Basil Seeds substitute

Best substitute

Chia Seeds

Use the same amount as the basil seeds you are replacing

Best for sweet drinks and lemonades

Different texture

Basil seeds are texture and almost nothing else. They have no real flavour, they add no sweetness and no thickening to speak of, and their entire job in a Vietnamese che or a sweet drink is to hang suspended through the glass as slippery little jelly-coated specks that pop faintly between your teeth. Chia seeds are the substitute, at 1:1, and they are close: the difference is that chia takes twenty minutes or more to gel instead of two, the gel is thicker and cloudier so the drink looks murkier, and the seed itself stays a bit crunchier at the centre. Small tapioca pearls give a similar suspended chew at a larger scale. If you want the drink to look clean and clear, tiny cubes of agar jelly are the better-looking option even though the texture is firmer.

Other basil seeds substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Small Tapioca Pearls
Different texture
Use the same amount by volume of cooked pearls
Different scale, same idea.
What changes
Cooked small tapioca pearls sit suspended in a sweet drink as translucent chewy dots and they look attractive, closer to what a Vietnamese che is going for visually. They are much bigger, much chewier and have no slippery coating, so you get a distinct bouncy bite instead of the delicate slip of a basil seed.
Best for
che and dessert soups, sweet coconut drinks, falooda, when you want something more substantial
Use the small pearls, not boba-size ones, and rinse them in cold water after cooking so they do not glue together or cloud the drink with loose starch.
3Agar Jelly, Cut Into Tiny Cubes
Different texture
Use ½ cup diced jelly for every 2 tbsp basil seeds
The best-looking substitute.
What changes
A thin sheet of set agar jelly diced small gives clear, glassy, slippery pieces that sit through a drink beautifully and keep it looking crystalline, which chia cannot do. The texture is firmer and snappier than a basil seed's soft slip, and the cubes sink faster, so stir before serving.
Best for
clear sweet drinks, che thai and mixed fruit desserts, falooda, presentation
Set it firm and thin, about a quarter inch, so it dices cleanly. Agar sets at room temperature and holds in a warm drink, unlike gelatin, which melts.
4Grass Jelly or Nata de Coco, Chopped Small
Taste and texture differ
Use ½ cup chopped for every 2 tbsp basil seeds
Both are standard che ingredients already, so nothing looks out of place.
What changes
Grass jelly adds a dark colour and a faint bittersweet herbal taste that basil seeds do not have, which changes the drink noticeably. Nata de coco is clear, slightly sweet and pleasantly rubbery. Neither floats the way basil seeds do, so the visual effect is different.
Best for
che thai and mixed che, sweet coconut drinks, using ingredients already in an Asian pantry
Both come canned in syrup, so drain and rinse them and cut back the sugar elsewhere in the recipe by a spoonful.
5Ground Flaxseed, for Gel Only
Taste and texture differ
Use 1 tsp ground flax for every 1 tbsp basil seeds
This makes a slippery gel and that is all it shares.
What changes
Flax gel is thick, brownish and slightly slimy with a distinct nutty-grassy taste, and it does not stay in discrete suspended specks, it just makes the whole liquid viscous. Use it only if you want a thicker drink and have nothing else. It will not look right.
Best for
thickening a drink slightly, absolute last resort
Whole flaxseed does not gel usefully in cold liquid at all, so it has to be ground. Expect the colour of the drink to change.
6Leave Them Out
Different texture
omit
A perfectly reasonable choice, and worth saying plainly since basil seeds contribute no flavour whatsoever.
What changes
A soda chanh or a glass of che without them tastes exactly the same. What you lose is purely the visual interest and the little slippery pops, which for many people is most of the fun of the drink but is not the flavour of it.
Best for
sweet drinks and lemonades, when nothing else is on hand
If the drink was going to rely on the seeds for interest, add something else with texture instead, such as diced fruit, tapioca pearls or crushed ice.

What is Basil Seeds?

Basil Seeds is Basil seeds, hat e in Vietnamese and sold as sabja, tukmaria or falooda seeds, are tiny black sweet-basil seeds that swell within minutes in water into slippery dots each wrapped in a clear grey jelly coat.

Cooking tips

Basil seeds hydrate in about two minutes in room-temperature water, roughly ten times faster than chia. Never add them dry to a finished drink, because they will swell in the glass and keep swelling while someone is drinking it.
Use roughly one tablespoon of dry seeds to a cup of water for soaking. They expand two to three times in volume, so a very small amount goes a long way and it is easy to accidentally make a jar of jelly.
Soak in plain water, not in the sweet syrup. Sugar slows hydration and the seeds end up coated in syrup rather than in clean gel, which makes them clump.
Strain the soaked seeds through a fine sieve before adding them, so the drink stays clear rather than picking up cloudy soaking water.
They keep their texture for about a day in the fridge once hydrated and then go flabby. Soak what you need for the same day rather than making a big batch ahead.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use chia seeds instead of basil seeds?

Yes, at 1:1, and it is the standard swap. Two adjustments matter. Soak chia for twenty to thirty minutes instead of two, in plain water, because it hydrates far more slowly. And expect the drink to look cloudier and the seed to stay slightly crunchier in the middle, since chia never goes as soft as a basil seed.

Are basil seeds and chia seeds the same thing?

No. They come from different plants and look different: basil seeds are black, teardrop-shaped and larger, chia are smaller, mottled grey-brown and rounder. Both swell into a gel coat, which is why they get swapped, but basil seeds gel in minutes and go fully soft while chia takes half an hour and keeps a crunch. In a drink, you can tell them apart at a glance.

Can I leave basil seeds out of a drink?

Yes. They add no flavour and no sweetness at all, so a soda chanh, a lemonade or a glass of che tastes identical without them. All you lose is the look and the little slippery texture. If texture is the point, small tapioca pearls or diced agar jelly are better replacements than nothing.

Do basil seeds need to be cooked?

No, only soaked in cool or room-temperature water, and only for a couple of minutes. Boiling them makes them slimy and causes them to break down and cloud the liquid. This is a genuine difference from tapioca pearls or agar, both of which do need cooking, so the timing in the recipe is not interchangeable.

Are sabja, tukmaria and falooda seeds the same as basil seeds?

Yes. Sabja and tukmaria are the Indian names, falooda seeds refers to their use in the Indian drink of that name, hat e is the Vietnamese name, and all of them are sweet basil seeds. If a Vietnamese che recipe calls for hat e and your local shop is South Asian, ask for sabja and you will get exactly the right thing.

Related substitutes

More seeds substitutes

Basil Seeds substitute

Other basil seeds substitutes

2Small Tapioca Pearls

3Agar Jelly, Cut Into Tiny Cubes

4Grass Jelly or Nata de Coco, Chopped Small

5Ground Flaxseed, for Gel Only

6Leave Them Out