Poultry seasoning
POHL-tree SEE-zuh-ning
Also called poultry spice, stuffing seasoning.
Savory, piney, sage-forward, gently peppery.
Poultry seasoning is a ground herb blend sold for roast birds and, above all, for stuffing. Read six labels and only three things appear on every one: sage, thyme, and pepper. Marjoram is on five of them. Past that core the jars go their own way. McCormick's standard blend adds rosemary and nutmeg, while its own organic version drops marjoram and rosemary for oregano. Penzeys and The Spice House go brighter, with lemon peel, savory, dill, allspice, and ginger. Frontier's adds onion, celery seed, and cayenne. None of the six lists salt. The New England benchmark is Bell's Seasoning, started in Boston in 1867, a salt-free mix of rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme, and pepper.
Similar but different
Easy to mix up, different enough that swapping changes the dish.
- Herbes de Provenceherbal, savory, floral, sun-dried.
What it pairs with
Goes wrong with: sweet dishes, anything you want to taste of a single herb.
Common in American cooking.
Whole vs ground
Ground, in practice. The whole job of this blend is to vanish into stuffing, gravy, and buttered skin, and a leaf you have to pick out of a mouthful of dressing defeats it.
How to handle it
Put it in early. It is a dried-leaf blend, so it wants heat to open up: stir it into the stuffing before it bakes, or into the butter you rub under the skin. Penzeys suggests half a teaspoon for every four cups of dressing, which is a sensible place to start before you taste.
Storage
Airtight, dark, and cool, and replace it more often than you think. Ground dried leaves fade quickly, and a jar bought for one Thanksgiving is usually tired by the next.
Buying note
Read the ingredient statement, because the two words on the front cover very different jars: six herbs and spices in McCormick's, eleven in Penzeys', including lemon peel and dill. If you want the classic stuffing taste, look for sage near the front of the list. The Spice House sells its version as Poultry Stuffing Seasoning.
What's in it
- Sage·on every label checked, and first on three of the six
- Thyme·also on every label
- Black pepper·a pepper on every label; Penzeys uses white pepper
- Marjoram·on five of six, missing only from McCormick's organic blend
- Rosemary·in McCormick's standard jar, Penzeys, The Spice House, and Bell's
- Nutmeg·McCormick's two blends only
- Oregano·in Bell's and McCormick's organic blend
- Ginger·in Bell's, Penzeys, and The Spice House
- Savory·in the two brighter blends, Penzeys and The Spice House
Classic dishes
Thanksgiving stuffing, roast turkey, roast chicken.
Out of poultry seasoning? Substitutes
No substitute is exact. These are the closest by flavor behavior, with the ratio to start from and how the result will differ.
| Use instead | Ratio | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| ground sage and thyme in equal parts, with a pinch of black pepper | the same amount the recipe calls for, then taste | covers the three things every label shares, a little flatter without marjoram |
| herbes de Provence, crumbled fine | 1:1, plus a pinch of sage if you have it | same thyme, marjoram, and rosemary core, but no sage, so it reads more Provencal roast than Thanksgiving stuffing |
The Bell's box has kept its hand-drawn turkey for generations, and its spout is a small puzzle. Lift the flap and you meet a wall of cardboard, which you have to press in before anything will pour.
Common questions
- What does poultry seasoning taste like?
- Poultry seasoning is savory, piney, sage-forward, gently peppery. Its overall intensity is medium.
- What can I use instead of poultry seasoning?
- The closest swaps are ground sage and thyme in equal parts, with a pinch of black pepper (the same amount the recipe calls for, then taste, covers the three things every label shares, a little flatter without marjoram); herbes de Provence, crumbled fine (1:1, plus a pinch of sage if you have it, same thyme, marjoram, and rosemary core, but no sage, so it reads more Provencal roast than Thanksgiving stuffing). No substitute is exact, so taste and adjust.
- Should I buy poultry seasoning whole or ground?
- Ground, in practice. The whole job of this blend is to vanish into stuffing, gravy, and buttered skin, and a leaf you have to pick out of a mouthful of dressing defeats it.
- How do you store poultry seasoning?
- Airtight, dark, and cool, and replace it more often than you think. Ground dried leaves fade quickly, and a jar bought for one Thanksgiving is usually tired by the next.
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