Summer Savory Uses: Beans, Stuffing, Fricot and Bulgarian Blends

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis) is an annual herb of the mint family.¹ Britannica says it seasons poultry and stuffings in particular,² and when America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) tasted it, most tasters found that it resembled thyme and sage.³ Its other big job is beans. This page covers what to use summer savory in, with named recipes and amounts where they exist. For how much to add, when to add it and how to keep it, see cooking with summer savory.

Summer savory uses at a glance

Beans and lentils

In German, savory is Bohnenkraut, which Duden defines as an herb used as a seasoning especially for bean dishes.⁴ Gernot Katzer says savory is very often used for legumes, especially dishes made from dried lentils or beans,⁸ and suggests pairing it with hyssop in rustic bean or potato recipes.⁸ We found no source that favors one kind of bean over another, so any bean pot is a reasonable place for it (our judgment).

A widely repeated claim says savory reduces the gas that beans cause. We found no source that supports it.

Stuffing and poultry

Britannica’s main uses for savory are poultry and stuffings.² The clearest example is Newfoundland dressing, a bread stuffing in which savory is the point. Barry C. Parsons of Rock Recipes uses 2 to 4 tablespoons of dried savory for 4 cups of coarse breadcrumbs.⁵ See good stuffing spices.

A common claim makes summer savory an important part of poultry seasoning. McCormick Culinary’s poultry seasoning is thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg, with no savory.⁹ If you are out of summer savory for a stuffing, ATK replaced it with 2 parts fresh thyme to 1 part fresh sage (Attributed).³ See summer savory substitutes.

Acadian fricot

Fricot is the Acadian stew of potatoes, meat and dumplings. In Canada’s History, Marie Fitrion recalls her mother’s rule that it wasn’t fricot until you added summer savory, and notes that rabbit was the meat of choice for Christmas, New Year’s and Easter.⁶ Her chicken fricot adds 1 tablespoon of dried summer savory, or 1 to 2 chopped fresh sprigs, to the pot with the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and bouillon.⁶

Herbes de Provence and other blends

France’s Label Rouge specification for herbes de Provence sets savory (sarriette) at 26 to 27 percent, matching rosemary, with thyme at 19 percent.⁷ The specification text does not name the savory species. Katzer says savory is often, though not necessarily, part of herbes de Provence.⁸ See herbes de Provence.

Savory also turns up in blends people may not expect. McCormick’s Italian seasoning lists it alongside marjoram, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage,¹⁰ and Katzer says it appears in most versions of Georgian khmeli-suneli.⁸ See Italian seasoning and khmeli-suneli.

Bulgaria

Katzer calls savory the most frequently used culinary herb in Bulgaria.⁸ Bulgarian table blends may combine salt, paprika and dried herbs such as savory, thyme, basil and lovage, and these are often known as sharena sol.⁸ He also names savory, with black pepper, as the seasoning of kavurma, a meat stew, and uses it in the filling for sarmi, stuffed cabbage rolls.⁸ He does not say which savory species Bulgarian cooks use.

Vegetables, mushrooms and sausage

Despite its resemblance to thyme, Katzer says savory is rarely used for meats and mostly for vegetables,⁸ and he finds it well suited to mushrooms.⁸ The exception is processed meat: savory is frequently found in commercial spice mixtures for sausages, pâtés and pickles.⁸

Bouquet garni

Britannica’s classic bouquet garni is parsley, thyme and a bay leaf, without savory.¹¹ Katzer notes that savory often goes into German versions of the bundle,⁸ which suits a bean pot. See bouquet garni.

Uses we could not confirm

• A pepper substitute before pepper was common, and savory as a Roman table condiment: no source found.
• Savory with oily fish such as mackerel and trout, or in place of parsley in gremolata: no source found. Katzer’s only fish note concerns a lemon-scented Croatian savory, not summer savory.
• Savory in dry rubs and marinades as its most popular use: Katzer’s account points the other way, toward vegetables.

How much to use

The University of Delaware puts savory in its medium-strength group, for which it suggests 1 to 2 teaspoons for 6 servings (Attributed).¹² Fitrion’s fricot uses 1 tablespoon of dried savory for a whole chicken,⁶ and Parsons’s dressing up to 4 tablespoons, because savory is the main flavor.⁵ Katzer says boiling drastically reduces savory’s aroma, and adds it only a minute or two before a dish is finished.⁸ More on timing at cooking with summer savory.

Related

• Summer savory
• Winter savory uses
• Summer savory vs. winter savory
• Winter savory