Parsley Substitutes, Ranked by the Job Parsley Is Doing

Out of parsley? Chervil is the closest match: light and parsley-like, with a taste reminiscent of anise. Past that, it depends on what parsley is doing in your dish. Cilantro or celery leaves can pass for it as a garnish, and dried parsley works in a soup or stuffing at about a third of the fresh amount. Your substitute only has to match the part that matters: the green look, the mild fresh flavor, or parsley’s quiet work in a cooked soup or sauce.

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.

If parsley is a fresh garnish or light herb finish

This is parsley scattered over a finished plate, folded into eggs or stirred into a sauce at the end. Its flavor is mildly aromatic,¹ and you want to keep it that way. Flat-leaved parsley is stronger flavored than curly.² LSU AgCenter lists parsley among the delicate herbs best added at the end of cooking, and most of the substitutes below are in the same group.³

1. Chervil

Chervil is the closest match. PROSEA describes its flavor as light and parsley-like with a hint of myrrh,⁴ and it has a delicate aroma and a taste reminiscent of anise.⁵ The Spice House and Healthline both describe chervil as closely related to parsley but milder.⁶⁷

Ratio (Method): Healthline says you’ll need more chervil than parsley in cooking because it’s milder, but gives no figure.⁷ Start with the same amount, taste, and add more until the dish has enough green flavor.

2. Cilantro

Healthline notes that cilantro looks a lot like fresh flat-leaf parsley, which makes it a good garnish. The flavor is another story. The Spice House calls it stronger and more citrusy,⁶ and Healthline warns that its very bright flavor may clash with some dishes that usually get parsley.⁷

Ratio (Method): Use it where its flavor suits the dish, as in Latin American or Southeast Asian food, and start with about half the parsley amount.

3. Celery leaves

Celery leaves taste of celery, not parsley. Healthline calls celery leaves extremely subtle in flavor and doubts they’ll stand in for parsley in cooking,⁷ so they’re better for the garnish job than the flavor job.

Ratio (Method): For a garnish, use the same amount of the pale inner leaves, chopped.

4. Carrot greens

Healthline suggests carrot greens as a garnish and says they’re perfectly safe to eat, though some people have long thought them inedible. It also notes that carrot greens can taste bitter.⁷

Ratio (Method): Use them as a garnish only, chopped fine, and start with about half the parsley amount because of the bitterness.

If parsley is cooked into a soup, sauce or stuffing

In a stock, a soup, a meatball mix or a stuffing, parsley is a background green note. Here the dried herb and stronger parsley-family relatives can fill in.

1. Dried parsley

Dried parsley is the obvious swap, but a weak one. America’s Test Kitchen’s Danielle Lapierre lists parsley among the herbs that are better fresh, saying such delicate herbs are much weaker in flavor when dried.⁸ ATK’s tests found that delicate herbs, parsley among them, tend to have more volatile flavor compounds.⁹ The Spice House suggests chervil as an alternative to dried parsley because of its milder flavor.⁶

Ratio (Attributed): NMSU Extension gives 1 teaspoon of dried parsley as equal to 3 teaspoons of chopped fresh parsley.¹⁰ The Spice House says to use about a third as much when you’re using dried parsley in place of fresh.⁶ Both line up with ATK’s general finding that 1 part dried herb to 3 parts fresh came closest to equal strength,⁹ and with LSU AgCenter’s rule of 1 tablespoon fresh to 1 teaspoon dried.³ Add dried parsley early enough for it to soften in the liquid.

2. Lovage

Britannica describes lovage’s flavor as sweet and similar to celery.¹¹ It’s stronger than parsley, and it tastes more like celery than parsley.

Ratio (Method): Start with about a quarter of the parsley amount, taste, and add more.

3. Celery leaves

In a soup or stock, the celery flavor that makes celery leaves an odd garnish can actually help.

Ratio (Method): Use the same amount as the parsley and taste near the end.

If parsley is one of the fines herbes

Fines herbes is a mix that commonly includes parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil, though the exact herbs vary. If parsley is the one you’re missing, chervil, with its light, parsley-like flavor, covers its share best.

Ratio (Method): Replace parsley’s share with chervil, and resist the urge to add more tarragon, which is assertive. See fines herbes substitutes for the blend as a whole.

Other herbs sometimes suggested

The Spice House also lists tarragon, Greek oregano, chives, arugula, endive and basil as parsley substitutes,⁶ and Healthline lists most of the same. For these, Healthline’s notes on amounts all point one way: use less.

• Tarragon. Its scent is sweet and anise-like, with a peculiar bittersweet flavor. Healthline says to use it in small amounts.⁷
• Oregano. Healthline says to use less oregano than parsley because its flavor is much stronger.⁷
• Arugula. Healthline calls it very peppery and slightly bitter and says to use only a small amount.⁷
• Basil. It suits Italian dishes where basil already belongs.

Ratio (Method): Start with about a quarter of the parsley amount for tarragon or oregano, and about half for arugula or basil, then taste.

What isn’t known

• You’ll often read that chervil releases its flavor slowly and holds up to long cooking better than parsley. None of the sources we reviewed supports that.
• You’ll also see lovage described as a cross between celery and flat-leaf parsley. Britannica compares it with celery only.¹¹
• We couldn’t check claims that carrot greens are full of nutrients against a nutrient database during this review.

Related

• Parsley, fresh vs. dried parsley, flat-leaf vs. Italian parsley and Italian vs. curly parsley
• Chervil, chervil vs. parsley and chervil substitutes
• Cilantro, cilantro vs. parsley and coriander vs. parsley
• Celery leaves, lovage, basil vs. parsley and oregano vs. parsley
• Fines herbes and fines herbes substitutes
• How to store parsley, how to dry parsley and too much parsley

Footnotes

1. “Parsley”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩

2. I.B. Ipor and L.P.A. Oyen, Petroselinum crispum, Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

3. “Flavorful Herbs”, LSU AgCenter. lsuagcenter.com · Reference work ↩ ↩²

4. M.A. Nichols, Anthriscus cerefolium, Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

5. “Chervil”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩

6. “The 8 Best Parsley Substitutes”, The Spice House, 2018. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

7. SaVanna Shoemaker, “10 Tasty Parsley Substitutes”, Healthline, 2020. healthline.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

8. Danielle Lapierre, “When You Should Actually Use Dried Herbs (and Which Ones to Avoid)”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2022. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩

9. “Science: Substituting Dried Herbs for Fresh”, America’s Test Kitchen. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩²

10. In a Pinch Ingredient Substitution (E-131), NMSU Cooperative Extension, 2016. pubs.nmsu.edu · Reference work ↩

11. “Lovage”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩ ↩²

Also drawn on

• Fines herbes, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com
• Artemisia dracunculus (PROSEA), C.C. de Guzman & R.A. Reglos, Plant Resources of South-East Asia, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org