Huacatay substitute

Best substitute

Basil, mint, cilantro and tarragon blend

Per 1 tbsp huacatay paste: 2 tbsp basil, 2 tbsp mint, 1 tbsp cilantro, 1 tsp tarragon, blended with 1 tsp oil

Best for ocopa arequipena

Close match

The best substitute for huacatay is a blend, because no single herb covers it: for every tablespoon of huacatay paste, blend 2 tablespoons fresh basil, 2 tablespoons fresh mint, 1 tablespoon cilantro and about a teaspoon of fresh tarragon with a little oil. If you can only get one thing, use fresh mint plus a pinch of dried tarragon, and expect the sauce to taste cleaner and less resinous. Jarred huacatay paste from a Peruvian grocer is the real answer if you plan to cook ocopa more than once.

Other huacatay substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Jarred or frozen huacatay paste
Close match
Use 1 tablespoon paste for every ¼ cup packed fresh huacatay leaves
The real ingredient in the form you can actually buy.
What changes
Best for
ocopa, huacatay sauce, marinades, any recipe calling for fresh leaves
If your recipe asks for fresh huacatay, this is what to reach for, since fresh leaves are essentially unavailable in North America. It tastes correct, just slightly cooked and flattened compared with fresh, and jarred versions often carry salt and citric acid, so taste before seasoning the dish. Brands vary a lot in strength: add half of what the recipe says, taste, then adjust. Freeze leftovers in an ice cube tray, since one jar covers many batches.
3Mexican mint marigold (pericon, Texas tarragon)
Close match
Use the same amount by volume of leaves
A close botanical relative in the same genus, Tagetes lucida.
What changes
Best for
huacatay sauce, ocopa, marinades, the most authentic possible substitution
Botanically the nearest thing you can get, and it shows: the same marigold resin underneath a strong anise-tarragon aroma. The differences are that pericon is sweeter and more frankly licorice-flavored, with less of huacatay's citrus-mint lift, so add a few fresh mint leaves alongside it. The catch is availability. It is grown mostly as a garden herb in the southern US and Mexico rather than sold in stores, so this is realistic if you or a neighbor grow it.
4Thai basil plus fresh mint
Close match
Per 1 tbsp huacatay paste: 3 tbsp Thai basil plus 2 tbsp mint, blended with oil
A two-herb version that covers the anise note without buying tarragon.
What changes
Best for
huacatay sauce, grilled meat marinades, potato dishes, quick substitution
Efficient, because Thai basil already carries the anise-licorice quality that tarragon would otherwise supply, along with a sturdier, slightly peppery character than sweet basil. Together with mint it lands surprisingly near huacatay. It tips a little Southeast Asian, and the sauce comes out greener and glossier, but in an ocopa alongside aji amarillo, peanuts and evaporated milk almost nobody would identify what is different.
5Epazote plus mint and basil
Different taste
Per 1 tbsp huacatay paste: 1 tbsp epazote, 2 tbsp mint, 1 tbsp basil
Uses epazote for the pungent, slightly medicinal depth.
What changes
Best for
huacatay sauce, stews and braises, bean dishes, marinades
Epazote is the one common herb with a comparable resinous, faintly petrol-like pungency, which is the hardest part of huacatay to imitate. Use it sparingly, because on its own it tastes strongly of creosote and can take over a whole pot. Balanced with mint and basil it adds exactly the dark edge that a mint-only substitution lacks. The sauce ends up more savory and less sweetly aromatic than the real thing.
6Fresh mint alone
Different taste
Use ¼ cup packed mint leaves for every 1 tbsp huacatay paste
The least-bad single-herb option.
What changes
Best for
ocopa, sauces, when the shop has one herb
Honest assessment: this is a simplification rather than a substitution. Mint gives you a green sauce with a cooling herbal lift, so the dish works and tastes pleasant. But huacatay's character is really the resin and the bitterness under the freshness, and mint has none of it, so the sauce comes out sweet, clean and one-dimensional, closer to a mint sauce than to ocopa. A quarter teaspoon of dried tarragon stirred in makes a noticeable improvement for almost no effort.

