Rosemary vs. Lavender: Two Mint-Family Herbs, One Piney and One Floral

Rosemary and lavender are cousins in the mint family, and in a savory roast they often share the pan. Otherwise they lead different lives. Rosemary is a resinous leaf herb for roasts, breads and soups, while culinary lavender is a floral bud that goes mostly into sweets and drinks. Their oils share a few minor compounds, but the main aroma compounds differ: rosemary oil is led by α-pinene and 1,8-cineole, lavender oil by linalool and linalyl acetate. That difference decides where each one belongs, and how far one can stand in for the other.

Side by side

The two compound rows come from different studies on different plants and are given as ranges. Read them as each herb’s own profile, not a head-to-head measurement.

The leaves are where the two can look alike. Both are narrow and linear. Rosemary’s are glossy and dark green, and lavender’s are gray-green and covered in fine hairs. In the kitchen you’re unlikely to mix them up, since rosemary is sold as leaves and culinary lavender as dried buds.

The flavor difference, and where it comes from

Rosemary’s smell lives in an essential oil that makes up 1 to 2 percent of the dried leaf, and PROSEA credits its warm, piny note to α-pinene. A 2017 study of rosemary oils from six countries found them dominated by α-pinene and 1,8-cineole, with camphor at up to 7 percent, and identified at least five chemotypes.² One Spanish oil of the camphor type reported by PROSEA carried 35.3 percent camphor.⁵

English lavender oil is built differently. Linalool and linalyl acetate were the main constituents of every sample in a Ukrainian cultivar study, and the authors note the species is prized for its low camphor content.³ Britannica lists pinene and cineole among lavender oil’s fragrant constituents too,⁶ so there’s some overlap. In true lavender, though, they aren’t the leading compounds.

That overlap matters for one reason. The Herb Society of America says the harsher lavenders, lavandin and Lavandula stoechas, are high in cineole and camphor,¹ the same pair that gives rosemary its bite.² So the lavenders closest to rosemary chemically are the harsh ones. If you want the floral version, buy lavender labeled L. angustifolia.

How each behaves in cooking

Rosemary goes in early. America’s Test Kitchen groups it with the hearty herbs added early in cooking, whose flavor compounds are somewhat more heat-stable than those of tender herbs.⁷ Dried rosemary also held up reasonably well in ATK’s tests of long-cooked dishes with plenty of liquid.⁸ The University of Delaware puts rosemary in its strong-herb group and warns that the flavor can be extremely objectionable if you use too much.⁹

Lavender goes in carefully. The Herb Society says to use less than you think, because it’s easier to add as you go. It also says dried buds are three times more concentrated than fresh blooms, a figure we couldn’t check against a measurement.¹ Most of its suggested uses involve infusing the buds in a simple syrup or honey, or in a dairy base like custard or ice cream. Strain the buds out after infusing.

Savory dishes are where they meet. The Herb Society suggests the lower-camphor lavandins ‘Provence’ and ‘Gros Bleu’ for savory cooking, under the skin of a roast chicken or with beef, “especially when pairing with rosemary, sage, and thyme.”¹ So the two herbs often share a pan instead of replacing each other.

Herbes de Provence. Rosemary is one of the five herbs in the French Label Rouge specification for herbes de Provence, at 26 to 27 percent of the blend.¹⁰ Lavender isn’t among them, though some commercial blends sold under the name add it. Check the label. See herbes de Provence.

Other good matches: rosemary with lamb, pork, potatoes, white beans and focaccia; lavender with honey, lemon, berries, stone fruit and cream.

Can one stand in for the other?

Only partly, and only in one direction with any confidence.

• Rosemary for lavender, in savory dishes. Rosemary covers lavender’s resinous side but not its floral top note. Our lavender substitutes page gives a starting point: half as much rosemary as lavender, finely chopped, then taste. Dried rosemary suits slow cooking.⁸
• Rosemary for lavender, in sweets and drinks. We wouldn’t. A rosemary syrup is lovely in its own right, but it tastes of pine, not flowers. For a floral note, the lavender substitutes page suggests rose petals or citrus zest.
• Lavender for rosemary. None of the sources we reviewed suggest it, and our rosemary substitutes page doesn’t list it. If you try it in a roast, start with a small pinch of dried buds, about a quarter of the rosemary amount, and taste. Thyme or sage is the better swap for rosemary.

Safety

The FDA lists both as spices generally recognized as safe.⁴ NCCIH says lavender is likely safe in the amounts typically used in foods, and its health research is about lavender oil products, not the culinary herb.¹¹ The European Medicines Agency lists rosemary among plants that contain thujone in highly variable amounts. That’s a concern for herbal medicines, not seasoning.¹² See the rosemary and lavender profiles for details.

What isn’t known

• We found no study measuring the two herbs side by side in the same lab, so the compound ranges above come from different plants and methods.
• The Herb Society’s “three times” figure for dried versus fresh lavender is their statement. We found no measurement behind it.
• Claims that rosemary “cuts through” fatty meat describe a cooking impression. We found no source that tests it.

Related

• Profiles: rosemary and lavender
• Substitutes: rosemary substitutes and lavender substitutes
• Comparisons: rosemary vs. sage, sage vs. lavender, hyssop vs. lavender and rosemary vs. thyme
• Cooking: cooking with rosemary, cooking with lavender and too much rosemary