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Thanksgiving Herbs and Spices: Ten Seasonings, Dish by Dish

By · Reviewed · 22 sources

Thanksgiving herbs and spices

Some Thanksgiving pairings go way back: Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery, printed in 1796, already spices its “pompkin” pies with nutmeg, mace, allspice and ginger.1 Today’s seasonings split neatly in two. The savory side (turkey, stuffing, gravy) leans on sage, thyme, rosemary and marjoram, often bought together as poultry seasoning, plus a bay leaf in the gravy. The sweet side (pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes) gets cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Below, all ten dish by dish, including how much nutmeg it actually takes to cause trouble.

At a glance

SeasoningWhere it shows up at Thanksgiving
SageStuffing; poultry seasoning; optional in gravy234
ThymeGravy; stuffing; poultry seasoning5463
RosemaryPoultry seasoning; optional in gravy34
MarjoramPoultry seasoning37
Bay leafGravy broth54
CinnamonPumpkin pie spice, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes8910
GingerPumpkin pie spice, cranberry sauce, 1796 pumpkin pies8111
NutmegPumpkin pie spice; 1796 pumpkin pie81
AllspicePumpkin pie spice; 1796 pumpkin pie; gravies8112
ClovesSome pumpkin pie spice recipes; cranberry sauce1311

The savory side: turkey, stuffing and gravy

Sage

Sage is the classic stuffing herb. Yankee Magazine describes New England bread stuffing as lightly seasoned, with sage and thyme out front.6 NCCIH says sage is likely safe in the amounts you’d normally find in food.14 Fresh or dried both work. See good stuffing spices, fresh vs. dried sage and too much sage.

Thyme

Thyme is sage’s partner in stuffing, and it’s the one herb both turkey gravy recipes we checked agree on. America’s Test Kitchen simmers four sprigs in its giblet broth; Food Network uses three sprigs of thyme and/or other herbs.4 America’s Test Kitchen says dried thyme is fine in place of fresh.5 See turkey gravy spices and fresh vs. dried thyme.

Rosemary

Rosemary tastes pungent and slightly bitter, and it’s a standard seasoning for meats, vegetables and soups. At Thanksgiving it usually shows up inside poultry seasoning (it’s in McCormick Culinary’s blend)3 or as an optional sprig in the gravy broth.4 One sprig is plenty to start. See rosemary vs. thyme and rosemary vs. sage.

Marjoram

Marjoram is the quiet one in the group: warm, aromatic, slightly sharp and a bit bitter. It’s in both of the poultry seasoning blends below.37 See marjoram vs. oregano and marjoram substitutes.

Poultry seasoning: four herbs in one jar

Poultry seasoning puts several of these herbs in one jar. McCormick Culinary’s lists thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg.3 Bell’s, the New England blend, lists rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme and pepper.7 See poultry seasoning and poultry seasoning substitutes.

Bay leaf

Both gravy recipes simmer one bay leaf in the giblet broth,4 and America’s Test Kitchen strains the broth before making the gravy.5 J. Kenji López-Alt told The Splendid Table that bay brings out the meaty flavors of beef and chicken. That’s a cook’s take, not a measured effect. López-Alt also compares biting into a leaf to eating a fish bone.15 So take it out. You’ll often hear that bay leaves tenderize meat, but no source we checked backs that up. See cooking with bay leaves.

The sweet side: pies, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes

Pumpkin pie spice: the blend

There’s no single formula. McCormick’s pumpkin pie spice lists cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.8 Oregon State University Extension’s homemade version uses 2 tablespoons cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons each of nutmeg and cloves.13 Simmons’s two 1796 recipes use mace, nutmeg and ginger in one, allspice and ginger in the other.1 McCormick also suggests the blend for roasted sweet potatoes.8 See pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin pie spice substitutes.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon comes first in McCormick’s blend and is the biggest amount in Oregon State’s recipe.813 It’s also the most common cranberry sauce spice, at 1/2 teaspoon in two of the three recipes on our cranberry sauce page,119 and the only warm spice in the USDA’s sweet potato casserole.10 Most cinnamon sold in North America is actually cassia.16 See sweet potato spices and Ceylon vs. cassia cinnamon.

