Thai Basil Substitute: Best Swaps

Out of Thai basil? Italian basil is the best swap, ideally with a little mint mixed in. Holy basil works too, and a touch of tarragon or fennel fronds brings back the anise. Thai basil isn’t a separate species, just a variety of sweet basil common in Asian cooking.¹ What sets it apart is the smell, with anise, lime-like and fresh notes in a 2018 Thai study.²

Quick answer

What Thai basil is doing	Best substitute	Starting amount, per 1 part Thai basil	Treatment
Wilted into a stir-fry or curry at the end	Italian (sweet) basil	1 part	Attributed
The same, if you have it	Holy basil	1 part	Attributed
The same, with more of Thai basil’s lift	Italian basil plus a little mint	About 4 parts basil to 1 part mint, same total	Method
Raw, on a noodle-soup or spring-roll plate	Italian basil, with mint	1 part in total	Method
The anise note specifically	Fresh tarragon, added to Italian basil	1/2 part tarragon, then taste	Method

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.

The one-for-one amounts here come from a single cook’s recipe that lists several basils at the same quantity.

Why the substitutes work (and where they fall short)

Thai basil’s oil is led by estragole, which is linked to its anise note.² Italian basil is the same species and can share Thai basil’s leading compound, but the balance varies from plant to plant; PROSEA recognizes at least six chemical types of O. basilicum.³ Tarragon shares Thai basil’s estragole⁴ without being a basil at all. Fennel and star anise get their anise smell from a different compound, anethole.

If Thai basil is wilted into a stir-fry or curry

This is Thai basil’s classic job: a handful stirred into drunken noodles, a basil stir-fry or a green curry right before serving. Sherri Pengjad of Thai Foodie says Thai basil goes into green curry right before serving, adding a licorice-like aroma, and that it’s sturdier than Italian basil and holds up much better in hot dishes.⁵

1. Italian (sweet) basil

Two cooks put it first. Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats writes that “the best substitute for Thai Basil is normal basil,” though it lacks the Thai herb’s slight aniseed flavor.⁶ Pengjad also calls Italian basil the best substitute.⁵

Ratio (Attributed): Pailin Chongchitnant’s pad kra pao recipe at Hot Thai Kitchen calls for 1 1/4 cups of holy basil or regular basil leaves and notes, in the same line of the ingredient list, that Thai basil works too.⁷ Her recipe treats the three basils as interchangeable by volume. Maehashi’s Thai basil chicken calls for 1 cup of Thai basil leaves and says the dish is still worth making with normal basil, without giving a different amount.⁶

Italian basil is softer, so add it at the last moment and stir only until it wilts. LSU AgCenter advises adding delicate herbs like basil a minute or two before the end of cooking.⁸

2. Holy basil

Holy basil (kaphrao) is a different herb. Andy Ricker describes it as a peppery basil, called hot basil.⁹ Its oil falls into a spicy aroma group, not Thai basil’s anise group.² Pengjad says holy basil is more peppery and intense and will work in a pinch, but the dish will taste less traditional.⁵

Ratio (Attributed): Chongchitnant’s recipe uses the same 1 1/4 cups for holy basil or Thai basil.⁷

3. Italian basil with a little mint

Pengjad suggests mixing Italian basil with a little mint for a closer flavor, without giving amounts.⁵

Ratio (Method): Start with about four parts Italian basil to one part mint, in the same total amount as the Thai basil, and taste. Too much mint will take over.

If Thai basil is a raw herb on the plate

In Vietnamese cooking, Thai basil goes raw onto the herb plate served with pho. Andrea Nguyen puts it on her pho garnish plate and tells readers to add or subtract herbs as they like.¹⁰ Here you eat the leaves as they are, so a tender substitute is fine.

Ratio (Method): Use Italian basil leaves in the same amount, with a few mint leaves alongside. Since everyone adds herbs at the table, each person can adjust.

If you want the anise note specifically

When Thai basil’s licorice-like smell is the point, add an anise-scented herb or spice to Italian basil instead of replacing the basil entirely.

1. Fresh tarragon

French tarragon’s oil is mostly estragole,⁴ the same compound that leads Thai basil’s oil.² University of Illinois Extension says the leaves taste of licorice or anise. It’s stronger and sharper than Thai basil, so use it as an accent.

Use it fresh. Illinois Extension notes that tarragon loses its flavor quickly when the leaves are dried.¹¹

Ratio (Method): Start with about half the Thai basil amount in tarragon, or a smaller pinch mixed into Italian basil, and taste.

2. Fennel fronds

Illinois Extension says both forms of fennel taste of anise or licorice.¹² You want the feathery leaves here, not the bulb.

Ratio (Method): Start with an equal amount of chopped fronds, mixed with Italian basil, and taste.

3. Star anise, in simmered dishes only

Star anise is a dried spice, not a leaf, so it can only stand in for Thai basil’s smell in something that simmers, like a curry or broth. NPR’s pho recipe simmers it in the broth with cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns.¹³

Ratio (Method): Simmer one whole star anise in a pot of curry or broth for a few minutes, fish it out, and taste. Add fresh Italian basil at the end for the leafy part.

Dried basil

America’s Test Kitchen lists basil among the herbs to use fresh, not dried,¹⁴ and since Thai basil is a fresh herb added at the end, a dried version doesn’t have much of a role.

What isn’t known

The chemistry above comes from separate studies, and basil oils vary by cultivar.³
The one-for-one amounts come from one cook’s recipe, not from a test.
You’ll sometimes read that Thai basil is as important to Thai cooking as fish sauce and makrut lime leaves, or that you should use sweet basil at one and a half times the amount. We found no source for either.

“Basil”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Tangpao, Chung and Sommano, “Aromatic Profiles of Essential Oils from Five Commonly Used Thai Basils”, Foods, 2018. mdpi.com · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Aguilar, Pham Truong Thi Tho and Oyen, Ocimum basilicum, Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food on Estragole, European Commission, 2001. food.ec.europa.eu · Regulator ↩ ↩²
Sherri Pengjad, “Thai Basil: What It Is and How to Use It”, Thai Foodie, 2026. thai-foodie.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Nagi Maehashi, “Thai Basil Chicken”, RecipeTin Eats, 2019 (updated 2025). recipetineats.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
Pailin Chongchitnant, pad kra pao beef recipe, Hot Thai Kitchen. hot-thai-kitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
“Flavorful Herbs”, LSU AgCenter. lsuagcenter.com · Reference work ↩
Andy Ricker with J.J. Goode, “Stir-fried chicken with hot basil (kai kaphrao)”, from Pok Pok, via The Splendid Table. splendidtable.org · Publication ↩
Andrea Nguyen, “Pho Garnish Plate”, from The Pho Cookbook, via The Splendid Table. splendidtable.org · Publication ↩
“Tarragon: French”, University of Illinois Extension. extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩
“Fennel”, University of Illinois Extension. extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩
T. Susan Chang, “One-Day Pho”, NPR, 2012. npr.org · Publication ↩
Danielle Lapierre, “When You Should Actually Use Dried Herbs (and Which Ones to Avoid)”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2022. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩

Thai Basil Substitutes, Ranked by the Job Thai Basil Is Doing