Culinary lavender substitutes

Botanically a close cousin and the best stand-in most people already own. It carries the same resinous, camphorous, slightly piney note that sits underneath lavender's perfume.

Best for

lavender shortbread and butter cookies, roast lamb, chicken and potatoes, herbes de Provence style blends, savoury rubs and focaccia

You lose the floral top note entirely and gain something greener and more pine-forest. In a shortbread that reads as a pleasant herb cookie rather than a perfumed one, which many people prefer. Use less than the recipe's lavender quantity, because rosemary is more assertive and its needles are tougher and more bitter to chew, so chop it very finely or infuse and strain. In savoury cooking this is close to a straight swap.

The nearest match on the floral side. Chamomile is honeyed, faintly apple-like and gently bitter, and it infuses into liquids the same way lavender does.

Best for

lavender lattes and steamers, simple syrups and cordials, infused honey and infused cream, panna cotta, custards and ice cream

Softer and rounder than lavender, with none of the pine or camphor, so a chamomile latte tastes soothing and honeyed where a lavender one tastes floral and slightly cool. Chamomile is far more forgiving: it does not tip into soapiness the way lavender does, so it is a good choice if you have overdone lavender before. It goes bitter if you steep it more than about ten minutes in hot liquid.

Trades one perfume for another. Rose is jammier, sweeter and rounder, and like lavender it is very easy to overdo.

Best for

shortbread, madeleines and macarons, syrups, lemonades and iced tea, whipped cream and buttercream, anything paired with berries or stone fruit

Rose reads as romantic and sweet where lavender reads as herbal and cool, and it pairs differently: rose loves raspberry, pistachio and cardamom, lavender loves lemon, blueberry and honey. Rosewater brands vary wildly in strength, so add half, taste, then add the rest. Like lavender, too much and you are eating soap.

A quiet, reliable savoury swap that shares lavender's small woody leaf and Mediterranean character.

Best for

roast vegetables, chicken and lamb, savoury shortbread and crackers, herb blends and compound butters, goat cheese dishes

Herbaceous and slightly lemony rather than floral, so nothing tastes perfumed. Lemon thyme is the better of the two here because its citrus note occupies some of the same bright space lavender does. Safe in the sense that it is almost impossible to overdo, which is the opposite of lavender.

Not a herb, but bergamot oil does the same job of making a bake or a drink taste perfumed and slightly cool.

Best for

lavender lattes and London fogs, shortbread, loaf cakes and scones, infused cream, syrup and custard, poaching syrups for pears and peaches

Citrus perfume instead of floral perfume, plus tea tannin and a little caffeine, which slightly dries the mouth in a custard. Grind the leaf fine if it is staying in the batter, or infuse in warm cream and strain. This is the swap most likely to make someone say your version tastes better rather than different. Some Earl Grey blends already contain lavender, sold as cream Earl Grey, which is even closer.

The honest answer when lavender is the named star of the recipe and you have no food-grade buds.

Best for

lavender shortbread, lavender honey, lavender lemonade, lavender ice cream

There is no substitute that tastes of lavender, because the flavour comes from linalool and camphor in a combination nothing else in the kitchen reproduces. Plain shortbread, plain lemonade and vanilla ice cream are all excellent. That is a better outcome than dosing your food with lavender essential oil or with garden lavender you cannot vouch for, and much better than using an unknown lavandin variety, which is high in camphor and tastes medicinal rather than floral.