Can I Use Dried Herbs Instead of Fresh?

Yes, you can substitute dried herbs for fresh in most cooked dishes. Two things change: the amount and the timing.

The ratio

Dried herbs are more concentrated than fresh because the water has been removed. The standard conversion is one teaspoon of dried for every one tablespoon of fresh. If a recipe calls for one tablespoon of fresh thyme, use one teaspoon of dried.

The timing

Dried herbs need heat and time to release their flavor. Add them early in cooking, when you are building the base, so they have time to bloom in the oil or liquid. Fresh herbs are the opposite: most of them lose their brightness when cooked too long, so they go in at the very end or are used raw as a finish.

When dried does not work

Do not substitute dried herbs when the recipe uses fresh herbs as a salad ingredient, a garnish, or in a raw dressing. Dried basil on a Caprese is not the same thing. For cooked applications, dried is often fine and sometimes better, especially for slow-cooked dishes like stews and braises.

Hardy herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano dry well and retain strong flavor. Delicate herbs like basil, cilantro, and parsley lose most of their character when dried and are best used fresh. For more on how garlic behaves similarly across stages, see From Bitter to Beautiful: Cooking Garlic.

Have a substitution question while you are mid-recipe? Sous can help. Available in the Kitchen membership at chefhealthyhenry.com.