extension gives 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs as equal to 1 teaspoon dried.⁷ America’s Test Kitchen tested the swap and found that 1 part dried to 3 parts fresh came closest to equal flavor strength.⁸ So use about 3 times as much chopped fresh herb as the dried blend called for. ATK also found dried thyme, rosemary and sage held up reasonably well in dishes cooked fairly long with a good amount of liquid,⁸ so in a quick sauté, fresh herbs are the better swap.

Herbes de la garrigue

World Spice Merchants describes its herbes de la garrigue as similar to herbes de Provence but with the hearty additions of rosemary, fennel, mint and Turkish bay leaf, with rustic flavors from southwestern France.⁹ The mint and bay take it further from Italian seasoning than herbes de Provence. We found no independent source on what’s in the blend.

Ratio (Method): Because of the bay and mint, start with about 3/4 as much and taste.

If a salty blend is all you have

Greek seasoning

Greek seasoning shares oregano with Italian seasoning, but salt leads. Cavender’s lists salt, black pepper, corn starch, garlic, MSG and oregano first, at 241 mg of sodium per quarter teaspoon.¹⁰ Tasting Table’s Michelle Welsch calls Greek seasoning more pungent than Italian.¹¹

Ratio (Computed salt): A teaspoon of Cavender’s carries about 964 mg of sodium, the salt in about 2/5 teaspoon of Morton table salt (590 mg per quarter teaspoon).¹⁰¹² Use about 1/4 as much Greek seasoning as the Italian seasoning called for. That quarter teaspoon brings about 241 mg of sodium, the salt in about 1/10 teaspoon of table salt, so cut the recipe’s own salt by that much for each teaspoon of Italian seasoning you replace. The 1/4 is just a starting point, and the salt math holds for Cavender’s only.

What isn’t known

• Brands don’t publish their proportions beyond the order of ingredients.
• We found nothing beyond a merchant’s description for what herbes de la garrigue contains.
• Some products sold as “Italian” seasoning add garlic, onion, red pepper flakes or fennel,¹³¹¹ so read the label if your recipe assumes herbs only.

Related

• Italian seasoning and Italian spices
• Herbes de Provence, herbes de Provence vs. Italian seasoning, herbes de Provence substitutes
• Oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage, summer savory
• Basil vs. oregano, dried basil vs. fresh, fresh oregano vs. dried, fresh thyme vs. dried
• Greek seasoning and Greek seasoning substitutes, thyme substitutes, good spices for pizza