Mexican Oregano Substitutes, Ranked by the Job It Is Doing

Out of Mexican oregano? Regular Mediterranean oregano is the easiest swap, with marjoram and thyme close behind. Mexican oregano isn’t a true oregano at all; it comes from a shrub in the verbena family. It tastes like oregano because it shares oregano’s two key phenols, thymol and carvacrol, in a different balance, and PROSEA calls its flavor stronger, sharper and more pungent than Mediterranean oregano.¹ Still, America’s Test Kitchen’s tasters noticed only minimal differences when they swapped one for the other.²

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship, such as converting dried herbs to fresh.
• 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.

The ratios below are rules of thumb, not measurements.

If Mexican oregano is the main savory herb

This is its usual job: a dried leaf crumbled into red chile sauce, pozole, beans or a meat braise. NMSU Extension’s New Mexico red chile sauce, for example, adds it near the end and simmers another 5 to 7 minutes.³ Here you want that resinous, oregano-like bite above all.

1. Mediterranean oregano

It’s the closest substitute and the easiest to find. America’s Test Kitchen tried both kinds in tomato sauce and in mojo-marinated skirt steak and noticed only minimal differences. Its tasters found the Mediterranean oregano milder and faintly sweeter, and the Mexican type stronger, with a hint of menthol.² That fits the chemistry. Both contain carvacrol,² but Mexican oregano’s oil leans on thymol while Mediterranean oregano’s usually leans on carvacrol.¹⁴ Maggie Unzueta of Mama Maggie’s Kitchen, writing about Mexican cooking, says most cooks of Mexican food use regular oregano all the time without realizing it.⁵

Ratio (Attributed): RawSpiceBar’s Joseph Rosenblatt says to start with 1.5 times as much regular oregano as the Mexican oregano called for. Elsewhere the same article suggests about 25 percent more, so the merchant’s own advice runs from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times.⁶ Since ATK found only minimal differences,² you can also start with an equal amount and add the rest after tasting.

2. Marjoram

The Spice House names marjoram as the best substitute for Mexican oregano.⁷ A Couple Cooks also suggests dried marjoram in place of dried oregano for Mexican-style dishes.⁸ Marjoram is an Origanum too, just a softer one, so expect a gentler, sweeter result than Mexican oregano.

Ratio (Method): The Spice House calls marjoram a bit milder than oregano and says to use more when substituting.⁷ Start with an equal amount, taste near the end of cooking, and add up to half as much again.

3. Thyme

Thyme isn’t a common suggestion for this swap, but its chemistry is close. PROSEA names thymol and carvacrol as the signature compounds of thyme oil,⁹ and in a 2023 study of eight thyme species, six oils were thymol-type.¹⁰ That thymol-led profile looks more like Mexican oregano’s than Mediterranean oregano’s. The Spice House suggests thyme, sage or marjoram for chili when you’re out of oregano.⁷

Ratio (Method): A Couple Cooks warns against swapping dried thyme for dried oregano because, in its view, thyme’s flavor is much stronger.⁸ Start with about half the Mexican oregano amount and taste.

If Mexican oregano is a bright, citrusy note

Unzueta describes Mexican oregano as citrusy.⁵ In a raw salsa, pickled onions or a quick bean dish, that edge matters more than it does in a long braise.

Mediterranean oregano with a pinch of coriander

Ratio (Method): Use Mediterranean oregano as above and add a small pinch of ground coriander seed. Coriander comes across floral and citrusy in a dish. We found no test of this pairing; it’s just a cook’s trick.

Lemon verbena, only for the citrus

ATK calls Mexican oregano a close relative of lemon verbena.² The family tie doesn’t carry over to flavor, though. Lemon verbena’s oil is led by citral,¹¹ while Mexican oregano’s is led by thymol and carvacrol. So lemon verbena gives you a lemon note and nothing of oregano.

Ratio (Method): Use it only as an accent with Mediterranean oregano: start with about a quarter of the Mexican oregano amount, chopped fine.

Cilantro: a different job

Cilantro lands on lists of Mexican oregano substitutes because both herbs show up in Mexican cooking. Chemically they’re unrelated: cilantro leaf’s aroma is led by aldehydes,¹² a different class of compounds from the thymol and carvacrol that give Mexican oregano its bite. It acts differently in the pot, too: LSU AgCenter lists cilantro among the delicate herbs best added at the end of cooking.¹³ Use cilantro for its own fresh flavor, not to stand in for oregano in a cooked sauce.

Fresh and dried

Mexican oregano is almost always sold dried, so the usual question is how much fresh oregano or marjoram to use in its place.

Ratio (Computed): The sources agree on about 1 part dried to 3 parts fresh. America’s Test Kitchen’s tasting tests found that 1 part dried herb to 3 parts fresh came closest to equal strength.¹⁴ The Spice House, writing about oregano, gives 1 teaspoon dried for 1 tablespoon fresh,⁷ and A Couple Cooks and LSU AgCenter give the same rule.⁸¹³ The University of Delaware’s extension service gives 3/4 to 1 teaspoon dried for 2 to 3 teaspoons fresh, and notes that dried herbs are stronger than fresh.¹⁵ These are general herb rules, not tests on Mexican oregano.

Unzueta suggests rubbing dried oregano between your hands as you add it to release its flavor.⁵ That works for any of the dried substitutes above.

What isn’t known

• You’ll often read that Mexican oregano has a licorice note. ATK’s tasters found a hint of menthol instead,² and none of the sources we reviewed mentions licorice.
• We couldn’t trace the idea that marjoram plus a little fresh basil makes a near-perfect Mexican oregano to any source.

Related

• Mexican oregano and Mexican oregano vs. oregano
• Oregano, oregano substitutes and fresh vs. dried oregano
• Marjoram, marjoram substitutes and marjoram vs. oregano
• Thyme and oregano vs. thyme
• Lemon verbena, coriander, cilantro and cilantro vs. oregano
• Too much oregano? How to fix the dish