The Best Substitutes for Basil (And When to Use Each One)

What Makes a Good Basil Substitute

I’ve run out of basil mid-recipe more times than I’d like to admit, usually right when the sauce is already simmering.

The short answer is that oregano, marjoram, mint, tarragon, cilantro, and parsley all work as basil substitutes — the right pick just depends on the dish and the cuisine.

Basil has a very specific personality: sweet, a little peppery, faintly like anise, and completely different once it hits heat versus when it’s raw.

That’s the first thing to figure out before you swap anything. Are you using basil raw, like in a caprese salad, or cooked into a sauce?

In my experience, substitutes fall into two camps: herbs that mimic basil’s sweetness (oregano, marjoram) and herbs that bring a totally different but equally good freshness (mint, cilantro, tarragon).

Neither camp is wrong. It just depends on what the dish actually needs from the herb.

I’d also flag that basil itself isn’t one flavor. Sweet Italian basil, Thai basil, and holy basil (also called tulsi) all taste different, so ‘a substitute for basil’ means something different depending on the cuisine you’re cooking.

Best Fresh Herb Substitutes for Basil

If you have a choice, always reach for a fresh substitute over a dried one when a recipe calls for fresh basil — texture and moisture matter as much as flavor.

If you just need a general substitute for fresh basil and aren’t sure which way to go, start with fresh oregano for cooked dishes or fresh mint for raw ones.

Oregano and Marjoram

This is my go-to swap for Italian cooking. Oregano is more pungent and slightly bitter, so I use about half as much by volume as the basil called for.

Marjoram is oregano’s gentler cousin and honestly reads closer to basil’s sweetness. If you can find it, it’s my first pick for tomato sauces and soups.

Fresh Mint

Mint sounds like an odd choice until you remember basil is in the same botanical family. The flavor isn’t identical, but the cooling, bright quality is a genuine match for salads, Vietnamese noodle bowls, and even a summer pasta.

I’ve written more about how these two herbs compare, including where they overlap and where they really don’t, in this basil vs mint breakdown if you want to dig into the differences.

Fresh Tarragon

Tarragon has that same faint anise note basil has, just sharper and more assertive. I use it sparingly — start with a third of the amount — in cream sauces, egg dishes, or chicken salad where basil would normally go.

It also works well in marinades for chicken, especially if the original recipe leaned on basil for a summery, herbal note.

Fresh Cilantro or Parsley

Neither tastes like basil, but both bring the same job: a fresh, green lift at the end of cooking. Cilantro works well in anything with a Southeast Asian or Mexican lean.

Parsley is the safest neutral swap when you just need color and freshness without a strong opinion.

The Best Substitute for Basil in Pesto

Pesto is the one place people get stuck, because the whole point of the sauce is basil’s flavor front and center.

The trick I always come back to is flat-leaf parsley with a little extra lemon juice and a pinch more garlic — it gives you that same bright, grassy backbone without basil’s specific sweetness.

Arugula pesto is another favorite of mine when I want something punchier. It’s peppery rather than sweet, so it’s fantastic on grilled bread or roasted vegetables, just less of a one-to-one stand-in.

Spinach works too, mostly as a volume filler, but I always blend it with at least one stronger herb (parsley, mint, or a little oregano) so the sauce doesn’t taste flat.

Whatever you choose, keep the pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan the same — that base is what makes pesto taste like pesto, more than the leaf itself does.

Thai Basil and Other Asian Basil Substitutes

This is the query I get asked about most, and it deserves a real answer instead of just ‘use regular basil.’

Thai basil has a licorice-forward, slightly spicy edge that sweet Italian basil simply doesn’t have, so a straight swap changes the dish more than people expect.

What’s a Good Substitute for Thai Basil?

My honest go-to substitute for Thai basil is a mix of fresh mint and a small pinch of anise seed or a few fennel fronds — it gets you the cooling herb note plus that licorice whisper Thai basil is known for.

If you don’t want to fuss with anise, sweet Italian basil plus a tiny pinch of ground star anise is a reasonable alternative to Thai basil in stir-fries and curries, though it will read sweeter and less peppery.

For Thai basil leaves in a noodle salad or as a raw garnish, I lean on mint and cilantro together rather than basil at all — the combination reads closer to the real thing than sweet basil ever does.

Substitutes for Holy Basil (Tulsi)

Holy basil, used in dishes like Thai basil chicken (pad kra pao), is peppery and almost clove-like — closer to Thai basil than to sweet basil.

