Bay Leaves as Culinary Herb and Uses In Cooking
Bay leaves are very pleasantly flavorful and a must-have herb in my kitchen. I have used it all my life in cooking, mostly for soups, canning, marinades, and roasting meats. I know two varieties of bay leaves: the European bay leaf comes from bushes, and American bay leaves in California grow on large trees. California bay leaf has a round shape and is larger than the European bay leaf. I have both plants in my tiny garden. I personally like the bush bay leaves flavor much more than the tree bay leaves. I use fresh bay leaves most of the time in my cooking and bay leaves powder sometimes when the recipe calls for it. The aroma of fresh bay leaves is much more pleasant compared to dry bay leaves in any dish. Price-wise, dry leaves are much more expensive to buy than to have your own plant. If we have our own plant, we can always dry it to preserve it. I am going to share what I know from my experience. In the photo below, curly leaves are bush and flat leaves are on a tree.
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Fresh vs. Dried Bay Leaves: Which is Best for Your Cooking?
Do bay leaves need to be dried before using them in cooking? Not necessarily! I recently came across a statement from a respected source claiming that dried bay leaves are better because fresh ones can overpower a dish. I completely disagree, especially when using fresh bay leaves from a bay laurel bush, which I have used for all my cooking life. Do you want a milder flavor? Use less of the leaf. In my experience, fresh bay leaves have a more pleasant aroma and a richer flavor than dried ones. When used properly, they add depth without overwhelming the dish. If you’re lucky enough to have access to a bay bush, try using the leaves fresh—you may never go back to dried!
*I once grew a bay laurel plant indoors. You might be surprised to know that the leaves don’t have a scent until they are crushed or broken. Beyond its culinary uses, it actually works quite well as a pest repellent.
What Is The Difference Between Bay Leaves And Indian Bay Leaves?
Bay leaves can also be called Indian Bay leaves in some recipes (TEJ PATTA), but really, they are from two different plants and of course, have different flavors. So, I am going to mention that if you are not familiar with Bay leaves. What confuses some recipes? I saw on the Internet that some sellers sell Indian bay leaves, and in the photo, bay leaves. The Indian Bay leaf is very easy to recognize. The veins run from the bottom of the leaf to the top vertically. Indian bay leaves from the cassia tree (cinnamon). Personally, I haven’t tried Indian Bay leaves, but I have read about them; they have a cinnamon aroma with a hint of cloves. Indian bay leaves are commonly used in Indian cuisine.
If you use cinnamon in cooking, important to know the difference between Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon. The difference is the amount of coumarin and flavor.
Check the difference ⇒ Ceylon Cinnamon and Cassia Difference In Sticks and Powders
1. Bay Leaves Uses in Cooking
Bay leaves are a good addition to meat (especially to pot roast and stews), fish, seafood, game, and some vegetable dishes. So good to use in most stocks and broth. I thought all my life bay leaves were good in chicken stock and used them. I just recently heard from one chef’s show – bay leaf overpowers the chicken flavor and better don’t use it in chicken broth or soup. I make chicken broth and yes, I agree without bay leaf chicken stock is better! I cooked my life chicken soups with bay leaves and learned just now it doesn’t complement the chicken broth or stock. Here is my personal opinion on how to use bay leaves with chicken. In some recipes, it is great to use Bay Laurel for chicken in a complex of many flavors. If the recipe calls Bay leaf, I definitely going to use it.
Bay leaf is a very good flavoring for pickling vegetables, fish, seafood, and mushrooms. In some cultures, they add bay leaves to a tea-based beverages.
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2. How To Use Bay Leaves For Beginners
We can add the flavor of bay leaves by boiling them separately in water and adding the infusion to our dish. If you make an infusion for soup, use broth (stock) from this soup to make the infusion. It is more time-consuming but we don’t have to remove leaves after the dish is done and have control of the amount of flavor given to a dish. No matter what spices I use, I try to follow the golden rule of cooking with spices, better add less flavor than overpower the dish with flavor. Always remember to remove Bay leaves from the dish after cooking because some Bay leaves can add bitterness to the dish. The exception is preserving food in jars for winter. I cook in my Crock-Pot with bay leaves too. I add bay leaves before sealing the lid.
