Herbes de Provence
Also known as herbes de provence, provencal herbs, herbs of provence
Quick answer
Older than Italian seasoning and not much older. The name dates from the 1970s, the herbs are genuinely Provençal, and the lavender that most people think defines it is a later addition aimed largely at export markets.
In essentially every version: Dried thyme, Dried savory, Dried rosemary, Dried oregano, Dried marjoram.
2distinct versions are recorded below. None of them is presented as the correct one, because there isn’t one.
A note on the name
The name is not protected as an appellation and blends sold under it need not contain herbs grown in Provence, which producers in the region have objected to. A Label Rouge certification exists covering composition and origin, and most products do not carry it. SpiceHQ records the blend as generic in the trade while noting that the region does not regard the name as fully generic, and does not claim that any particular product is or is not authentic.
What goes in it
The defining core first, then the versions. Roles are recorded so it is clear what each ingredient is doing.
| Ingredient | Role | How essential |
|---|---|---|
| ThymePresent in every version and usually the largest component. Thyme is the herb the blend is built around. | base | defining |
| SavoryThe component most often left out of a home-mixed version and the one that makes the blend taste of somewhere rather than of herbs generally. Peppery and slightly resinous, between thyme and oregano. | primary aromatic | defining |
| RosemaryKept low. Rosemary is resinous enough to take over a mix at a few per cent, and a blend that tastes of rosemary alone has too much of it. | primary aromatic | defining |
| Oregano | supporting aromatic | usual |
| MarjoramSweeter and more floral than oregano, and a distinct species rather than a grade of it. | supporting aromatic | usual |
| Basil | supporting aromatic | optional |
| Fennel seed (whole)Appears in some traditional versions and suits the blend well with fish, where the anise note belongs. | supporting aromatic | optional |
| LavenderThe most contested ingredient in the blend. It is absent from most French versions and near-universal in those sold for export, and it is what a great many people outside France assume the blend is defined by. Used at more than a trace it makes the mixture taste soapy. | finishing | optional |
High, and the variation runs along a specific line: French versions against export versions. A mix bought in a French market is thyme, savory, rosemary, oregano and marjoram, and tastes of the hillside. A boxed mix sold elsewhere is likely to carry lavender, often a noticeable quantity of it, and to read as floral. Neither is wrong, but they season a dish so differently that a recipe written for one and made with the other will not taste as intended. Beyond that, no authority defines the composition and none of it is protected.
The versions
Each attributed, with how firm its proportions are stated plainly.
Traditional French
regional traditionalCommon Provençal household and market composition · proportions representative · medium confidence
Thyme-led, savory-forward, no lavender. The version most French cooks would recognise.
| Ingredient | Parts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Dried thyme | 4 | 41% |
| Dried savory | 2 | 21% |
| Dried oregano | 2 | 21% |
| Dried marjoram | 1 | 10% |
| Dried rosemary | 0.5–1 | 8% |
Export blend with lavender
commercial typicalTypical composition of boxed blends sold outside France · proportions representative · low confidence
The same herbs with lavender added, and usually more rosemary. Floral where the French version is resinous.
| Ingredient | Parts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Dried thyme | 4 | 42% |
| Dried oregano | 2 | 21% |
| Dried rosemary | 1–2 | 16% |
| Dried marjoram | 1 | 10% |
| Dried savory | 0–1 | 5% |
| Dried lavender | 0.25–1 | 6% |
Recorded at low confidence. Boxed blends do not publish proportions, and the lavender fraction in particular varies from a trace to a great deal.
Using it
Roast chicken above all, then lamb, roast and grilled vegetables, ratatouille, tomato dishes, fish baked whole, and stews. It suits long dry heat: the herbs are woody and release slowly, which is why the blend works rubbed onto a roast and disappoints stirred into something at the end.
Resinous, savoury and slightly bitter, with thyme leading and rosemary behind it. The traditional version tastes dry and hillside-like; a lavender version is noticeably floral and reads as perfumed rather than herbal. It is a robust blend rather than a delicate one and stands up to roasting and grilling in a way most dried herbs do not.
None. Savory is described as peppery, which is an aromatic quality rather than pungency.
Scaling: Scales linearly, with rosemary and lavender the two to hold back rather than multiply. Both are strong enough that a mix scaled up faithfully can taste noticeably more resinous or more floral than the small batch it came from.
If you have none
Thyme with Savory and Oregano and Marjoram
Excellent matchUse: 1× by volume — Four parts thyme to two parts each savory and oregano to one part marjoram, with half a part rosemary. No lavender unless you want the export version.
Effectively the traditional blend, since the boxed product has no fixed formulation to reproduce. The component worth hunting for is savory, which is what makes the mixture taste of somewhere rather than of herbs generally and is the one most often left out of a home version.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | close | close | n/a |
Works for
- Roast chicken, lamb and vegetables
- Ratatouille, tomato dishes and whole baked fish
- Anywhere the boxed blend would have gone
Does not work for
- Nothing, provided savory is available — without it the mixture is a competent Mediterranean herb blend rather than this one
Cuisine: None. This is the French version rather than the export one, which is a difference worth choosing deliberately.
Whether to add lavender is the real decision. Most French versions have none, most export boxes do, and at more than a trace it makes the mixture taste soapy.
Italian seasoning with Rosemary
Good matchUse: 1× by volume — Like for like, with a little extra dried rosemary and savory if you have them. Both are herb mixtures of similar strength, so the volumes match.
The two overlap heavily — thyme, oregano, marjoram and rosemary appear in both — and differ in what each adds beyond that. Herbes de Provence carries savory and sometimes lavender and fennel; Italian seasoning carries basil and parsley. The swap gives a working herb mixture that tastes greener and less resinous than the original.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| partial | partial | close | n/a |
Works for
- Roast chicken, lamb and vegetables
- Stews and tomato dishes
- Anywhere the blend is one seasoning among several
Does not work for
- Dishes where savory or lavender was the point — a lavender-forward blend has a floral quality nothing else here supplies
- Delicate fish, where dried basil reads as out of place
Cuisine: Moves a Provencal dish towards a generically Mediterranean one, which is a small shift rather than a large one.
The reverse swap is equally serviceable, which is why the pair has a comparison page. Neither blend has a traditional formulation to violate: Italian seasoning is a North American product and the boxed herbes de Provence dates from the 1970s.
Storage
Good for: 9–18 months (typically 12 months)
Cool, dark, dry and closed.
Stale herbes de Provence is a quality matter. Kept dry it does not become unsafe with age.
Culture and origin
Provence by ingredient and the commercial spice trade by composition. The individual herbs are the wild aromatics of the Provençal hillsides and have been used together for a very long time; the fixed, named, boxed mixture is a product of the 1970s onward and has no single traditional formulation behind it.
Provence and southern France
The herbs are genuinely local — thyme, savory, rosemary and oregano grow wild across the garrigue — and cooking with them together is old. The named, boxed mixture is not: it dates from the 1970s, and a Provençal cook is as likely to use the herbs separately or to pick them. The name is unprotected, and blends sold as herbes de Provence need not contain herbs grown there at all, which is a point the region has objected to more than once.
The United States and Britain
Met almost entirely as a boxed blend, and usually a lavender-containing one, which is why the blend has a reputation for being floral that a French cook would find strange. It is used much as Italian seasoning is — as a general-purpose herb mix for chicken and vegetables.