If you are ready to up your game in the kitchen, the quickest way to do it is with a robust spice cabinet. In this post, we’re going to rundown the 21 spices every home chef needs in their pantry.
More often than not, when a dish misses the mark it is due to a lack of seasoning. While it is certainly possible to ruin a dish by using too much spice, it is far more common for food to come out bland due to under seasoning. As someone who grew up in a midwestern home where seasoning was sparingly added to food, I have personally seen far too many roasts miss the mark due to a lack of salt (among other seasonings). The most important seasoning for any kitchen is without a doubt salt, which in an of itself will take you really far, but we wanted highlight 21 great spices all aspiring home cooks should have in their pantries. These spices can turn a mundane meal into a flavorful culinary experience. With the right combination of spices, your dishes can take on exotic and delicious flavors.
Here are 21 spices that every kitchen needs:
- Allspice: Allspice is a warm and fragrant spice used to add complexity and depth to a variety of dishes. Commonly used in Caribbean and Middle Eastern cuisine, allspice is great for adding a smoky flavor to meats and stews. Allspice is a favorite in our home for most meats we cook on the smoker or grill.
- Cumin: Cumin is an earthy and nutty spice that adds warmth and depth to any dish. It is commonly used in Mexican and Indian cuisine to enhance the flavor of curries, stews, and chili. Cumin really provides that classic mexican flavor to a dish, but is also a key to any great tasting chili.
- Cardamom: Cardamom is a sweet and aromatic spice used in both sweet and savory dishes. It is commonly used in Scandinavian cooking to flavor pastries and other desserts. While cardamon is most commonly used in a variety of desserts, we love going heavy on the cardamon for any of the Indian dishes we make at home.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a warm and sweet spice used to add flavor to baked goods, desserts, and even savory dishes. It is also used in many traditional medicinal practices around the world. Try adding a little cinnamon the next time you make chili, it adds a nice sweetness.
- Cloves: Cloves are a pungent spice used to add warmth and complexity to dishes. It is typically found in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking to add flavor to curries, stews, and marinades. Cloves are essential to any great curry, but we also add some cloves to our 12 hour marinades for the meats we cook on our smoker.
- Coriander: Coriander is a citrusy and slightly sweet spice used to add flavor to a variety of dishes. It is commonly used in Latin American and Caribbean cuisine to enhance the flavor of curries and stews.
- Curry Powder: Curry powder is a blend of spices used to add flavor to Indian dishes. Most curry powder blends will contain a combination of cumin, coriander, turmeric, and other spices. We tend to go through a lot of curry powder in our kitchen as our kids love vegetable korma and butter chicken.
- Chili Powder: Chili powder is a blend of spices used to add heat to dishes. Most chili powders will contain a combination of chili peppers, garlic, cumin, and other spices. Chili powder is such an easy way to add a bit of spice to any meal and it gets a ton of use in our house.
- Ginger: Ginger is a warm and spicy root used to add flavor to dishes. You will find ginger used heavily many Asian and Indian dishes to enhance the flavor of curries, stews, and marinades. However, ginger is a staple in our home as we will use it in everything from blistered green beans to basic egg noodle dishes.
- Garlic Powder: Garlic powder is a savory spice used to add flavor to dishes. While garlic is central to Italian cooking to enhance the flavor of pasta sauces, stews, and marinades, it is also a staple across many Asian Cuisines.
- Nutmeg: Nutmeg is a warm and sweet spice used to add flavor to dishes. It is commonly used in European and Middle Eastern cuisine to enhance the flavor of baked goods, stews, and desserts.
- Paprika: Paprika is a smoky spice used to add flavor to dishes. It is commonly used in Spanish and Hungarian cuisine to enhance the flavor of stews, marinades, and soups. Paprika is another heavily used spice that adds depth to many of our dishes, and pro-tip if you want to enhance your dishes even further, see if you can find a smoked paprika :).
- Red Pepper Flakes: Red pepper flakes are a hot and spicy spice used to add heat to dishes. While red pepper flakes are staple in most Italian cooking to enhance the flavor of pasta sauces, stews, and marinades, it is also a great way to add spice to Asian dishes.
- Saffron: Saffron is a fragrant and slightly sweet spice used to add flavor to dishes. It is commonly used in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Spanish cuisine to enhance the flavor of curries, stews, and marinades. While good saffron tends to be quite expensive, it is good to have it on hand, as it can really add a unique flavor to your dishes.
- Turmeric: Turmeric is a warm and earthy spice used to add flavor to dishes. It is commonly used in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian cuisine to enhance the flavor of curries, stews, and marinades. In addition to it’s delicious flavor, Turmeric has long been considered to have significant health benefits, and is often used as a dietary supplement.
- Mustard Powder: Mustard powder is a pungent spice used to add flavor to dishes. It is commonly used in French and German cuisine to enhance the flavor of sauces, stews, and marinades. Mustard powder is often a part of our dry marinades particularly when we are making pulled pork.
- Bay Leaves: Bay leaves are an aromatic spice used to add flavor to dishes. Bay leaves are very typical in Mediterranean and Asian cuisine to enhance the flavor of soups, stews, and marinades. But, bay leaves are also great for american staples like chicken noodle soup and chili.
- Oregano: Oregano is an earthy and slightly sweet spice used to add flavor to dishes. Oregano can most commonly be found Italian and Greek cuisine to enhance the flavor of sauces, stews, and marinades.
- Rosemary: Rosemary is an aromatic and slightly sweet spice used to add flavor to dishes. Rosemary is a typical flavor found in Thanksgiving dishes and is typically in Mediterranean cuisine to enhance the flavor of roasts, stews, and marinades. We have a little rosemary bush in our yard, so rosemary is regularly apart of the potatoes and chicken dishes we make.
- Thyme: Thyme is an aromatic and slightly sweet spice used to add flavor to dishes. Thyme is another common Thanksgiving spice, but is also regularly found in Mediterranean and French cuisine to enhance the flavor of sauces, stews, and marinades.
- Sea Salt: Sea salt is a savory and slightly salty spice used to add flavor to dishes. As we mentioned at the top, of all the spices on this list, sea salt is the most important. Ensuring that your food is properly salted will keep it from being bland and bring out the full flavor of any meat.
Alright, there you have it! We are certain that if you add these 21 spices to your pantry you will be well on your way to making better, more flavorful dishes. Remember to start slow with any spice, you can always add more, but you can’t take it out :). If you’re ready to jump head first into creating a top notch spice cabinet in one go, you can grab something like this iSpice starter set. This set has 48 different high quality spices, so in addition to the 21 we’ve outlined, you also get another 27 great herbs and spices and make your cabinet truly stocked.
Now that your pantry is all stocked, you’re ready to get cooking! Check out some of our latest recipes and get to work.