Kitchen Resource
A guide to substituting fresh herbs
The Kitchen Garden Foundation doesn’t provide dried herb/fresh herb substitution information because dried herbs are
rarely used in our recipes. We see fresh herbs as a kitchen garden fundamental because they are so easy and cheap to
grow and the flavour does not compare.
Occasionally a dish originating from a particular cuisine requires the flavour of a dried herb, e.g. dried Greek oregano
(rigano), in these instances the recipe will specify the dried herb.
The following information should always be judged against the availability of what you have and after testing and
comparing flavour profiles – this is an important activity for children which will help them develop a deeper
understanding of how you put a delicious dish together using what you have in the garden.
When substituting, consider:
Texture – is the herb soft, spiky, furry, mucilaginous or something else?
Flavour and fragrance – is the herb fresh, grassy, floral, citrusy, pungent, piquant or something else?
Quantity – how much of the unavailable herb is in the recipe? Smaller quantities are easy to substitute, but where a
herb is the main component, e.g. of a sauce, substituting may be more difficult.
Herb
Characteristics
Possible substitutes
basil
soft, spicy, sweet, liquorice, clove
a mixture of parsley and leaves from
the inner stalks of celery
bay leaves
hard, herbaceous, savoury
dried bay leaves
chervil
fresh, grassy, mild, liquorice
flat leaf parsley or a mixture of inner
celery leaves and tarragon
chives
mild onion flavour
young spring onion greens
coriander (leaf and stem)
fresh, bright, green, citrusy, pungent
flat leaved parsley and mint or flat
leaved parsley and lemon
curry leaves (NOT the silvery-leafed
curry plant)
savoury, citrusy, spicy
Frozen curry leaves – buy or harvest
fresh and store in a labelled ziplock
bag. The 'curry plant' (helichrysum
italicum) is not related and cannot be
substituted for curry leaf (murraya
koenigii). Curry powder is a mix of
dried spices and cannot be substituted
for curry leaf.
dill
clean, earthy, fresh, liquorice
fennel greens
garlic chives
mild onion-garlic flavour
chives and garlic or young spring
onion greens and garlic
kaffir lime leaf (alternatively known as
makrut/Thai lime leaf)
hard, citrusy
lime or lemon leaves (remove before
serving)
lemongrass
bright, lemon, herbaceous
lemon verbena, lemon balm
lemon verbena
sweet, lemon, no sour or acidic notes
lemon balm, lemongrass
marjoram
sweet, grassy, lemony notes
parsley or oregano and lemon zest
mint (common)
fuzzy, peppery, cool aftertaste
shiso (aka perilla)
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation © 2014
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Kitchen Resource
mint (Vietnamese)/basil (Thai)
like mint, but with additional peppery
and anise flavours
mint and shiso, or chervil
oregano
sweet, spicy, savoury, pungent
majoram (common or golden)
parsley (flat or curly leafed)
curly parsley, is bright, fresh and
grassy; flat leafed parsley also has
peppery notes
chervil, celery leaves or coriander
leaves
purslane
mucilaginous, green, slightly bitter
rocket or nasturtium leaves
rosemary
pungent, piney, spikey
Rosemary should be available all
year. If not you can use dried
rosemary or a mixture combining
savory, thyme and sage.
sage
fuzzy, peppery, savoury, camphor
rosemary or thyme
tarragon (French)
sharp, sweet, liquorice, aromatic
In late summer add long spears of
tarragon to white wine vinegar and
use after a few weeks of infusing.
Don’t use Mexican tarragon – it is
hardier to cold weather, but lacks the
oomph of French tarragon.
thyme
woody, pungent, spicy, clove
oregano, majoram or savory
Further information:
See the ‘Herb Identification’ activity in the Advanced Kitchen Garden Program Syllabus (Book 2) for a garden class
activity that will support your students in learning to make sensory judgements.
The following websites are also useful resources:
http://www.foodsubs.com/
http://www.cuisitive.com/
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation © 2014
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