What Can You Use Instead of Poultry Seasoning?

The closest substitute for poultry seasoning is 2 parts dried sage to 1 part each dried thyme, marjoram and rosemary, with a pinch of black pepper and a smaller pinch of nutmeg. Mix it in a bowl and use it measure-for-measure wherever the recipe calls for poultry seasoning. If you are out of sage, use Italian seasoning instead — it shares the thyme, marjoram and rosemary, and the sage is the only thing you are missing.

That is the short answer. Below: the ratios in teaspoons, what to do when the cupboard is thinner than that, why store poultry seasoning tastes the way it does, and which of our blends does which job.

The ratios, in teaspoons

This makes about 2 tablespoons — enough for a pan of dressing or a roast chicken, with a little left over.

Ingredient	Amount
Dried sage (rubbed, not ground, if you have it)	2 teaspoons
Dried thyme	1 teaspoon
Dried marjoram (oregano works)	1 teaspoon
Dried rosemary, crushed between your fingers	1 teaspoon
Black pepper	½ teaspoon
Ground nutmeg	¼ teaspoon

Crush the rosemary before it goes in. Whole dried rosemary needles stay sharp as little pine splinters no matter how long you cook them, and in a soft pan of dressing you notice every one.

If you have no sage at all

Sage is the taste people recognize as poultry seasoning, so losing it changes the dish rather than ruining it. In order of how close they land:

• Italian seasoning. Thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary—most of the herb bill, minus the sage. Use the same amount the recipe asks for. This is the one we would reach for.
• Thyme alone. Half the amount of poultry seasoning called for, because thyme on its own is assertive. Honest and plain, and nobody will think anything is wrong.
• Herbes de Provence. Close cousins, plus lavender. A little goes a long way and it tastes more of the south of France than of Thanksgiving.
• Breakfast sausage seasoning. An odd suggestion that works, because breakfast sausage is mostly sage and pepper. Watch the salt, which is usually already in there.

What will not stand in: pumpkin pie spice, chili powder, or anything with cinnamon leading. The nutmeg in poultry seasoning is a whisper, not the headline.

Why store poultry seasoning tastes the way it does

Poultry seasoning was never built for the bird. It is a dressing-and-gravy blend — sage-led, usually salt-free, meant to be stirred into bread and broth where it has something starchy to soak into. That is why a spoonful rubbed dry on a turkey skin tastes dusty and medicinal: the sage has nowhere to go. We broke down the full ingredient list in what poultry seasoning is made of.

So before you hunt for a substitute, check which job you are doing. Bread, broth, stuffing, gravy, a sausage patty — you want the sage blend above. The outside of a chicken or a turkey wants something with salt in it and garlic behind the herbs.

Which of ours does which job

Anything With Wings is our organic poultry seasoning, and it is honest to say it is not a sage blend. Sea salt, organic garlic, coriander, onion, black pepper, cumin, basil, cayenne, oregano and ginger — garlic and onion lead, the herbs sit behind them, and there is just enough cayenne to warm the finish. It goes on the bird, on eggs, on potatoes. $13.49 for the 5 oz resealable pouch, $9.49 for the 2.6 oz glass shaker jar.

For the herb side of the substitute above, The Godfather is our organic Italian seasoning — the thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary and garlic in one jar. Stir a teaspoon into dressing and you are a sage short of the classic. $13.49 for the 4 oz pouch, $9.49 for the 1.4 oz jar.

If salt is the thing you are managing in the cooking, Zilch. Nada. None. is our all-purpose blend with no added salt — garlic, onion, herbs and pepper — so you decide how much salt goes in and when. $13.49 for the 5 oz pouch, $9.49 for the 1.9 oz jar.

All three are USDA Certified Organic and made in small batches here in Charlotte, with no MSG, no fillers and no anti-caking agents. Gluten free and kosher.

How much to use

For dressing, start with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the sage mix per pan and taste the raw broth before the eggs go in — that is the only honest way to judge it. On a bird, work in tablespoons: roughly 1 tablespoon of a salted blend per 4 to 5 pounds, inside and out, patted dry first and given a thin coat of oil so it sticks. Our pan-by-pan amounts for dressing are in how to season cornbread dressing.

Questions we get

Can I use poultry seasoning on things that are not poultry? Yes, and it is good on pork, in bean soup, and on roasted potatoes. It is a sage blend, not a chicken blend. The name is marketing from a hundred years ago that stuck.

Is poultry seasoning the same as ground sage? No. Ground sage is one herb; poultry seasoning is sage plus thyme, marjoram, rosemary and a little pepper and nutmeg. If you only have ground sage, use about half as much as the recipe asks for poultry seasoning — ground sage is stronger and dustier than rubbed.

Does my old jar still work? Dried herbs do not spoil, they fade. Shake some into your palm and rub it — if it does not smell like anything, it will not taste like anything either, and you are better off with the five-ingredient mix above.