The essential oil of the aerial parts of Satureja hortensis L., family Labiateae, cultivated in the Khorasan province (northeast of Iran) was prepared and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. Twenty-one compounds representing 98.08 % of the total oil composition were identified in the S. hortensis oil. The major volatile components were carvacrol (55.69 %), γ-terpinene (24.93 %) and p-cymene (4.07 %). The compositional findings were in agreement with several previous reports from other regions of the world.