Muna (Andean Mint) substitute

Substitutes for Muna (Andean Mint) with ratios

1. 2Dried or fresh spearmint on its own

   Different taste

   Use the same amount dried for dried; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh for 1 teaspoon dried muna

   The single-ingredient answer, and the one most people reach for.

   What changes

   It gives you the recognisable mint direction with none of the herbal bitterness.

   Best for

   muna tea, finishing a soup, quick weeknight cooking

   A soup made with spearmint alone tastes noticeably sweeter and rounder, more like a Middle Eastern mint broth than an Andean one, because muna's savoury bitterness is doing real work against the starch of the potatoes. Add a small pinch of dried thyme or oregano per teaspoon of mint to close most of that gap.

2. 3Peppermint (leaf or tea bag)

   Different taste

   Use 1 tea bag for every cup for muna tea; use half as much as you would spearmint in cooked dishes

   Closest to the sharp menthol hit that Cusco altitude tea is prized for, which is why it is the better choice for the drink and the worse choice for food.

   What changes

   Best for

   mate de muna style tea, after-dinner infusions, settling a heavy meal

   Peppermint is far more aggressive than muna and reads as toothpaste when you push it, so it takes over a savoury dish completely. In the cup it is genuinely close: brew it a little weaker than the packet says, and drop in one crushed dried oregano leaf if you want the earthy note muna has.

3. 4Epazote

   Different taste

   Use the same amount dried, or half as much fresh

   Not a mint at all, but it does the same job muna does in Andean bean, corn and potato cooking: a pungent, slightly bitter aromatic that cuts starch and stops a heavy dish from tasting flat.

   What changes

   Best for

   bean and corn stews, highland soups, boiled or stewed potatoes

   The aroma is completely different, more petrol and citrus peel than menthol, so the dish will not smell like muna at all. But it lands in the same place on the palate, and in a pot of beans or a thick soup most people would not say anything is missing. Do not use it in tea.

4. 5Fresh mint plus a little lemon thyme or thyme

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint plus ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves for every teaspoon dried muna

   A good option if you have a herb garden but no dried spices worth using.

   What changes

   Thyme supplies the woody, slightly resinous background that separates muna from ordinary mint.

   Best for

   roast lamb or pork, potato and cheese gratins, fresh salsas served with grilled meat

   Fresher and greener than muna, with a herb-garden smell rather than a dried-highland one. Add the mint at the very end, since fresh mint goes dull and hay-like after more than a couple of minutes of simmering, while thyme can go in early.

5. 6Leaving it out (and rebalancing)

   Different taste

   Use Omit, then add a pinch of dried oregano and a squeeze of lime for every serving

   In a soup or stew with plenty of other aromatics, muna is a grace note rather than a foundation, and skipping it will not ruin anything.

   What changes

   Best for

   chairo, vegetable soups, any dish where muna is one herb among several

   The dish comes out heavier and less lifted, which matters most in the starchy potato and grain dishes muna usually seasons. A small pinch of oregano and a little acid at the end does most of the lifting muna was there to do. In a dish named after the herb, such as a muna infusion, leaving it out means you are making nothing at all, so use mint instead.