Yes, substitute for Marjoram essential oil is pretty high in count as the Marjoram herb belongs to a family of numerous members. The mentionable ones include Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Sage, Lemongrass, etc. For a serious note, the said plants have plenty of natural properties in them, which are common to that of Marjoram. That fact has made them the best Marjoram substitutes in a plant, dry, or oily form.
All essential oils offer a wide range of uses and benefits. You can use them to ease your illnesses. Moreover, they make food items tastier and spiced up. You can use them as an aromatic substance in beauty and skincare products. It is because these oils are full of such natural components, and they are safe to use as recipes in blends, diffusers, and inhalers.
Unsurprisingly, most of the essential oils tend to overlap in terms of uses and benefits. That is why you can use one in place of another sharing the identical compounds. So, in a situation when a particular oil or element is missing that is crucial for a recipe or blend, you can opt for some other oil offering the same or nearly the same components.
In this article, we will discuss the most effective substitute for Marjoram essential oil that works the best.
What is Marjoram?
It requires learning about Marjoram before you are after the substitute for Marjoram essential oil. Marjoram is a natural plant featuring ovate leaves that are very smooth and sleek. The leaf size varies, but it ranges from 0.2 inches to 0.6 inches. In this case, the leaves are a crucial part, and they are most intensely aromatic. The Marjoram plant and its essential oil are favorites as a vital element for cooking recipes and spice blends. Marjoram is a citrus plant and so offers citrus notes with a sweet pine hint.
It originated in the Mediterranean region, and the most prominent Marjoram growing countries are Cyprus and Turkey. To connect with distant history, the ancient Greeks and Romans were highly fond of the Marjoram herb. The people of that classical age even considered Marjoram to be a symbol of happiness. In terms of compounds, Oregano is very close to Marjoram to have occupied the closest substitute for Marjoram. The commonalities are so intense that it often poses the dilemma of Marjoram vs Oregano essential oil.
Uses and Benefits of Marjoram Essential Oil
It is crucial to learn the uses and benefits of Marjoram essential oil so that you can find the perfect substitute for Marjoram essential oil closest to the original. Though no two oils can be precisely the same, they share vital properties and benefits and uses only. At best, some herbs with nearly identical properties can be the best tradeoffs. When the target plant or oil essence is not around you, you can go for the ones that content similar properties so that you don’t miss the physical, emotional, or taste benefits you desire.
Here you go with the popular Marjoram uses and benefits:
Spice Blend & Food Recipe
To start with, Marjoram herb is a great spice and hugely popular in Mediterranean cuisine. Not to limit here, this is a great spice to have in your kitchen, and people anywhere in the world find it familiar. You can spice up your dishes either with dried Marjoram or Marjoram essential oil. The flavor will take you to its height. For your information, one drop of Marjoram oil essence substitute for two tablespoons of dried Marjoram. Not to ignore, Germans have given the herb a fantastic name "Goose Herb" as they use it in roasting geese.
Calming Effect
Marjoram essential oil is unique when applied to improve your nervous system, and it can calm your anxieties. The best side is that you can apply it topically on the skin, and use it as an inhaler or aromatically.
Stress Killer
To ease or fully mitigate your physical stress from working for extended hours, you can apply Marjoram essential oil. Make sure to use it to the stressed location to ease the pain or feeling of strain only. Never forget this when you are up to a strenuous and challenging task.
For Increased Strength
To your astonishment, this essential oil can contribute to improving your stamina so that you can work harder and go fatigued not so faster. Thus it helps to increase the running strength of your body.
Mood Upliftment
As a mood up-lifter, Marjoram essential oil can help you immensely in-crowd and party. You can make a crowd-pleaser recipe that will keep you to your best for a holiday gathering and office parties.
For Sound Sleep
If your newborn is fussy enough and you feel it tough to get him the required nap, you can apply this oil. It is guaranteed that a little oil massage to the feet of your little one will make him fall asleep real quick. You can watch him rest with peace and ease.
Strain Reliever
If you have a muscle pull or have your muscle gone stressed or strained at regular exercise, Marjoram essential oil can relieve you immediately. You can apply as an ointment on the strained skin. Not to confuse, a massage blend will be more effective in this connection.
The said exposure on the multiple uses of Marjoram herb and its oil will make it easier to go for a substitution for this.
Substitute for Marjoram Essential Oil – 9 Popular Alternatives
Substituting Marjoram is easier as you have plenty of oils substituting Marjoram. Therefore, when you try something for a desired aroma, taste, and comfort, you can replace Marjoram with the following natural oils and plants. The suggested substitutions may provide you with the same purpose or a bit difference for variation.
Most Marjoram essential oil substitutions offer calming effect, digestion, aroma, energizing, reinvigoration, and more. But the predominant use of Marjoram must be food spice, especially in stews and meat dishes. And Marjoram has a storied history of influencing food cultures around the world and particularly in Mediterranean regions.
Not to confuse, we are up to substitute for Marjoram essential oil. So, find the difference between Marjoram and sweet Marjoram essential oil not to get confused.
1. Oregano
Oregano is the closest natural herb to Marjoram and easy to substitute with minimal difference in effect. This plant shares the identical compounds with Marjoram featuring commonalities in aroma and taste. Therefore, you can use Oregano as the best substitute for Marjoram essential oil in almost all the food items Marjoram is best known for.
And the forms include stews, soups, salad, meat dishes, and more. Vegan split pea soup provides you with an example where you can swap both the herb with each other without the least noticeable change. You can switch between the two in any form dry, fresh herb, and oil essence.
2. Summer Savory
The hearty roast recipes where Marjoram is a crucial ingredient, you can replace it with summer savory as a substitute for Marjoram essential oil. This herb is highly famous in Canada. Two most renowned roast recipes that can find summer delicious to be the most fantastic are "roast venison" and "pork medallions." You better replace Marjoram essential oil with ground or dried summer savory for the maximum effect.