If you can’t find it, Thai basil is the best substitute, and in a real pinch, sweet basil with a pinch of black pepper gets you into the same neighborhood.

Basil Substitutes for Specific Dishes

Beyond the general rules above, a handful of specific dishes come up so often that they deserve their own quick answers.

Caprese Salad

Caprese lives or dies on texture as much as flavor, so I skip the neat chiffonade cut here and instead tear fresh mint leaves by hand, mixing in a few thin celery leaves for the bite basil normally provides.

A generous drizzle of good olive oil and flaky salt does a lot of the heavy lifting too — don’t skimp there just because the herb is different.

Margherita Pizza

For pizza, I stir a pinch of dried oregano into the sauce before baking, then scatter fresh marjoram or torn mint over the top the moment the pie comes out of the oven, the same way you’d finish with basil.

Vinaigrette or Salad Dressing

Fresh tarragon is my favorite swap here — whisked into a Dijon vinaigrette, it brings the same faint sweetness basil would, just sharper. Chives work too if you want something milder and more neutral.

Soup or Stew Garnish

A handful of chopped parsley with a little lemon zest stirred in right before serving does the job basil usually does in minestrone or vegetable soup — it’s there to brighten the whole pot, not dominate it.

Dried Basil Substitutes and the Fresh-to-Dried Ratio

If a recipe calls for dried basil and you’re out, dried oregano or dried marjoram are the closest matches, used in the same amount and adjusted to taste.

As for what’s equivalent, one part dried basil generally replaces three parts fresh basil — so 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped basil becomes about 1 teaspoon dried.

Flip that around: if a recipe calls for dried basil and you only have fresh on hand, use three times the amount of fresh, chopped finely, to replace fresh basil with dried in reverse.

This ratio holds for most dried herbs because drying concentrates the essential oils that carry flavor, which is also why dried basil tastes noticeably more muted and grassy than fresh — fresh basil holds more water weight per USDA FoodData Central record for raw basil.

Dried basil also loses its bright, fresh top notes fast, so if your jar is more than six months old, it’s worth using a little extra or swapping in dried oregano instead.

Substituting for Specialty Basil Varieties

Recipes sometimes call for a specific basil variety by name — cinnamon basil, lemon basil, or Genovese basil — and the substitute changes slightly depending on which one you’re missing.

What to Substitute for Cinnamon Basil

If a recipe asks for 1 cup packed cinnamon basil, my go-to fix is 1 cup packed sweet basil plus a small pinch of ground cinnamon, mixed in right before using.

Thai basil also works in place of cinnamon basil since both have that warm, slightly spicy undertone sweet basil lacks on its own.

What to Substitute for Lemon Basil

Lemon basil is easiest to replace with sweet basil plus a little lemon zest, or fresh basil combined with a squeeze of lemon juice added just before serving.

Storing Your Substitute Herbs So They Last

Whatever fresh herb you land on, treat it like a bouquet — trim the stems and stand it in a jar of water on the counter, not in the crisper drawer.

Mint and parsley last well over a week this way; tender herbs like tarragon and cilantro do better loosely wrapped in a damp paper towel inside a bag in the fridge.

The Colorado State University Extension guide to cooking with herbs is a good resource if you want more detail on handling and storing fresh versus dried herbs long-term.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The biggest mistake I see is using the exact same amount of a stronger herb — oregano, tarragon, and dried herbs in general are more concentrated than fresh basil, so a 1:1 swap almost always overpowers the dish.

The second mistake is adding delicate substitutes like mint or basil-family herbs too early. Add them at the very end of cooking, off the heat, or they turn bitter and lose their color.

Third, don’t assume every basil variety substitutes the same way — a Thai basil dish swapped with sweet basil will taste noticeably flatter, not just ‘close enough.’

A Note on Herb Allergies

Basil belongs to the mint family, and several common substitutes — mint, oregano, marjoram, and tarragon — are close botanical relatives.

If you have a diagnosed allergy to basil, mint, or another herb in this family, don’t assume a substitute is automatically safer just because it isn’t basil itself.

Food allergies can involve cross-reactivity between related plants, so this is worth taking seriously rather than guessing. The NIH NIAID overview of food allergy explains how these reactions develop.

If you or someone you’re cooking for has a known or suspected herb allergy, avoid the substitute in question and speak with a healthcare professional before using it, as outlined by the Mayo Clinic’s guide to food allergy symptoms and causes.

This is separate from ordinary food-safety basics like washing fresh herbs before use, which still apply no matter which herb you choose.