Thyme Uses: The Dishes and Blends That Depend on It

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is a small woody herb of the mint family,¹ and its oil is built on thymol and carvacrol.² PROSEA lists butter, cheese, fish and meat among the foods it flavors,² and America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) classes it as a hearty herb that goes in early.³ This page is about where thyme goes: the dishes and blends that rely on it, with named recipes and the amounts they use. For timing, sprigs versus leaves and fresh-to-dried conversion, see cooking with thyme.

Thyme uses at a glance

Braises, stocks and soups

The classic bouquet garni is sprigs of parsley and thyme with a bay leaf, added to a soup, stew, sauce or poaching liquid for flavor.¹⁴ Saveur’s coq au vin bundles 12 thyme sprigs with 5 parsley sprigs and 3 bay leaves, marinates the chicken with the bundle, and puts it back in the pot for the braise.⁴ Gernot Katzer singles out fresh thyme branches as especially typical of French cooking.¹⁵ More on the bundle at bouquet garni.

Soups lean on the same thyme-and-bay pairing:

• French onion soup. Bernard Laurance’s onion soup gratin adds thyme and a bay leaf, or a bouquet garni in their place.⁵ See French onion soup spices.
• Clam chowder. Ryan Hardy’s New England clam chowder, in the James Beard Foundation archive, adds thyme and bay with cayenne, Worcestershire and Old Bay.⁶ See clam chowder spices.
• Pea soup. Sweden’s Thursday pea soup is cooked with onion, marjoram, thyme and ginger, according to the national inventory of living traditions.⁷ See split pea soup spices.
• Potato soup. University of Illinois Extension’s herb potato soup uses 1 teaspoon of crumbled dried thyme.¹⁶

A common claim makes thyme a primary seasoning of split pea and lentil soups in general. The Swedish soup is one named tradition that uses it; we found no source that ranks it first in either soup.

Blends built on thyme

Herbes de Provence. France’s Label Rouge specification sets thyme at 19 percent of the blend, beside rosemary and savory at 26 to 27 percent each.⁸ Leah Kaplan of The Takeout suggests the blend when grilling fish, marinating meat or roasting vegetables.¹⁷ See herbes de Provence and herbes de Provence uses.

Za’atar. A University of California Cooperative Extension Master Food Preservers recipe describes basic za’atar as sumac, thyme, oregano and sesame seeds.¹⁸ ATK’s za’atar uses 2 tablespoons of dried thyme.⁹ See za’atar and za’atar uses.

Poultry seasoning. McCormick Culinary’s poultry seasoning lists thyme first, ahead of sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg.¹⁰ See poultry seasoning.

Sausage seasoning. Katzer notes that dried marjoram goes into commercial sausage spice mixtures together with thyme.¹⁹

Poultry, stuffing and gravy

Yankee Magazine describes New England bread stuffing as lightly seasoned, with sage and thyme the dominant herbs.²⁰ ATK’s make-ahead giblet turkey gravy simmers 4 sprigs of fresh thyme and allows dried thyme instead.²¹ See good stuffing spices, turkey gravy spices and spices for turkey.

Jamaican, Haitian and Louisiana cooking

Katzer says Jamaican jerk often contains thyme, and that Creole cooking is particularly known for its extensive use of it.¹⁵ Saveur’s jerk chicken marinade uses 1 tablespoon of dried thyme.¹¹ Boston Medical Center’s teaching-kitchen recipe for epis, a Haitian seasoning base, uses parsley, green onions and thyme.²² In Louisiana, ATK’s chicken and shrimp jambalaya uses 1/2 teaspoon of minced fresh thyme leaves,²³ and the state tourism office lists thyme with paprika, filé, parsley and green onions in the Cajun pantry.²⁴ See Creole seasoning and jambalaya spices.

Vegetables and seafood

Britannica names basil and thyme as the typical seasonings of ratatouille,¹² and Katzer says fresh thyme suits Mediterranean vegetables generally.¹⁵ Oregon State University Extension’s roasted beets suggest thyme or cumin as an addition.¹³ Chef Jean-Pierre’s lobster thermidor uses 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh tarragon or thyme.²⁵ See roasted beet spices and eggplant spices.

Two popular uses have no named recipe behind them that we found, so they are offered as kitchen judgment only: thyme in tomato pasta and pizza sauces, where it sits easily with oregano and garlic, and a pinch of dried thyme in a white wine vinaigrette.

How much to use

The University of Delaware suggests 1 to 2 teaspoons for 6 servings for medium-strength herbs such as thyme (Attributed; it does not say fresh or dried), and warns that herbs can taste objectionable when overused.²⁶ The recipes above give a sense of range, from 1/2 teaspoon of fresh leaves in a pot of jambalaya to 2 tablespoons of dried thyme in a jar of za’atar. If a dish has gone too far, see too much thyme.

Related

• Thyme
• Cooking with thyme
• Fresh vs. dried thyme
• Thyme substitutes
• How to store thyme
• Oregano vs. thyme