A slender-leaved herb with a sweet aniseed perfume from estragole, and a faint numbing quality on the tongue that no other common herb has.
What it does in a recipe: The defining aromatic of French sauce cookery - it perfumes cream, butter, vinegar and eggs without needing much heat. Pick the swap that covers that job - the ratios below are written so you can act on them without doing any arithmetic.
Chervil carries a gentler version of the same anise note and belongs to the same French fines herbes tradition, so it fits the same dishes at slightly higher volume.
MethodAdd it off the heat. Chervil is even more fragile than tarragon and collapses under sustained warmth.
Trade-offSofter and more delicate. A béarnaise will be pleasant but will lack the assertive perfume that defines it.
Russian tarragon is a different plant with almost none of the estragole. If your tarragon tastes of nothing but grass, that is probably what you have.
At a glance
Fresh tarragon in summary
Fresh tarragon at a glance: category, its job in a recipe, the diets it suits, the diets its substitutes can satisfy, and how many substitutes there are.
Can I use fresh chervil instead of fresh tarragon?
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon = 1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh chervil. Chervil carries a gentler version of the same anise note and belongs to the same French fines herbes tradition, so it fits the same dishes at slightly higher volume. Softer and more delicate. A béarnaise will be pleasant but will lack the assertive perfume that defines it.
Can I use fresh basil instead of fresh tarragon?
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon = 1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh basil. Basil and tarragon both carry estragole, which is exactly why basil reads as faintly aniseed. Basil holds less of it, so you use more. Sweeter and more Italian, without tarragon's slight bitterness or its numbing edge.
Can I use dried tarragon instead of fresh tarragon?
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon = 1 tsp dried tarragon. The 3:1 rule. Tarragon holds up moderately well to drying, though the numbing quality does not survive. Flatter and slightly musty. Adequate in a cooked sauce, weak in a vinaigrette or on a finished chicken.
Can I use fresh fennel fronds with a pinch of anise seed instead of fresh tarragon?
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon = 1 tbsp chopped fennel fronds + a pinch of ground anise seed. The fronds bring the green herbal body and the anise seed supplies the concentrated liquorice note, together approximating tarragon's two halves. Sweeter and blunter than tarragon, and easy to overshoot into liquorice territory.
Cooking around an allergy? Diet tags here describe the ingredient itself, not any particular brand. Processed products change formulation without notice and shared production lines are common, so read the label on everything you use. A severe allergy is a medical matter - confirm with the manufacturer or your clinician rather than relying on a substitution chart.