What Is Herbes de Provence and How Do I Use It?

By: chef ssentongo

If herbes de Provence is good enough for Julia Child, it should definitely be in your spice rack. Here’s everything you need to know about this French herb blend.

Let’s go over the basics of this traditional herb mix, plus suggestions for how to use it.

What is herbes de Provence?

Herbes de Provence is a multi-purpose spice blend that is made with dried herbs that are commonly grown or used in France’s Provence region. There isn’t a standard blend, so the ingredients and their proportions vary from person to person and brand to brand.

That said, herbs de Provence typically contains:

• Thyme
• Savory
• Marjoram
• Rosemary
• Fennel
• Basil

It can also have chervil, oregano, mint, parsley, tarragon, and in North American blends, lavender. The combination gives food a uniquely herbal and floral flavor, especially when lavender is included.

Julia Child is credited for introducing herbs de Provence to American home cooks with her recipe for poulet saute aux herbes de Provence. The chicken skillet dish appeared in Child’s 1961 Mastering the Art of French Cooking  and included thyme, savory, basil and ground fennel.

What do you use herbes de Provence in?

Herbes de Provence pairs well with classic dishes like vegetable or beef stew, roast chicken and fish. Or, you can use it to zhuzh up a homemade vinaigrette or veggie side dish. Unsurprisingly, herbes de Provence is used in many of our favorite French recipes

What is a substitute for herbes de Provence?

There isn’t really an herb blend that’s a direct substitute for herbes de Provence. But if you don’t have the blend on hand, you can easily make your own. This could mean mixing together a few pinches of thyme, rosemary and tarragon for a roast chicken or savory, basil and marjoram in a lentil stew. Play with what you have!

Hebes de Provence Recipe

As noted above, there’s no strict recipe for herbes de Provence, so this is just a starting point. Once you become more familiar with the flavors of the blend, you can adjust it to your tastes, increasing or decreasing the proportions and adding or removing herbs as you like.

• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon dried summer savory
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon ground fennel
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon culinary lavender, optional

Instructions: Mix the herbs well and store in an airtight container for up to a year.

Where to buy: Herbes de Provence can also be readily found in your local grocery store in the spice aisle.

Now that you have your herbes de Provence, it’s time to get cookin’! You can start with any of these recipes use herbes de Provence.

AUTHOR

Chef ssentongo

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Chef ssentongo

Chef ssentongo is a restaurant chef and recipe developer known for delicious food and cooking ideas

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