How to grow & use French Thyme for cooking

Ideal for stews, soups, meat and fish dishes.
Easy to grow at home
Takes about 2 to 3 months to grow
Available from Amazon

Background

Originally from southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Very strong thyme flavour.
French thyme for cooking is ideal for stews, soups and with meat and fish recipes.
Days from seed to harvest – about 70 to 90 (2 to 3 months)
About 15 to 30 cm high

Our guide below shows:

How to prepare French thyme for cooking
Example recipes
How to grow this herb at home

Taking each one in turn:

1. – How to prepare French thyme for cooking

Thyme is very simple to prepare as an ingredient:

Wash the thyme before using.
Then either use the whole sprig or simply remove leaves and bin the stalk.
If you want to strip the leaves, hold a stalk at the top and run your thumb and forefinger along the stalk from top to bottom

2. – Example French Thyme recipes

French or common thyme is probably the type you will have used in cooking. The leaves have a strong aroma and are useful in stews, soups and with meat and fish dishes.

Because it’s such a powerful herb is it great when combined with other herbs like garlic, oregano, rosemary, etc.

Typical Recipes are

In addition further down are our own most popular French thyme recipes.

3. – How to grow French thyme at home

This is a great herb to grow at home, and very easy to do.

There are 2 methods you can use:

3a – Grow French Thyme using soil

The French thyme plants are very easy to grow from seed,

Thyme tends to be best suited to well drained soil and full sun.

Which is why it’s ideal for growing either using soil or hydroponics on a balcony (if it’s sunny) or using a kitchen hydroponic or aquaponic kit with back up lighting.