Dill
Fresh dill turns everyday dishes into something bright and aromatic with almost no effort at all.
In a nutshell
Dill is a feathery, bright-green herb with a clean, grassy flavor that sits somewhere between anise and parsley. Both the wispy fronds (called dill weed) and the flat, oval seeds are used in cooking. It’s a staple in Scandinavian, Eastern European, and Middle Eastern kitchens, and a hero in any pickle jar.
Nutrition
≈ 6 Calories and 0.1g fat per tablespoon.
Dill is impressively nutrient-dense for such a delicate herb — it delivers a meaningful amount of plant-based protein and fiber relative to its calorie load, making it more than just a garnish. It’s a good source of vitamin C and vitamin A (from beta-carotene), both important antioxidants, along with manganese, which supports bone health and metabolism. Dill also contains flavonoids such as kaempferol, which researchers associate with anti-inflammatory and heart-protective effects. Its essential oils — particularly carvone and limonene — are what give dill its signature aroma and may also support digestive comfort, a use that goes back centuries in herbal tradition. Nutrition per 100g via Spoonacular.
Culinary uses & pairings
Fresh dill weed shines in cold and lightly cooked applications. Stir it into sour cream or Greek yogurt for a quick dip, fold it into egg salad or potato salad, lay it over baked or poached salmon, or scatter it generously over borscht and cucumber soups just before serving. Because its volatile oils fade fast with heat, add fresh dill at the very end of cooking to keep that bright, grassy flavor intact.
Dill seed is the workhorse of the spice cabinet, built for longer cooking. It’s the essential flavoring in classic dill pickles, whether you’re doing quick refrigerator pickles or a full water-bath canning project. Toast the seeds lightly and use them in bread doughs, spice rubs for lamb or pork, or simmered lentil dishes. Dried dill weed is a reasonable pantry stand-in for fresh, especially in cooked sauces and marinades where the heat has time to rehydrate it.
Pairs well with
Substitutions
Buying & storage
Look for fresh dill with bright, feathery fronds that are deep green and perky — any yellowing or limpness signals age. The stems should smell intensely grassy and slightly sweet the moment you crush a frond between your fingers; little to no aroma means it sat too long. At the farmers market in summer you’ll sometimes find it with seed heads still attached, which are terrific for pickling. When buying dried dill weed or dill seed, choose a brand with good turnover and check that the color is still greenish (not gray) for the weed, and that the seeds have a noticeable, pleasantly spiced aroma when you open the jar.
Types
- Dill weed (fresh or dried): The feathery leaves and tender stems, used as an herb. Fresh is far more aromatic; dried is convenient for cooked dishes and marinades.
- Dill seed: The flat, oval fruits of the plant, used as a spice. Stronger and more bitter than the weed, with a flavor closer to caraway; essential for pickles and bread.
- Bouquet dill: A common garden variety grown for its large, leafy fronds and early seed heads — the classic home-garden and farmers market type ideal for pickling.
- Fernleaf dill: A compact, slow-to-bolt dwarf variety well suited to containers and kitchen gardens; prized for abundant leaf production.
Recipes using dill
201 recipes across our recipe sites use dill. A few favorites:
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History & origin
Dill is one of the oldest cultivated herbs on record, with seeds found in the remains of ancient Egyptian settlements and references appearing in Roman texts. Its name likely comes from the Old Norse word dilla, meaning to soothe or lull, reflecting its early use as a digestive remedy and a remedy for hiccups and colic in children. Roman soldiers are recorded as having used dill, and medieval Europeans hung bundles of it in doorways as a protective charm. It spread across Europe and eventually arrived in North America with early colonists, quickly becoming a fixture in the kitchens and kitchen gardens of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
How it’s made
Dill (Anethum graveolens) is an annual herb in the carrot family that is direct-seeded into the ground — it dislikes transplanting because of its long taproot. It grows rapidly in cool to warm weather, sending up hollow stems that can reach 2 to 4 feet tall, topped with flat-topped clusters of tiny yellow flowers called umbels. Leaves are harvested any time before the plant bolts; once flowering begins, leaf production slows and the plant’s energy shifts to seed production. Seeds are collected by cutting the seed heads when they turn tan and drying them over paper to catch the falling seeds. Commercial dried dill weed is harvested mechanically, then dried at low heat to preserve the volatile oils responsible for its aroma.
Good to know
- Dill is a member of the Apiaceae family, making it a botanical relative of carrots, celery, fennel, and parsley.
- The essential oil carvone gives dill seed much of its distinctive flavor — the same compound found in spearmint, though as a different mirror-image isomer, which is why the two plants smell notably different from one another.
- Dill is a favorite host plant for black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars; gardeners often plant extra just to share with them.
- Ancient Greek physicians called dill anethon and used it to treat various ailments including insomnia and digestive complaints.
- The United States is one of the world’s largest consumers of dill seed, driven almost entirely by the massive commercial pickle industry.
