Several herbal teas share chamomile’s calming, gentle profile. The closest alternatives depend on what you love most about chamomile: its relaxing effect, its ability to settle your stomach, or its mild floral flavor. Lemon balm, lavender, passionflower, and valerian root all promote relaxation through similar brain pathways, while peppermint and fennel mirror chamomile’s digestive benefits.
Lemon Balm: The Closest Match
Lemon balm is one of the best all-around substitutes for chamomile. It has a light, slightly citrusy flavor that’s equally mild, and it works on the same calming brain receptors. Chamomile’s relaxing effect comes largely from a compound called apigenin, which interacts with GABA receptors in the brain. Lemon balm takes a slightly different route to the same destination: it contains rosmarinic acid, which slows the breakdown of GABA, your brain’s main calming chemical. The result is a similar sense of ease after drinking it.
The evidence behind lemon balm is solid. In one controlled study, a drink containing just 0.3 grams of lemon balm was linked to lower anxiety scores and better working memory at both one and three hours after drinking it. The same study measured cortisol, a stress hormone, in participants’ saliva. People who drank the placebo saw a spike in cortisol after a stressful task, while those who consumed lemon balm did not. If you drink chamomile mainly for its calming, wind-down quality, lemon balm is likely your best swap.
Lavender Tea
Lavender tea has a stronger floral flavor than chamomile, so it tastes noticeably different, but its effects overlap considerably. In one study of women who drank lavender tea, 50% reported it promoted relaxation, about 26% said it improved their sleep quality, and 18% noted better emotional stability. Those are self-reported numbers, not lab measurements, but they line up with what most lavender tea drinkers describe: a gentle, soothing effect that helps at bedtime.
If chamomile’s flavor is what you’re after, lavender is more perfumed and intense. Blending it with a small amount of honey or pairing it with lemon balm can soften the taste and bring it closer to chamomile’s mellow profile.
Passionflower Tea
Passionflower is another option that targets relaxation, and many people find it slightly stronger than chamomile. It also works through GABA pathways in the brain, promoting a sedative effect that’s noticeable enough to make it a popular standalone sleep tea. The flavor is earthy and mildly grassy, less floral than chamomile but not unpleasant. If you find that chamomile doesn’t quite do enough to help you unwind before bed, passionflower is worth trying as a step up in intensity.
Valerian Root Tea
Valerian root is the strongest option on this list. A systematic review of plant-based sleep aids found that valerian improved sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep), total sleep time, wake time after falling asleep, and overall sleep quality. Chamomile, by comparison, showed improvements mainly in sleep quality and sleep latency. Valerian covers more ground, but it comes with trade-offs: the tea has a distinctly earthy, almost musty taste that some people find off-putting, and its sedative effect is heavier. This is not a casual afternoon cup. If you’re specifically looking for help falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer, valerian is the more potent choice. If you want something light and pleasant to sip, stick with lemon balm or lavender.
Peppermint and Fennel for Digestion
Chamomile is well known for settling the stomach. It relaxes the smooth muscles that move food through your intestines, helps dispel gas, and has traditionally been used for indigestion, nausea, and bloating. If that digestive relief is your main reason for drinking chamomile, peppermint and fennel are your best alternatives.
Peppermint has strong antispasmodic properties, meaning it calms the muscles in your digestive tract. It’s especially effective for bloating and gas. Fennel works similarly and has been used alongside chamomile in traditional digestive blends for centuries. One well-studied herbal preparation for stomach complaints combines chamomile, peppermint, lemon balm, fennel (as caraway), and licorice root, and has shown protective effects against gastric ulcers. Any of these ingredients brewed on their own will give you some of chamomile’s stomach-settling benefit.
Peppermint has a strong, cool menthol flavor that’s nothing like chamomile, while fennel tastes mildly sweet with a hint of licorice. Neither replicates chamomile’s floral warmth, but both deliver on the functional side.
Chrysanthemum Tea
Chrysanthemum tea is a popular choice in East Asian traditions and shares more with chamomile than most people realize. Both plants belong to the same botanical family (Asteraceae), and the teas have a similar light, floral character. Chrysanthemum tea is traditionally considered cooling and anti-inflammatory. Its flavor is delicate, slightly sweet, and among all the options listed here, it comes closest to chamomile in the cup. The one caveat: because it’s in the same plant family, it carries the same allergy risk (more on that below).
If You’re Allergic to Chamomile
Chamomile belongs to the Asteraceae family, which also includes ragweed, daisies, and chrysanthemums. If you’re allergic to ragweed or have reacted to chamomile with skin flare-ups, itching, or other symptoms, you should avoid other teas from the same family. That rules out chrysanthemum tea, yarrow tea, and echinacea tea. At least one documented case involved a patient developing dermatitis after drinking yarrow tea, which is also an Asteraceae species.
Safe alternatives from completely different plant families include lemon balm (mint family), lavender (mint family), passionflower (passionflower family), valerian root (honeysuckle family), peppermint (mint family), and fennel (carrot family). All of these offer overlapping benefits with chamomile without the Asteraceae cross-reactivity risk.
How to Brew These Teas
All of these herbal teas brew at the same general temperature and time. Use water around 200°F, which is just below a full rolling boil, and steep for five to seven minutes. That’s longer than green or white tea, which turn bitter with extended steeping. Herbal teas are more forgiving and generally benefit from the extra time to release their active compounds. If you want a stronger cup, add more tea rather than steeping longer, which can make some herbs taste flat or overly tannic.
Valerian root is the exception. Because the roots are dense, some people steep it for 10 to 15 minutes to get the full effect. Cover the cup while steeping to keep the volatile oils from escaping with the steam.