What to use instead of lovage
Quick answer
The closest option is Celery seed, rated good. The closest substitute available in an ordinary shop, and a genuinely good one: celery seed and lovage share the phthalides that give both their savoury depth, so the register transfers almost intact. What changes is the shape of the delivery — a seed extracts more slowly than a leaf and carries a slight bitterness the leaf does not — and celery seed is available everywhere while lovage is not.
It will not do for: Dishes wanting the fresh green note of the living herb; Anything already carrying celery or celery seed, which this will double.
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.
Celery seed
Good matchUse: ~0.25× by volume — A quarter of the volume of dried lovage leaf, and less again against fresh. Celery seed is dense and concentrated where lovage leaf is light.
The closest substitute available in an ordinary shop, and a genuinely good one: celery seed and lovage share the phthalides that give both their savoury depth, so the register transfers almost intact. What changes is the shape of the delivery — a seed extracts more slowly than a leaf and carries a slight bitterness the leaf does not — and celery seed is available everywhere while lovage is not.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | close | different | n/a |
Works for
- Soups, stocks and broths
- Anywhere lovage was supplying savoury depth rather than green freshness
Does not work for
- Dishes wanting the fresh green note of the living herb
- Anything already carrying celery or celery seed, which this will double
Parsley with Celery seed
AcceptableUse: ~2× by volume — Roughly twice the volume of parsley, with celery seed added at about a tenth of that. Conventional rather than measured, and the celery seed is the part to be careful with.
The second option, and a genuinely different one from celery seed alone: lovage is a leaf and behaves like one, so a leaf has to do part of the work. Parsley supplies the green bulk and the texture, celery seed the concentrated savoury note, and between them they cover more of lovage than either does by itself. What is still missing is the faint aniseed edge lovage has and neither of them does.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| partial | partial | close | n/a |
Works for
- Soups, stocks and broths, where lovage is most often used
- Potato and pulse dishes
- Anywhere the herb is chopped in fresh rather than infused
Does not work for
- Dishes where lovage is the identifying flavour, such as a Romanian or Georgian soup built on it
- Recipes calling for the whole stem, which is used like a vegetable
Celery seed alone is the better answer for a stock; this is the better answer for anything where the herb is visible.