What’s A Good Replacement For Dill? Try These 7 Substitutes

Replacement For Dill

Are you making a recipe that calls for dill seed or dill weed? If you don’t have it stock, few good options make a good replacement for dill.

Finding the right substitute for a herb like a dill is not easy.  First of all, you aren’t sure how the alternatives will impact the flavor of your recipe. Secondly, most herbs have a unique and distinct flavor. Still, we need to use one or another when there is a scarcity.

This article discusses different herbs that you can use instead of dill seed or weed.

What is Dill?

The dill plant (Anethum graveolens) has feathery green leaves and flat, oval fruits as seeds.

It’s an annual herb similar to celery. This plant replants itself by spreading widely to the extent of becoming a weed menace.

In cooking, dill is used as a culinary spice. Dill seeds are used in seasoning foods like pickles.  Dill weed is delicate and integrates well with salads, stews, sauces and egg recipes.

Herbal medicinal practitioners use dill seeds and the parts of the plant that grow above the ground as medicine. It is expected to help in dealing with digestive problems and kidney diseases. Dill weed and seeds are also used in the treatment of several other health issues like fever, cold, cough, bronchitis, hemorrhoids, and many more.

What’s a Good Replacement for Dill?

Regrettably, it’s hard to find a substitute that matches the flavor dill weed. Still, you can experiment with dill weed recipes using replacements with close similarities.

There are a few other herbs and seeds that have a somewhat similar appearance or taste of dill. You can choose a substitute according to the specific requirement of your recipe. Here are some of the best alternatives:

1. Tarragon

Tarragon, a species of perennial herb in the sunflower family, is a fantastic substitute for dill weed.

This herb is popular in France but now gaining popularity all over the world.

Your best bet dill substitute is none other than tarragon. Use it in a one-to-one ratio.

Tarragon is one of the main ingredients in Bearnaise sauce. It’s a fine choice to include in omelets making, fish and chicken recipes, soups, stews, and sauces. When it is blended with white-wine vinegar it delivers a licorice flavor.

Like the dill weed, it is not meant for pronged over-heat cooking as this can vanish away its flavor. Hence, use tarragon at the end of cooking.

2. Fennel

Just like dill, fennel has feathery fronds but has a thicker stem. 

If you are using dill weed for garnishing your dishes like salad or soups, you can also do the same with fennel fronds instead.

As for another advantage, its flavor is mild and sweet. It has licorice notes that can very well complement any dish that requires dill.

Fennel fronds are excellent for flavoring stews and soups. Its stems and leaves can be consumed with vegetables, meats, fish, and salads.

Fennel having many of the same features of dill, one can be swapped with the other.

3. Thyme

Thyme is a pungent-flavored herb that belongs to the mint family of herbs.  The tender leaves of thyme are a useful ingredient in seasoning and flavoring. In Mediterranean cooking, it is amply used in salads, sauces, marinades, pasta stews, and others. 

You can use thyme to flavor and garnish many of the dishes for which dill is used. In fact, it’s a good replacement for dill in sauces, salads, and stews.

Thyme is easy to use in cooking as this herb retains its flavor even at high heat cooking. So, you can comfortably include this herb in baking and roasting dishes.

4. Rosemary

Salvia Rosmarinus, commonly known as rosemary, is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, native to the Mediterranean region.

This herb is used in seasoning a variety of dishes such as soups, salads, casseroles, and stews. Also, it goes well with grains, spinach, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, and peas. It’s a good flavoring agent in some of the pork, lamp fish and chicken recipes in European cooking.

Rosemary is a good substitute for dill. Stems of this herb are more flavorful than the leaves.

5. Parsley

Parsley is a flowering plant native to the Mediterranean.

Now, it’s commonly used as a dried spice or fresh culinary herb. Most foods truly relish it’s mild, bitter flavor that pairs well with many recipes.

The unique and undertone flavor of parsley doesn’t dwindle the original taste of your recipes.

It is easy to incorporate fresh or dried leaves of parsley into your gourmet by adding them to sauces, salads, soups, and marinades.  

Instead of dill, you may try parsley for garnishing your favorite meat, fish, eggs, or vegetable recipes.

6. Chervil

Chervil, sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil, is a delicate annual herb related to parsley.

It has a mixed flavor of parsley and licorice. Many of the Italian and French recipes make good use of Chervil. Importantly, it goes well with most recipes because it doesn’t suppress or overwhelm the original flavor of the recipe. 

Chervil can be used in place of dill in recipes such as soups, stews, and salads. It’s a fine ingredient that can supplement other spices and herbs in cooking fish and meat recipes.

7. Basil

Basil is a herb in the mint family. It adds to your dish a strong sweet taste and aroma.

A variety of cuisines from Italian, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian cooking make good use of this herb.  

There are several verities of basil in different hues and aroma. Sweet basil is typically used in Italian and Mediterranean cuisines. Thai basil is popularly used in East Asian cuisines.

Basil works great when used in spaghetti, pasta, pickles, salads, and marinades.

The Bottom Line

Despite having a delicate and distinct flavor, dill has a few good alternatives. All that matters is how correctly you can integrate the substitute spices into your dish.

When you are using a substitute, it is important to make sure of its compatibility with the other ingredients in your dish.

To sum up, the top three substitutes for dill we recommend are tarragon, fennel, and thyme.

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