What is Huacatay?

Huacatay is Huacatay, also spelled huacatai or wacatay and often called Peruvian black mint, is the pungent leaf of an Andean marigold called Tagetes minuta, and despite the name it is not a mint at all, smelling instead of basil, mint, tarragon and citrus peel all at once.

Cooking tips

Remember that huacatay is a marigold and not a mint, whatever the English name says. This is the practical key to substituting it: mint gets the cool top note but never the resinous, slightly bitter marigold base, which is why every good substitution adds tarragon, Thai basil or epazote to supply that layer.
It is extremely potent. One to two tablespoons of paste is enough for a full batch of ocopa serving four to six people. Overdo it and the sauce turns soapy, medicinal and bitter in a way you cannot rescue, so add half, taste, and go from there.
Blend herb substitutes with oil rather than water. Huacatay's aroma compounds are fat-soluble, and an oil-blended herb paste both tastes stronger and holds its color and perfume far longer in the fridge than a watery one.
Add it late and off the heat. Long simmering drives off exactly the volatile aromatics you are paying for, which is why huacatay usually goes into blended cold sauces or gets stirred in at the end of cooking rather than boiled with the dish.
Dried huacatay is far weaker and hay-like compared with the paste. Use about a teaspoon of dried per tablespoon of paste, and warm it briefly in oil first to wake it up. Keep the rest of the ocopa formula intact while you experiment, since the aji amarillo, peanuts, queso fresco, evaporated milk and cracker thickener carry a great deal of the flavor on their own.

Frequently asked questions

Is huacatay actually a kind of mint?

No. Huacatay is Tagetes minuta, a marigold, and the common English name Peruvian black mint is misleading. Its aroma does have a minty top note, which is presumably where the name comes from, but underneath it there is a resinous, slightly bitter, tarragon-and-citrus character that no true mint has. That mismatch is the whole reason substituting plain mint disappoints people.

Can I just leave huacatay out?

You can, and it is worth knowing exactly what you end up with. Ocopa arequipena minus the huacatay is essentially a papa a la huancaina, which is a very good dish in its own right, just yellow and peanutty instead of green and herbal. So omitting it does not ruin dinner, it changes which dish you have made. In a marinade, leaving it out costs you aroma and nothing structural.

What is the single best substitute if I can only buy one herb?

Fresh mint, with a pinch of dried tarragon stirred in. Mint alone gives you the green color and the cooling herbal note but tastes noticeably sweet and simple. The tarragon, even a quarter teaspoon dried, adds the anise-resin layer that gets you meaningfully closer for almost no effort. If the store has Thai basil instead of mint, that is an equally good single choice.

Where do I buy huacatay?

Peruvian and broader Latin American groceries carry it as pasta de huacatay in small jars, usually near the aji amarillo and aji panca pastes, and online Peruvian food importers ship both jarred and frozen versions. Dried huacatay also exists and is weaker. Fresh leaves are basically not sold in the US, so recipes calling for fresh leaves are almost always made with the paste outside Peru.

Can I use marigold flowers from my garden?

Not the ordinary bedding marigolds, no. Common ornamental Tagetes sold at garden centers are not grown as food, are frequently treated with pesticides that are not approved for edible crops, and are not the same species. If you want to grow your own, plant a culinary variety deliberately, such as Tagetes lucida, sold as Mexican mint marigold or Texas tarragon, or Tagetes minuta itself, and grow it as you would any herb you intend to eat.

Is huacatay the same as huacatay sauce?

No. Huacatay is the herb or the plain herb paste. Huacatay sauce, sometimes sold ready-made, is a finished condiment that typically also contains aji amarillo or rocoto, oil, cheese or evaporated milk, garlic and salt. If a recipe asks for huacatay paste and you buy the sauce, you are adding dairy, chile and salt as well, so cut those elsewhere and use less.

Related substitutes

More spices & herbs substitutes

Huacatay substitute

Other huacatay substitutes

2Jarred or frozen huacatay paste

3Mexican mint marigold (pericon, Texas tarragon)

4Thai basil plus fresh mint

5Epazote plus mint and basil

6Fresh mint alone