Tarragon: What It Tastes Like & 12 Ways to Use It
Tarragon is the “estragon” in classical French cooking — anise-like, grassy, faintly sweet. Here is how to tell French from Russian tarragon, what tarragon actually pairs with, and a dozen reliable ways to use it.
Written by UnityLife Admin
Edited by the UnityLife editorial team
Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is one of the four fines herbes of classical French cooking and the defining flavour of béarnaise sauce. Outside of restaurants, most home cooks meet it dried in a spice rack and never quite figure out what to do with it. The dried version is dramatically weaker than fresh — which is most of why people don’t know what fresh tarragon actually tastes like.
What it tastes like
Fresh tarragon has a sweet, anise-licorice top note (from estragole), a grassy mid-note, and a faint mint finish. It is not as bold as basil or as sharp as dill — it is the herb that whispers.
The flavour comes mostly from estragole and methyleugenol, two volatile oils that evaporate quickly with heat. This is why fresh tarragon is added at the end of cooking and dried tarragon barely registers at all.
French vs Russian tarragon
French tarragon (A. dracunculus var. sativa) is the one you want. It is propagated from cuttings (no fertile seeds), which is why grocery-store seedling racks rarely have it.
Russian tarragon (A. dracunculoides) is the one usually sold from seed at garden centres. It is mostly grass — almost no estragole, almost no flavour. If your "tarragon" tastes like nothing, you have Russian.
Buy French tarragon as a live plant from a herb specialist (Richters in Ontario ships across Canada), not from a seed packet.
12 ways to use it
1. Béarnaise sauce — egg yolks, butter, white-wine reduction, tarragon. The mother dish.
2. Roast chicken — slip tarragon leaves under the skin before roasting. Most reliable use of fresh tarragon outside France.
3. Tarragon vinegar — bottle with white-wine vinegar, infuse 2 weeks. Best vinaigrette base.
4. Egg-mayo on toast — chop into mayo with chives. Picnic-grade.
5. Salmon — pan-roasted with tarragon-butter pan sauce.
6. Lobster — tarragon and lobster were made for each other.
7. Goat-cheese omelette — fresh tarragon at the last second.
8. Mushroom soup — finishes the dish.
9. Cucumber salad — cucumber, sour cream, tarragon, dill, salt.
10. Tarragon ice cream — French dessert classic, an acquired taste.
11. Carrot soup — tarragon and carrot are a hidden pair.
12. Tarragon mustard — Maille makes one; spread on ham sandwiches.
Storage and substitutes
Fresh tarragon stores like cilantro: stems in water, bag over the leaves, in the fridge — 5–7 days. Don’t freeze whole; the cell walls collapse and you lose the volatile oils.
Best substitute: half basil, half a pinch of fennel seed. It will not be tarragon, but it will hint at the same direction.
The bottom line
Tarragon is the most under-used herb in Canadian home kitchens. If you can grow one French tarragon plant in a pot on your balcony or in a south-facing window, you unlock half a dozen excellent recipes that don’t work without it.
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The bottom line
Tarragon is the most under-used herb in Canadian home kitchens. If you can grow one French tarragon plant in a pot on your balcony or in a south-facing window, you unlock half a dozen excellent recipes that don’t work without it.
Frequently asked questions
No. Dried tarragon loses 80–90% of its volatile oils within months. Use 3× the called-for amount and accept that it is a different flavour.
Sources & further reading
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