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Bouquet Garni substitute

Best substitute

1 bay leaf plus 1/2 tsp dried thyme

Replaces 1 bouquet garni

Best for stews

Close match

The bundle in dry form, added loose to the pot with the bay leaf retrieved before serving.

Other bouquet garni substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

Substitutes for Bouquet Garni with ratios

  1. 2Herbes de Provence

    Different taste

    Use 1 tsp for every bouquet garni

    A dried Provencal blend, usually thyme, rosemary, savory and marjoram, sometimes with lavender.

    What changes
    Best for
    daube, braises, roast chicken, ratatouille, stews, lamb

    Warmer and more resinous than a classic bouquet garni, and any lavender in the mix adds a floral edge that is lovely in a Provencal daube and slightly odd in a delicate chicken stock. Use a light hand, since the rosemary in most blends will dominate if you overdo it.

  2. 3Italian seasoning or poultry seasoning

    Different taste

    Use 1 tsp for every bouquet garni

    Whatever dried blend is already in your cupboard, added loose or in an infuser.

    What changes
    Best for
    stews, soups, braises, tomato sauces, roast chicken, stuffings

    Both do the background aroma job perfectly well. Italian blends lean oregano and basil, so the dish tips Mediterranean, which suits anything with tomato. Poultry seasoning leans sage and marjoram, which suits chicken and pork and can taste faintly of stuffing in a beef stew. Neither is wrong, they just steer the dish.

  3. 4Fresh thyme sprigs and a bay leaf, loose

    Close match

    3-4 thyme sprigs plus 1 bay leaf

    The real thing without bothering with the string.

    What changes
    Best for
    stocks, stews, braises, soups, roast vegetables

    Flavour is identical, because the string was never doing anything for taste. The only cost is picking bare thyme stems out of the finished dish, which is fine in a chunky stew and annoying in a clear broth or consomme. Use an infuser or a tea ball if the dish needs to be tidy.

  4. 5Fresh rosemary, sage, marjoram or oregano in place of the thyme

    Different taste

    1 rosemary sprig or 3-4 sage leaves plus 1 bay leaf

    For when thyme is the herb you are actually missing.

    What changes
    Best for
    braises, beans, pork, lamb, tomato sauces, roast chicken

    Rosemary is much more assertive and piney, so use half as much and pull it out after 30 minutes or it takes over the whole pot. Sage is savoury and slightly musty, and excellent with pork and beans. Both change the character of the dish more than they change its structure, which is usually fine.

  5. 6Leave it out and lean on the other aromatics

    Different taste

    Omit

    A legitimate choice, because a bouquet garni is background aroma rather than structure.

    What changes
    Best for
    stews, braises, soups, stocks, beans

    A stew without one is still a good stew, just slightly flatter and more one-note. Compensate by browning the meat and vegetables harder, adding an extra clove of garlic, dropping in a strip of lemon or orange zest or a parmesan rind, and finishing with a handful of chopped fresh parsley. That recovers most of the aromatic complexity.

What is Bouquet Garni?

Bouquet Garni is A bouquet garni, sometimes written bouquet garnis and known in English as a herb bundle, is a small bundle of fresh herbs, classically parsley stalks, thyme and a bay leaf, tied with string or wrapped in a leek leaf, that simmers in a stock or braise and is then lifted out and thrown away.

Cooking tips

  • A bouquet garni is tied together for exactly one reason, which is so you can pull it out. If you are improvising with dried herbs, use a tea infuser, a spice ball or a square of coffee filter tied with thread. Or just remember that only the bay leaf really needs retrieving.
  • Bay leaf is the non-negotiable part. Thyme, parsley and everything else are swappable, but bay is what makes a long-simmered liquid taste properly cooked and savoury rather than raw. If you can only have one herb, choose bay.
  • Dried herbs are roughly three times as strong as fresh by volume, so a tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme is about a teaspoon of dried. Overshooting is what makes a stew taste dusty and medicinal, and it is very hard to undo.
  • Add it early and leave it in. A bouquet garni needs 30 minutes minimum to give anything up and keeps releasing flavour for hours, unlike delicate herbs such as basil and tarragon, which you add at the very end.
  • Save parsley stalks and leek greens in a bag in the freezer. Between those and a bay leaf you can build a bouquet garni for free at any time, and the stalks actually carry more flavour than the leaves do.

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of a bouquet garni?

A bay leaf plus half a teaspoon of dried thyme, added loose to the pot. Add a few parsley stems if you have them. That covers almost everything a bouquet garni contributes to a stew, stock or braise, and it takes ten seconds.

Can I just leave out the bouquet garni?

Yes. It is background aroma, not structure, so the dish will still work. It will taste a little flatter, so compensate with an extra garlic clove, a strip of citrus zest or a parmesan rind in the pot, and finish with chopped fresh parsley to bring back some brightness.

What is in a bouquet garni?

Classically parsley stalks, a sprig or two of thyme, and a bay leaf, tied with kitchen string or wrapped inside a leek leaf. Regional versions add celery, rosemary, savory, a strip of orange peel or a clove-studded onion, so there is no single fixed recipe to be faithful to.

Should I use fresh or dried herbs in a bouquet garni?

Either. Fresh is traditional and slightly brighter; dried is stronger and completely fine in anything that simmers for more than half an hour. If you switch from fresh to dried, use about a third of the volume, since drying concentrates the flavour.

Do I have to tie it up with string?

No. The string is convenience, not technique, and it does nothing for flavour. Dried herbs go in a tea infuser or straight into the pot, and a bay leaf is easy enough to spot and remove at the end. Only a very clear broth really benefits from a tidy bundle.

Is a bouquet garni the same as a sachet d'epices?

They overlap heavily. A sachet d'epices is the same idea in a cloth bag, usually including peppercorns and cloves alongside the herbs. In practice you can use either recipe's list interchangeably, and both get lifted out and discarded before serving.

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