Muna (Andean mint) substitutes
Muna (Andean mint) substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Dried spearmint plus dried Mexican oregano (2:1)
Same amount as the muna (Andean mint)
For the muna called for, mixed 2 parts spearmint to 1 part Mexican oregano
Muna's job is aroma: a cooling menthol lift with a dry, savoury, oregano-like back end. For Andean soups, potato dishes and pachamanca, the best swap is 2 parts dried spearmint to 1 part dried Mexican oregano, used 1:1 for the muna. For mate de muna, a peppermint or spearmint tea bag with a small pinch of dried oregano in the cup gets you most of the way there. Nothing on a supermarket shelf has muna's exact camphor-and-herb combination, so expect a brighter, sweeter, less resinous result.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- What changes —
- different taste, similar texture
- Best for —
- Andean potato and cheese dishes
Updated 26 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of muna (Andean mint) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dried spearmint plus dried Mexican oregano (2:1)Andean potato and cheese dishes | Same amountFor the muna called for, mixed 2 parts spearmint to 1 part Mexican oreganoTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Dried or fresh spearmint on its ownmuna tea | Same amount, dried for dried1 tablespoon chopped fresh for 1 teaspoon dried munaTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Peppermint (leaf or tea bag)mate de muna style tea | 1 tea bag per cup for muna tea; use half as much as you would spearmint in cooked dishesTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Epazotebean and corn stews | Same amount, driedOr half as much freshTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Fresh mint plus a little lemon thyme or thymeroast lamb or pork | 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint plus ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves per teaspoon dried munaYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Leaving it out (and rebalancing)chairo | Omit, then add a pinch of dried oregano and a squeeze of lime per servingTweak it | Tweak it |
Dried spearmint plus dried Mexican oregano (2:1)
different taste, similar texture
The most reliable pantry rebuild. The spearmint covers muna's cooling menthol side and the Mexican oregano covers the dry, slightly bitter, resinous side that plain mint completely misses.
- Best for
- Andean potato and cheese dishes, pachamanca rubs, chairo and other highland soups, seasoning for pork or lamb
The result is brighter and a little sweeter than real muna, and it loses the faint camphor edge that makes muna taste medicinal in a pleasant way. Crush the mix between your palms before adding it so the oregano oils wake up. If the dish tastes too candy-like, add another pinch of oregano rather than less mint.
Dried or fresh spearmint on its own
different taste, similar texture
The single-ingredient answer, and the one most people reach for. 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.
Peppermint (leaf or tea bag)
different taste, similar texture
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.
- 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.
Epazote
different taste, similar texture
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.
- 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.
Fresh mint plus a little lemon thyme or thyme
different taste and texture
A good option if you have a herb garden but no dried spices worth using. 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.
Leaving it out (and rebalancing)
different taste, similar texture
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.
- 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.
Questions
5 questionsCan I just use regular mint instead of muna?
Yes, and it is the sensible everyday answer, as long as you know what you are giving up. Spearmint at 1:1 gives you the cooling aroma but tastes distinctly sweeter, because muna carries a dry, faintly bitter, oregano-like undertone that ordinary mint does not have. Adding a third as much dried Mexican oregano as mint puts most of that back and takes ten seconds.
Can I just leave muna out?
In a mixed soup or stew, yes. It is a finishing aroma, not the structure of the dish, so nothing will break. Add a pinch of dried oregano and a squeeze of lime per bowl to restore the lift. In a muna tea, or in a recipe where the herb is named in the title, there is nothing left without it, so use a mint tea bag instead.
Is muna the same as huacatay or chincho?
No, and they are not interchangeable. Muna is a true mint relative, cool and menthol-forward. Huacatay and chincho are in the marigold family, and taste resinous, green and slightly anise-like with no cooling quality at all. If a Peruvian recipe asks for muna and you have huacatay paste, the dish will still be good but it will smell like a completely different part of Peru.
Where can I buy real muna, and is dried as good as fresh?
Outside the Andes it turns up in Peruvian and Bolivian grocery shops and online as loose dried leaf or as tea bags, usually labelled muna, muna muna or Andean mint. Dried is the normal form even in Peru, so you are not settling for less. Fresh muna is essentially unobtainable abroad, which is why the mint-and-oregano rebuild is the practical answer rather than a compromise.
Does muna tea actually help with altitude?
It is the traditional Andean digestive and altitude tea and it is served everywhere in Cusco and Puno for that reason, but that is custom rather than a medical claim, and it is not a treatment for altitude sickness. If you liked it on a trip and want the same cup at home, peppermint or spearmint tea with a crushed oregano leaf is a close and pleasant stand-in.
Tips for substituting muna (Andean mint)
5 tips- Muna is almost always sold dried, in a bag from a Peruvian market or a Cusco pharmacy shelf, and dried muna is much stronger than dried spearmint. Start with about two thirds of the amount your recipe asks for if you are working from a Peruvian source and adjusting to supermarket mint, then taste.
- Crush dried muna or its stand-in between your palms directly over the pot. The aromatic oils are volatile and the difference between crumbled and uncrumbled leaf is large enough to notice in a bowl of soup.
- In pachamanca and roasts, muna goes on early as part of the rub, because it is one of the few mint-family herbs that survives long dry heat without turning to hay. Substitute mint does not, so add mint-based blends in the last few minutes instead and keep only the oregano portion in the rub.
- Muna belongs to the same broad group as pennyroyal, sometimes sold in Latin markets as poleo, and the two are often treated as interchangeable. Do not reach for pennyroyal essential oil under any circumstances, as concentrated pennyroyal oil is toxic to the liver, and pregnant people are usually advised to avoid pennyroyal in any form. Plain culinary spearmint or peppermint is the safe swap.
- Muna is an aroma, not a salt, acid or thickener, so swapping it never changes how a dish sets, thickens or seasons. If a dish tastes flat after you substitute, the fix is salt or a squeeze of lime, not more herb.