What to use instead of herbes de provence
Quick answer
The closest option is Thyme with Savory and Oregano and Marjoram, rated excellent. 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.
It will not do for: Nothing, provided savory is available — without it the mixture is a competent Mediterranean herb blend rather than this one.
All recorded options
Ranked by suitability. Ratios are given only where they are defensible, and always with their basis — by weight or by volume — because spice densities differ.
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.
Where herbes de provence stands in for something else
The reverse view of the same graph.
- Instead of Poultry seasoning — situational