That said, you can find Marjoram to be most effectively substituted in sausages. The summer savory may prove to be too relishing in seasoning and flavoring sausages. Not to miss, summer savory is very close to sage in terms of aroma, flavor, and effect.
3. Basil
You can replace Marjoram with basil with the desired effect in stews and pasta sauces. And the most common recipe in this connection is "vegan caponata siciliana alla". Moreover, basil and Marjoram can have both as their natural pair with sausage soups too.
For a reminder, basil is the most effective when used in its ground or dried form. The fresh basil herb offers an intense hint of pepper, unlike the sweet pine note of Marjoram. Therefore, before using basil in the dried or ground form, you have to be ready to change the aroma and taste.
4. Sage
Sage is very much close to thyme and can replace Marjoram with the equal effect thyme can offer. If you are yet to get your hands on this herb, you can go up to it without any trepidation. Especially the citrus note and sweet pine undertone will remind you of the Marjoram.
Not to ignore, if you are after the most effective substitutes for sage, Marjoram, basil, Oregano, and thyme will be at the top to notice. This commonness between sage and Marjoram's substitutions will suffice to encourage you to depend on sage in the absence of Marjoram. Moreover, season and availability very often to make any substitute the only swapping option.
5. Thyme
Thyme is considered to be the other closest substitute for Marjoram essential oil or the herb. This one is famous and a crucial substitute in casseroles, stews, and roasts. As said already, substitutes are not bound to produce precisely the same flavor or aroma, but the variation also is not that prominent to alter the original taste. But thyme in this connection will act as the closest while substituting the Marjoram in soup recipes. And the most favorite soup to top with thyme is sewed soup.
Moreover, you can involve thyme in the meat dishes, and a pretty relishing one to test is sausages with bacon-wrapping. For your information, never get confused white and red thyme essential oil. The white one is used for aromatherapy while the red one is more intense and can be used for the same purpose.
6. Lemon Thyme
The predominant note of Marjoram essential oil is citrus, and so you should replace that with something offering that note. In this context, lemon thyme offers a close substitute for Marjoram essential oil. There are several recipes where Marjoram can very effectively be substituted with, but the most famous one is the lentil soup recipe from Lebanon.
We know that lentil soup tends to have extra lemon flavor and so pairs pretty well with the notes associated. That is where lemon thyme as an essential oil or fresh herb stands as an excellent substitute for Marjoram in its dry, ground, and oily form.
7. Tarragon
Tarragon is highly popular with Mediterranean and French recipes. You can find several dishes predominantly blended with either dry tarragon or tarragon oil essence. But if you don't have tarragon available around you, you can go for Marjoram and vice versa. You will have Marjoram enlisted at the top in the chart for tarragon substitutes.
With its tasty and flavorful effect, Tarragon can create the sweet, fresh seasoning and spicy bite to enliven several dishes. And the prominent dishes to replace Marjoram with tarragon include dressings, fish, and sauces. These are facts behind considering tarragon as the bosom substitute for Marjoram essential oil or the ground Marjoram.
8. Herbes De Provence
It is a fact that Marjoram belongs to herbes de Provence jumble and so you can happily swap Marjoram with the mixture to fill in the blank of Marjoram. The roast vegetable recipe can be a classic example where herbes de Provence mixture can substitute Marjoram. But to be on the safe side, you must not apply too much of the mix. To avoid other overwhelming fragrance, use the minimum amount to keep other herbs in the mixture at nominal. This popular blend is used in France for enhancing dressings, salads, soups, dips, and entrées.
9. Za'atar
Like the previous one, za'atar is another mixture that includes Marjoram in it. Therefore, you can go for it as an effective substitute for Marjoram essential oil and better than some other in delicacy. You cannot but relish za'atar sprinkling on a roast and grilled aubergine. Moreover, you cannot miss this vibrant seasoning to enhance the deliciousness of roasted meats, vegetables, and fish.
You can use this mixture to be on the safe side as it is a certified Organic seasoning with zero GMOs. Other ingredients contributing to this blend are thyme, cumin, sesame seed, Oregano, and lemon zest.
Substitute for Marjoram Herb Versus Substitute for Marjoram Essential oil
Every herb provides you with three variations of applications that include the ground herb, dried herb, and essential oil from there. So far, Marjoram or any other herb is concerned, the result or effect is the same in every form with minimal variation in intensity and degree. You can deal with that intensity and degree by reducing or increasing the amount of the substituting ingredient.
In situations where the suggestion is for Marjoram essential oil, you can well swap this with ground herb or dry herb. But when opting for the dry herb, you should be careful because the dry herb contains more compounds than the other forms.
However, the rule of thumb is to go for the substitution with the identical format. You can use oil for oil and herb for the herb. In case you have to use another form, then follow the ratio that goes 1 part dried herd: 1 ½ part fresh herbs. To better understand, if a blend or recipe calls for 1 ½ tbsp of fresh Oregano, you can replace it with 1 tbsp of dried Oregano. So, fresh Marjoram herb or dried Marjoram can also become the closest substitute for Marjoram essential oil.
Wrap Up
We have highlighted the ten most popular substitutes for Marjoram. Worth noticing fact is that all the replacements We have covered belong to the cuisine of some particular regions or all over the world. To be specific, they are the substitutes to be used in the food recipes or spice blends that can enhance seasoning and spice up the dishes.
But the section dedicated to the multiple uses and benefits of Marjoram essential oil or the herb can give you more insight. Not to escape, it is possible to find an efficient substitute for Marjoram essential oil that can work as or more useful for other benefits mentioned. Make the best use of your research and knowledge.