3. How to Use Bay Leaves for Cooking
In soups and stocks add 5-10 minutes for the best flavor before the end of cooking and remember to remove after. Some bay leaves can give bitterness to our dish, especially dry leaves. However, bay leaf flavor compliments very well meat in stock, so if you try it one time you definitely going to keep it in your pantry as a must-to-have spice. Cooking with fresh bay leaves is the same as with dry. Fresh leaves have a mild and much more pleasant flavor than dry ones. I can say, a big difference. The best bay leaves are fresh bay leaves! Fresh bay leaves I like much more than dry bay leaves and use them most of the time in cooking fresh bay leaves.
Someone asked me, “What to do with fresh bay leaves before cooking?” Just wash it and use it as you use dry bay leaves. The direction is the same. I like to tear it slightly to get more flavor to my dish.
Bay Leaves in Soups and Stocks
In soups and stocks add 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking and remember to remove after. Some bay leaves can give bitterness to our dish, especially dry leaves. However, bay leaf flavor compliments so well meat in stocks, so if you try one time you definitely going to keep it in your pantry. 
Check out (photo above) salmon stock and soup recipe ⇒ Ukha Russian Salmon Soup Recipe
Check out the soup recipe with bay leaves ⇒ Easy Vegetarian Borscht Recipe
Meat Dishes
For meat dishes, like pork roast, Louisiana red beans, and rice, add 20 minutes before done.
Check out my easy potato recipe with bay leaves, the photo above ⇒ Russian Meat Stuffed Potato Recipe
Vegetable Canning
For canning vegetables or mushrooms, leave bay leaves in a jar and seal them. Of course, we should follow the recipe and most recipes have their own direction on when to add spices. Most important to remember everything in the jar should be pasteurized before sealing for long time storage.
Marinades
When we use it to make a marinade for seafood or fish use peppercorns or other spices as pairing with bay leaves. Bay leaf is great to use in marinades for meat, vegetables, and mushrooms.
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Tip How To Use Fresh Bay Leaves With Cloves Spice
I was cooking leek and potato soup by good old fashion recipe in my Crock-Pot. The recipe calls for cloves and bay leaves. The suggestion was to tie spices in a small square of clean cloth. I instead just stick my cloves in bay leaves, so I don’t have to look for cloves in my soup. When I open the lid, as you can see in the photo below bay leaves hold the cloves and I don’t have to look for them. Of course, it is going to work only for fresh bay leaves.
4. Three Ways How to Preserve Fresh Bay Leaves
I have a bay laurel in my yard, and since it stays green all year round, I usually just pick leaves as I need them (we live in a subtropical climate). During the cold winter, I either bring it inside or cover it to protect it from the freeze. While I don’t personally need to preserve mine, I’m sharing three proven methods for those who buy them fresh at the market or receive them from a friend.
Having tried every method myself, I recommend choosing dark green, undamaged leaves for preservation. If you have any damaged leaves, it’s best to use them in your cooking right away. In my experience—after a lifetime of cooking with bay leaves—the best way to preserve them is by air-drying them naturally.
How To Dry Fresh Bay Leaves
1
Inspect for insects and wash gently from dust bay leaves, don’t break them! This step is important because very high possibility, bay leaves may have insects on them.
2
We can dry the old fashion way in the natural air. We can leave bay leaves on branches without removing leaves. Cover with cheesecloth to protect from insects and hang upside down with a wooden clothespin in the attic or another place depending on where you live. Very important to choose a dry place, without direct sun on it. Cheesecloth is the perfect material to cover leaves because it allows air to circulate around leaves and absorbs well any moisture. The time for drying bay leaves depends on many factors and can take a week or even longer. Bay leaf is ready for storing, if we try to bend it and it is going to break. Keep in an airtight container or ziplock bag in a cabinet. I dried fresh bay leaves in the past and they keep a nice green color after drying and a nice flavor.
We can also dry leaves separately from the branch in natural air. Place dry bay leaves on cheesecloth in one layer and cover with another layer of cheesecloth, so air circulates around the leaves. Turn around leaves sometimes to speed up the drying process.
