Top 5 Dill Weed Substitutes for Fish, Salads and Pickles

Fresh dill is the best substitute for dried dill weed, at one tablespoon chopped for each teaspoon dried. Tarragon at half the amount suits fish and cream sauces, and parsley with lemon zest suits potato salad. Thyme works in long-simmered soup, and dill or fennel seed belongs only in pickles.

What is dill weed?

The feathery leaf of the dill plant, sold fresh or dried. Fresh dill and dried dill weed are the same herb. Dill seed comes from the same plant and tastes much stronger.

The flavor

Grassy and fresh, with a light anise note

Forms

Fresh fronds, dried dill weed and the separate dill seed

Conversion

1 tsp dried dill weed equals about 1 tbsp chopped fresh

Usual dishes

Salmon, yogurt sauces, dips, potato salad, soups and pickles

Weak point

The fresh aroma fades quickly under heat

• Fresh fronds: the same herb in its fresh form.
• Dried dill weed: green flakes that spread through sauces.
• Dill seed: tan seeds with a stronger, warmer flavor.

Check which form your recipe names before you swap. A recipe that says dill weed expects soft leaves that vanish into a sauce, and a seed will not do that.

What replaces a teaspoon of dried dill?

Fresh dill is the best by far, since it is the same herb. The other four each keep one part of what dill does.

• Fresh volume: one tablespoon for one teaspoon dried.
• Cold sauce: yogurt holds the fresh aroma.
• Late addition: stir it in after cooking.

Dried tarragon is the closest different herb, since both carry an anise note. It is sweeter and stronger than dill. Half the amount is enough.

Start with half of what you think you need, let a dried herb soften for a few minutes, and then taste.

Which swap suits salmon, potato salad or soup?

Each needs its own, because dill does a different job in a cold salad, a warm sauce and a soup.

• Flat parsley: green color with no anise.
• Fine zest: aroma without bitter white pith.
• Rested salad: taste it after ten minutes.

Flat-leaf parsley does not taste like dill, but in potato salad the mustard, onion and mayonnaise share the flavor load. The missing anise note is much easier to notice in a plain dill sauce.

Can dill seed replace dill weed?

Only in pickles, brines and long braises.

Dill seed is stronger and warmer than the leaf, and the seeds stay hard. In a yogurt sauce or a dip they feel gritty and taste too heavily spiced.

In a brine the seed is the traditional choice anyway. Start with about half a teaspoon of dill seed for each teaspoon of dried dill weed, and give it time to soak.

Why does dill go in late and thyme early?

Because tender leaves lose their smell in heat, while woody herbs need time to soften and seeds need time in liquid.

1. Check the formMake sure the recipe asks for dill weed and not dill seed
2. Name the cooking stageCold food, a gentle sauce, a long simmer or a brine each need a different swap
3. Add tender herbs lastFresh dill, parsley and zest go in off the heat or just before serving
4. Add woody herbs earlyThyme goes in with the liquid so it has time to soften
5. Wait before adding moreLet dried herbs soften and seeds soak, then taste at serving temperature

• Cold finish: tender herbs after the heat.
• Simmer: thyme in the pot, then remove the stems.
• Brine: seeds need time before you judge them.

Dried thyme moves a soup toward an earthy flavor rather than a fresh one. That works in mushroom or bean soup, and it clashes with a cold cucumber salad.

What works in pickles?

A seed, since brine needs something that releases flavor slowly over days.

• Dill seedThe classic choice, about 1/2 tsp per tsp of dried dill weed
• Fennel seed1/4 tsp lightly crushed, sweeter and more like licorice
• Coriander seedAdds a lemony note, often used beside dill anyway
• Mustard seedAdds bite and looks right in the jar, but tastes nothing like dill
• Fresh dill headsBest of all if you can find them at a farmers market

A cucumber pickle made with fennel seed will taste different from a classic dill pickle. Fennel adds a sweet seed note, and the grassy leaf smell stays missing.

For a full pickle blend, the pickling spice substitutes cover the rest of the jar.

When should you wait for real dill?

When dill gives the dish its name. Dill sauce, gravlax and a simple dill pickle depend on it, and any substitute turns them into a different dish.

In those cases, wait for real dill or leave it out and add lemon and black pepper instead. A salmon fillet with lemon still tastes right, while too much tarragon pulls every bite in a new direction.

Dried dill weed keeps well for about a year, so a jar in the cupboard stops this problem next time.

What if the sauce tastes of licorice or feels gritty?

A cold sauce cannot simmer a problem away, so more yogurt, potato or stock is the main fix.

• Tastes of licoriceToo much tarragon or fennel, so add more base and a squeeze of lemon
• Earthy and heavyThyme in a cold dish, which more base and fresh parsley lighten
• Gritty sauceSeeds in a smooth sauce, so strain it or start the sauce again
• Dusty and flatDried herb with too little time, so let it rest ten minutes
• Too lemonyToo much zest, which more parsley and base balance

A little extra salt often helps an herb swap more than more herb does. It brings out whatever green flavor the substitute already has.

For the reverse problem, the tarragon substitutes list dill among the swaps for tarragon.