Ginger

Ginger is in the McCormick blend, the Oregon State recipe and both 1796 pumpkin pies.8131 Stephanie Hua’s cranberry sauce for KQED uses a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger.11 See fresh vs. ground ginger.

Nutmeg

Nutmeg has a distinctive, pungent smell and a warm, slightly sweet taste. Simmons’s first pumpkin pie pairs it with mace and ginger.1 You’ll often be told to grate it fresh; see fresh vs. ground nutmeg and cinnamon vs. nutmeg.

Allspice

Allspice is a single spice, a dried berry. It got its name because it tastes like a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. It’s in McCormick’s blend and Simmons’s second pumpkin pie.81 It crosses over to the savory side too: whole berries go into meat broth and gravies. See allspice vs. cloves and allspice vs. nutmeg.

Cloves

Cloves smell strong and taste hot and pungent, and they’re used especially for meats and baked goods. Cloves go into Oregon State’s pumpkin pie spice and, at 1/8 teaspoon, into the KQED cranberry sauce.1311 Studding a holiday ham with whole cloves is a classic move, though none of these sources covers it. See ground vs. whole cloves and too much clove.

Safety notes

  • Nutmeg in large amounts. The National Capital Poison Center says nutmeg tastes great in cookies and eggnog, but too much can cause hallucinations. Kitchen spices aren’t dangerous when you use them as recommended.17 The Tennessee Poison Center puts reported effects at 15 to 20 grams, about two to three tablespoons of ground nutmeg, far more than any pie recipe calls for.18 See too much nutmeg.
  • Cassia and coumarin. Germany’s BfR says a 60 kg adult hits the tolerable daily intake for coumarin at about 2 g a day of average cassia.19 That matters for heavy daily use, not one holiday meal. NCCIH’s summary is that research doesn’t clearly support cinnamon for any health condition.16
  • Stuffing temperature. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends cooking stuffing in a casserole dish and checking that it reaches 165°F on a food thermometer.20

Footnotes

  1. Amelia Simmons, American Cookery, 1796, via Project Gutenberg. gutenberg.org · Reference work ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  2. U.A. Dasuki, “Salvia officinalis”, PROSEA. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

  3. “Poultry Seasoning, 12 oz”, McCormick Culinary. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  4. “Classic Turkey Gravy”, Food Network Kitchen, Food Network. foodnetwork.com · Publication ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  5. “Make-Ahead Giblet Turkey Gravy”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2011. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. “Bread Stuffing”, Yankee Magazine, 2007. newengland.com · Publication ↩ ↩2

  7. Aimee Tucker, “Bell’s Seasoning: A New England Thanksgiving Classic”, Yankee Magazine, 2021. newengland.com · Publication ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. “McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice”, McCormick & Company. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  9. “Simple Cranberry Sauce”, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. efnep.tamu.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩2

  10. “Sweet Potato Casserole”, USDA Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, via MyPlate. myplate.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩2

  11. Stephanie Hua, “Orange and Ginger Spiced Cranberry Sauce”, KQED Bay Area Bites, 2011. kqed.org · Publication ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  12. D. Sulistiarini, “Pimenta dioica”, PROSEA. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

  13. “Pumpkin Pie Spice”, Food Hero, Oregon State University Extension Service. extension.oregonstate.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  14. “Sage”, NCCIH, 2025. nccih.nih.gov · Regulator ↩

  15. David Leite with J. Kenji López-Alt, “Bay leaves are an optional ingredient”, The Splendid Table, 2014. splendidtable.org · Publication ↩

  16. “Cinnamon: Usefulness and Safety”, NCCIH, 2024. nccih.nih.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩2

  17. Rose Ann Gould Soloway, “Kitchen surprises and cautions”, National Capital Poison Center. poison.org · Reference work ↩

  18. Nena Bowman, “Nutmeg, a Potentially Uninvited Holiday Guest?”, Tennessee Poison Center, 2020. vumc.org · Reference work ↩

  19. “Cassia cinnamon with high coumarin contents to be consumed in moderation”, BfR. bfr.bund.de · Regulator ↩

  20. “Stuffing and Food Safety”, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, 2013. fsis.usda.gov · Regulator ↩

Also drawn on

  • Clove (Britannica Editors, revised by Anoushka Pant, updated 4 Sep 2026), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com
  • Allspice (Britannica Editors, updated 3 Sep 2026), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com