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Add a bouquet garni to amplify the flavor of your soups, stews, sauces, lentils, and beans. You don’t really need a specific Bouquet Garni recipe, but once I show you How to Make a Bouquet Garni, all you need is your favorite fresh herbs, a length of kitchen twine, and your imagination.
A bouquet garni, which is French for “garnished bouquet,” are used around the world to add depth of flavor to kitchen pots that stew and simmer. Once you learn how to make a bouquet garni, you can amp up a wide variety of moisture-rich recipes, such as:
- Poaching fish, chicken, or shrimp
- Cooking lentils, beans, and other legumes
- Soups, curries, stews
- Stocks and bone broths
- Rice, quinoa, farro, and other grains
This is such an easy little how-to, that I fully expect you to take off running with your own bouquet garni ideas and never revisit this recipe again (unless it’s to tell me all the fabulous things you make with this easy French culinary technique).
Before we dive into how to make a bouquet garni, it’s worth noting how this differs from a mirepoix; some readers have approached me with questions about this. Mirepoix is a flavor base that consists of onions, carrots, and celery. Usually these aromatics are diced up and added first thing to a pot, much like soffritto or a Louisiana holy trinity.
Those diced ingredients cook way, way down and lend a rich, savory flavor to the recipe. While you definitely can add a carrot or a stalk of celery to a bouquet garni, it won’t ever have the chance to caramelize and be eaten in the dish, since it’s removed before serving. Think of a bouquet garni as a more of a subtle addition; an infusion if you will.
Bouquet garni ingredients are at their most powerful when submerged in poaching liquid to gently season meats, lentils, beans, legumes, stocks, and sauces.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Equipment notes
- Kitchen twine: Seek out unbleached cotton kitchen twine, kitchen string, or butcher’s twine, which is strong enough to hold the bouquet together as it simmers. You can buy twine at retailers like HomeGoods or on Amazon; here’s my favorite twine.
- Cheesecloth: This is optional and only required if you add smaller aromatic elements such as whole spices. Otherwise, simply use the kitchen twine to tie the ends of the herbs together. Or substitute muslin cloth.
Step-by-step instructions
- Place a length of twine about 4 to 6 inches long on a work surface (long enough to wrap around everything and tie easily). On top of the twine, add the parsley stalks, bay leaf, and fresh thyme sprigs in parallel next to each other. Tie the wine into a bundle and knot to secure.
- To incorporate peppercorns, lay a 4-inch by 6-inch double-layered square of cheesecloth on a work surface. Add parsley stems, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and peppercorns to the center of the square. Gather up each corner of the cheesecloth to form a pouch and tie it with twine to secure it.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This bouquet garni method makes one herb bunch, enough to infuse one recipe such as a soup, stew, or batch of lentils.
- Storage: Fresh elements of a bouquet garni, such as parsley stems or fresh thyme, should be stored in plastic wrap in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Fresh vs. dried: The classic bouquet garni is made with fresh parsley stems and thyme leaves, but you can substitute dried herbs if that’s all you have.
- How to make a sachet: Similar to a bouquet garni, a traditional sachet is made with parsley stems, a bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, and optionally a star anise. It is always tied in cheesecloth.
- More ways to bouquet: Add bundles of herbs customized to different recipes depending on the theme.
- Lemongrass, cilantro, and a sliver of ginger root for Indian-style lentils, Curried Couscous Salad, or chickpeas.
- Parsley, thyme, bay leaf, for a classic bouquet garni for Beef Stew.
- Rosemary, basil, oregano in Spaghetti Sauce sauce for Sunday supper.
- Bay leaf, lemon peel, and coriander for Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice.
- Chervil, bay leaf, and peppercorns for Mediterranean Lentil Salad.
- Tarragon, bay leaf, and pink peppercorns in the cooking liquid of poached chicken for Chicken Salad.
- Parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf for French Onion Soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
A classic bouquet garni, by the French definition in classical cooking, is made with parsley stems, a bay leaf, thyme, and black peppercorns.
You can add the herbs and spices directly to the pot instead of tying them together. This works especially well if you’re going to strain your product in the end anyway, such as with stocks and broths. You can also add the ingredients to a loose-leaf tea bag.
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How to Make a Bouquet Garni
Equipment
- kitchen twine (this is my favorite one; see note 1)
- Cheesecloth (see note 2)
Ingredients
- 4-6 Parsley stems
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2-3 Fresh thyme sprigs or any other green herb: sage, rosemary, tarragon, basil, cilantro, oregano, chervil
- 1 teaspoon Black peppercorns optional
- cotton or hemp unwaxed twine
- 4″ square of cheesecloth optional
Instructions
Bouquet garni without peppercorns:
- Place a length of twine about 4 to 6 inches long on a work surface (long enough to wrap around everything and tie easily). On top of the twine, add the parsley stems, bay leaf, and fresh thyme sprigs in parallel next to each other. Tie the wine into a bundle and knot to secure.
Bouquet garni with peppercorns:
- To incorporate peppercorns, lay a 4-inch by 6-inch double-layered square of cheesecloth on a work surface. Add parsley stems, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and peppercorns to the center of the square. Gather up the corners to form a bundle and tie with twine to secure.
Notes
- Kitchen twine: Seek out unbleached cotton kitchen twine, kitchen string, or butcher’s twine, which is strong enough to hold the bouquet together as it simmers. You can buy twine at retailers like HomeGoods or on Amazon; here’s my favorite twine.
- Cheesecloth: This is optional and only required if you add smaller aromatic elements such as whole spices. Otherwise, simply use the kitchen twine to tie the ends of the herbs together. Or substitute muslin cloth.
- Yield: This bouquet garni method makes one herb bunch, enough to infuse one recipe such as a soup, stew, or batch of lentils.
- Storage: Fresh elements of a bouquet garni, such as parsley stems or fresh thyme, should be stored in plastic wrap in the refrigerator or freezer.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Thank you so much-exactly what I was searching for. Can I make a bouquet garni in cheesecloth using fresh herbs and freeze it? How long would it last?
Hi Riley, yes! They will need to be stored wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or air-tight freezer-safe container and will hold up to one year. They can be added to soups or stocks directly from the freezer. – Meggan
Thanks for this information mam💜
You’re welcome Jai! – Meggan
THANKS so much! You have really simplified my life! And given me some great ideas!
You’re welcome, Lynn! – Meggan
Superb instruction!