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Herbs & spices

Bay leaf

Bay leaf is an herb with a floral, herbal aroma. Cooks use it to season and infuse dishes, bake with it, and bloom it when tempering.

  • Plant-based

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Part used
Leaf
Cooked most in
Asia, The Americas
Top country
Indonesia
Bay leaf, whole

Photo: Χρήστης:Andrikkos / The original uploader was Andrikkos at Greek Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use bay leaf

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Bake
  • Infuse
  • Season
  • Temper bloom

Preparing it

Crush or grind Mediterranean bay leaves before cooking if desired. Put crushed leaves in a muslin bag or tea infuser to make removal easier.

Cooking with it

Ground bay is much stronger than whole leaves and can be left in the food. For tea, boil briefly; prolonged boiling can make it bitter. Fresh leaves have a stronger aroma; dried leaves need more steeping time for a similar effect.

Flavour

Taste and texture

Aroma

  • Floral
  • Herbal

Nutrition

What 100 g of bay leaf holds

Per 100 g. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 8%Fat 9%Carbohydrate 82%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of bay leaf
Energy313 kcal · 1,312 kJ
Protein7.6 g
Fat8.4 g
of which saturated2.3 g
Carbohydrate75 g
Fibre26 g
Sodium23 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of bay leaf: minerals and vitamins
Potassium529 mg
Calcium834 mg
Iron43 mg
Magnesium120 mg
Zinc3.7 mg
Vitamin C47 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)309 µg
Folate180 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 170917), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where bay leaf is cooked

12 dishes in the catalogue use bay leaf. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list bay leaf among their ingredients.

On the table

Dishes made with bay leaf

11 of the 12 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

  • Hallaca

    Venezuela

  • Arsik

    Indonesia

  • Goulash

  • Sangsang

    Indonesia

  • Tongseng

    Indonesia

  • Sayur asem

    Indonesia

  • Urap

    Indonesia

  • Soto Bogor

    Indonesia

  • Gudeg

    Indonesia

  • Nasi liwet

    Indonesia

  • Tengkleng

    Indonesia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include bay leaf.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: bay leaf in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Allergens
None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: eggs, fish, milk, molluscs, sulphites, crustaceans.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Alcohol
None
Pork
None

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (12)

Around the world

What bay leaf is called

Names in 59 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    laurel

  • French

    feuille de laurier · laurier

  • Italian

    alloro · foglie di alloro · foglia di alloro · foglie d'alloro

  • Portuguese

    Folha de louro

  • German

    Lorbeer · Lorbeerblatt

  • Dutch

    laurierblad · Kookboek/Laurier

  • Greek

    φύλλο δάφνης

  • Turkish

    Akdeniz Defnesi

  • Russian

    лавровый лист · лавровые листья · лаврушка

  • Polish

    liść laurowy · liść bobkowy

  • Arabic

    ورق غار · ورق الغار

  • Persian

    برگ‌خشک برگ بو

Show all 59 languages

  • Afrikaans

    Lourierblaar

  • Armenian

    Դափնու տերև

  • Azerbaijani

    Dəfnə yarpağı

  • Basque

    ereinotz hosto · erramu · erramu hosto · erinotz

  • Belarusian

    лаўровы ліст

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    ляўравы ліст · ляўровы ліст · бабковы ліст

  • Bulgarian

    Дафинов лист · Дафинови листа

  • Burmese

    ကရဝေးပင်

  • Cantonese

    月桂葉

  • Catalan

    llorer

  • Chinese

    月桂葉

  • Czech

    bobkový list

  • Esperanto

    laŭrfolio · laŭrofolio

  • Estonian

    loorber

  • Filipino

    bay leaf

  • Finnish

    Laakerinlehti

  • Galician

    folla de loureiro

  • Hausa

    Ganyen bay

  • Hebrew

    עלה דפנה

  • Hindi

    तेज़ पत्ता · तेज़पत्ता

  • Hungarian

    babérlevél

  • hyw

    Դափնիի Տերեւ

  • Japanese

    ローリエ · ゲッケイジュ · ローレル · ベイリーフ

  • Javanese

    Godhong teluk

  • Kannada

    ಲವಂಗದ ಎಲೆ

  • Kazakh

    Лавр жапырағы

  • Korean

    월계수잎

  • Kyrgyz

    Лавр жалбырагы

  • Malay

    Daun salam

  • Marathi

    तमालपत्र

  • Nepali

    सिन्कौली

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    laurbærblad

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    laurbærblad

  • Odia

    ତେଜପତ୍ର

  • Ossetic

    лавры сыф

  • Pampanga

    Bay leaf

  • Romanian

    dafin

  • Simplified Chinese

    月桂叶

  • Slovak

    bobkový list

  • Slovenian

    lovorjev list

  • Swedish

    lagerblad · lager

  • Tajik

    Барги ғор

  • Telugu

    మాసాల ఆకు

  • Thai

    ใบกระวาน

  • Traditional Chinese

    月桂葉

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    月桂葉

  • Ukrainian

    лавровий лист · лаврове листя

  • Uzbek

    Dafna yaprogʻi

  • Veps

    lavrlehtez · lavrlehtesed · laur'lehtez · laur'lehtesed

  • Vietnamese

    Lá nguyệt quế

  • Welsh

    deilen 'bay'

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q2370943