Bouquet garni substitutes

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

Best for

stews, stocks, braises, soups, boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin

This is the answer for almost everybody. Dried thyme is stronger and less bright than fresh and you lose parsley's fresh green note, but in a three-hour braise nobody could tell the difference. Add a few parsley stems from the fridge if you have them, since stalks carry more flavour than the leaves.

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

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.

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

Best for

stews, soups, braises, tomato sauces, roast chicken, stuffings

Both do the background aroma job 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.

The real thing without bothering with the string.

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.

For when thyme is the herb you are actually missing.

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.

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

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.