The natural air I prefer the most. However, you can dry bay leaves in the oven as other herbs, vegetables, or fruits. Use the lowest temperature and keep the oven door slightly open for air circulation. We can use also dry bay leaves as a dehydrator and if you have one, just follow the instruction.
3
Keep dry bay leaves in a tight container in a dark cool place where you keep all your spices.
Freezing Fresh Bay Leaves
I tried to freeze fresh bay leaves myself, just to share my experience with you. In the photo, I am holding fresh Bay leaf, and on the table previously frozen leaves.
I placed washed and dried bay leaves in a ziplock bag and push out the air. I cool off bay leaves in the refrigerator at first and then place them in the freezer. I let just for a few minutes get close to room temperature bay leaves before putting it in a hot dish. The color of the leaf is slightly discolored after freezing as you can see in the photo. The flavor is nice and pleasant but less intensive than the fresh bay leaf.
Another way to preserve bay leaves is to keep them in a flower vase with water as I do with a bouquet of flowers. I cut the stems on the 45% angle and removed leaves from the bottom, so leaves were not contacted with water directly. Mature and dark green leaves stay fresh very well to the point I am ready to use them. So it is another way to preserve bay leaves for some period of time. A bouquet of Bay leaves is great decor for the kitchen too.
Another Option Way To Keep Fresh Bay Leaves Longer
Very good to preserve bay leaves with a vacuum sealer and keep them in the refrigerator. But it is an expensive way to do it.
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5. Garnish Canned Food With Bay Leaves
I did a lot of canned food in the past when had my own garden. Handmade canned food is always a good gift to bring if someone is invited to a party or just visit. Hearts in a jar is a very nice touch. The idea to garnish for example a can of marinated pickles with bay leaves hearts is so cute. If you make canned food, you might like the idea. The bay leaf heart is so easy to make! I use kitchen shears to make this simple garnish for canned food. I cut the top of the bay leaf in the shape of a heart, the bottom of the heart already made by mother nature. Scrap from the bay leaf heart we can use in soup or other dishes, don’t throw away.
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6. Bay Leaves As A Plant For Garden
We live in a subtropical climate and can plant Bay leaves bush in the ground. However, I like to grow my Bay Lauren leaves plants in pods. So it is easy to move around and when the weather is very cold in winter, I take it inside the house. It can happen a few times in the wintertime where we live. I spoke to some local people, they have Bay leaves bushes on the yard very successfully and they grow themselves. However, it needs to be covered in wintertime.
When to use fresh bay leaves in cooking?
I use fresh bay leaves the same way as dry ones, just be sure you use the most flavorful leaves. The most flavorful Bay leaves are older and dark green leaves. Let the light green leaves grow more and get more flavorful out of your dish.
*Check the flavor of Bay Lauren leaves when you choose plants in the nursery. I learned it from my own experience. Bay Lauren can be different and I got the plant last year without checking its flavor. I checked one leaf and it is not even close to the normal flavorful Bay Lauren bush as I usually use because it is a Bay Leaf tree.
1. Water regularly, but not too much. A plant doesn’t survive with a lot of watering.
2. A bay leaves plant grows very slow, consider it when getting a plant.
3. Moneywise is very practical to get the plant of Bay leaves if you use often bay leaves in cooking.
4. Best Bay leaf flavor in older dark green leaves.
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7. Where to Buy Bay Leaves Plant In The USA
Bay leaf plants are available online and at local nurseries in the USA. The best price I found at our local plants nursery. I got the much older plant for almost the same money as I saw online. Online usually sells small plants because of the convenience of shipping. Of course, I prefer to buy plants at the local store option instead of online because can see my plant, and most important it possibly can be damaged when shipped.
If you live in the USA and have a problem with your bay leaf tree (or other plants), I am going to share tip what I did. I took some leaves to show at a local plant nursery. Every plant nursery has a botanist and it is the right place to ask for help. They helped me to diagnose my bay leaves problem and told me what I need to do. They consult me for free and I pay only for the treatment and safe my plants.
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⇓ Check Out My Other Recipes ⇓
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Thank you for your comment, Iryna! Fresh bay leaves a much better taste, very mild and pleasant.
I use Bay leaves sometimes. Only dried, never tried fresh bay leaves.
Thank you for your tips about the plant growing!