Here's everything worth knowing about italian seasoning and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 275 recipes to cook tonight.

What is italian seasoning?

Italian seasoning is a dried herb blend built for Mediterranean cooking. Most jars lean on the same backbone: oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram, sometimes rounded out with sage or a little dried parsley.

What it skips matters too. A true Italian seasoning has no garlic, no salt, and no chili, which is what separates it from a taco or all-purpose mix.

It tastes the way a simmering pot of tomato sauce smells: green, faintly piney from the rosemary, with the warm camphor note oregano brings. One teaspoon does the work of pulling out four or five separate jars, which is why it sits in nearly every American pantry.

How to Use Italian Seasoning

These are dried, sturdy herbs, so add them early and give them time and fat to bloom. Stir a teaspoon into the oil or onions at the start of a sauce or braise, where the heat releases the herb oils into the dish instead of leaving them dry on top.

That early-and-low habit is why it carries long-cooked dishes so well, from a Best Lasagna layered with ricotta to a slow Spaghetti with Zesty Marinara Sauce.

It is not only for red sauce. Toss a spoonful with olive oil over potatoes or chicken before roasting, or fold it into the filling of Beef & Cheese Manicotti. A pinch in pizza dough or garlic-bread butter wakes the whole thing up.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

It loves tomato, garlic, olive oil, and any cheese in the parmesan or mozzarella family. It belongs with ground beef, sausage, white beans, and summer squash, which is why it lands in everything from frittatas to a Sausage & Roasted Pepper Calzone.

The usual mistake is treating dried herbs like fresh and adding them at the very end. Sprinkled raw onto a finished plate they taste dusty and grassy, because nothing has drawn out their oils.

The fix is simple. Get them in during cooking, or at least let them sit a few minutes in something warm and fatty.

The other trap is age. A jar that has been open two years has faded to brown confetti with almost no aroma, so you keep adding more and still taste nothing.

Substitutes

Out of the jar? Build your own from what an Italian mix already contains. Equal parts dried oregano and dried basil cover most of the flavor. Add a little thyme and a small pinch of rosemary if you have them, since rosemary is strong and takes over fast.

Herbes de Provence is the closest single-jar swap, though it skews more floral thanks to lavender and is better on roast chicken than in marinara.

Plain dried oregano alone will do for pizza and tomato sauce, where oregano is already the dominant note. Use the same quantity the recipe calls for in each case.

Buying and Storing

Buy the smallest jar you will realistically finish in a year. Crush a few leaves between your fingers in the store if you can. A fresh blend smells sharply of oregano and rosemary, while a tired one barely registers.

Store it in a tightly closed jar away from the stove, since heat and steam are what strip the flavor. A drawer or a closed cabinet beats the open spice rack right above the range.

Whole dried herbs hold their punch for one to three years. Italian seasoning is crumbled and high in surface area, though, so treat one year as the practical window. When a pinch rubbed in your palm gives you no smell, it has nothing left to give the food.

Quick facts

In Chinese

意大利调味

British (UK) term

Italian seasoning

en français

assaisonnement à l'italienne

en español

condimento italiano

Recipes using italian seasoning

There are 275 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 275 recipes

More italian seasoning recipes

• Baked Zucchini Fries (low-carb)
• Brown Rice & Lentil Stew (Vegan)
• Cheese & Chili Soup
• Collards & Tomatoes
• Crock Pot Chicken
• Crockpot Italian Chicken
• Easy Cheesy Snack Bread
• Easy Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce
• Eggplant Casserole
• Eggs In A Tomato
• Fast Food 4
• Favourite Bean Scallion Burgers
• Fried Shrimp
• Fuss Free Parmesan Chicken
• Grilled Eggplant
• Halloween Witches' Broom Sticks
• Healthy Garden Quiche
• Homemade House Dressing
• Homemade Pan Bread with Fresh Herbs
• Italian Balsamic Chicken
• Make Ahead Rolled Up Pizzas
• Minestrone Soup (Delux)
• Picnic Pie with Cheese & Ham
• Pop the Cork Pasta Crunch
• Potluck Surprise
• Red Lobster Biscuits
• Red Lobster Style Bread
• Slow Cooker Beef Ravioli Casserole
• Spa Pizzas
• Spaghetti Bread (ABM)
• Tomato Bread (Abm)
• Veggie or Casserole Topper