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Spice Blends Guide

technique

A spice blend is a shortcut someone else designed — a fixed set of flavor decisions packed into one jar. This guide is a map of the common ones across cuisines: what's in each, what it's actually for, and whether it's worth making yourself or just buying. For the deeper theory of how blends are built and balanced, see the Spice Blending Guide (Indian); for which single spice does what see the Spice Quick Reference; for fixing a dish that tastes flat, too sharp, or too heavy (with salt/acid/fat) see the Seasoning Guide. This page is the catalog and the buy-vs-make decision.

The two questions every blend answers

Before the catalog, two framing ideas that make the whole thing easier to navigate:

What flavor lane is this blend in? Most blends are built around one dominant idea — warm-sweet (baking spices), savory-earthy (curry, taco), bright-herbal (Italian, Greek), or salty-allium (seasoned salts). Knowing the lane tells you what a blend is for and which blends overlap. Two blends in the same lane are usually redundant in a small kitchen.
Make it or buy it? A blend is worth making when its components are things you already own, it's used often enough to stay fresh, and the homemade version is genuinely better. It's worth buying when it needs an ingredient you wouldn't otherwise stock, or you use it so rarely a jar would go stale either way. The decision framework is at the bottom of this page.

World blends at a glance

Starting-point contents and the lane each blend lives in. "Make or buy" is a default, not a rule — see the framework below.

Blend	Cuisine	Core ingredients	Flavor lane	What it's for	Make or buy
Garam masala	Indian	Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, cumin	Warm-aromatic	Finishing spice for curries, added at the end	Make
Chaat masala	Indian	Amchur, black salt, roasted cumin, chili	Souring-savory	Finishing on fruit, chaat, raita, fried snacks	Make
Pav bhaji masala	Indian	Coriander, cumin, chili, amchur, aromatics	Savory-earthy	The defining spice of pav bhaji	Make
Curry powder	British-Indian	Coriander, cumin, turmeric, fenugreek, chili	Savory-earthy	General curry base; not an Indian blend per se	Make
Chili powder	Tex-Mex	Paprika, cumin, garlic, oregano, cayenne	Savory-earthy	Chili, taco meat, nachos, beans	Make
Taco seasoning	Tex-Mex	Chili powder + cumin, paprika, garlic, onion	Savory-earthy	Taco/burrito filling	Make
Italian seasoning	Italian	Oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram	Bright-herbal	Pasta, pizza, roasts, "whatever Italian"	Buy or make
Herbes de Provence	French	Thyme, rosemary, savory, oregano, lavender	Bright-herbal	Roast chicken, vegetables, stews	Buy
Greek seasoning	Greek	Oregano, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, lemon	Bright-herbal	Chicken, potatoes, salads, gyros	Buy or make
Za'atar	Levantine	Thyme/oregano, sumac, sesame, salt	Bright-tangy	Flatbread with oil, dips, roasted veg	Buy
Ras el hanout	North African	Cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, + many	Warm-complex	Tagines, couscous, roasts	Buy
Baharat	Middle Eastern	Pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, paprika	Warm-savory	Meat, rice, stews	Buy or make
Chinese five-spice	Chinese	Star anise, fennel, clove, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper	Warm-anise	Braises, roast meats, marinades	Buy or make
Everything bagel	American	Sesame, poppy, dried garlic, dried onion, salt	Savory-allium	Bagels, avocado toast, eggs	Make
Cajun / Creole	American South	Paprika, cayenne, garlic, onion, oregano, thyme	Savory-spicy	Blackened fish/chicken, rice dishes	Make
Old Bay	American	Celery salt, paprika, mustard, pepper, bay	Savory-tangy	Seafood, fries, popcorn, corn	Buy
Pumpkin spice	American	Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves	Warm-sweet	Lattes, baking, oatmeal	Make
Apple pie / mixed spice	American/British	Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger	Warm-sweet	Pies, baking, compotes	Make
Seasoned salt	American	Salt, paprika, garlic, onion, (sugar)	Salty-allium	All-purpose shake-on	Make
Herb de salad / dukkah	Egyptian	Nuts, sesame, coriander, cumin, salt	Nutty-savory	Dip with oil and bread, on salads	Buy

Blends that overlap (so you don't stock three of the same thing)

In a right-sized kitchen, the trap is owning several blends in the same lane. Common overlaps:

Savory-earthy: curry powder, chili powder, taco seasoning, and Cajun all share a cumin-paprika-garlic backbone. Pick the ones whose accent you actually use (oregano for Tex-Mex, fenugreek for curry, cayenne-heavy for Cajun) rather than keeping all four.
Bright-herbal: Italian seasoning, Greek seasoning, and herbes de Provence are mostly the same Mediterranean herbs in different proportions. One all-purpose herb blend plus one standout single herb (usually oregano) covers most needs.
Warm-sweet: pumpkin spice, apple pie spice, and mixed spice are near-identical. Keep one; it works for all baking.
Salty-allium: seasoned salt, all-purpose seasonings, and many "complete" seasonings are salt + garlic + onion + paprika with small tweaks. Keep the one you actually reach for; the rest are redundant.

Rule of thumb: keep one blend per lane you cook in, plus true specialists (a blend that does something no other jar does — the sumac tang of za'atar, the annatto color of a sazón, the celery-salt of Old Bay). Toss or skip the rest.

Make vs. buy: the decision framework

For any blend, run it through two axes — effort to source/make and how often you use it:

	Easy to make (own the parts)	Hard to make (needs special parts)
Use often	Make — fresher, cheaper, you control salt/heat	Buy, or stock the one missing ingredient if worth it
Use rarely	Make a tiny batch on demand — don't store	Buy a small jar, accept it may go stale

Supporting principles:

Make it if you own the parts. Chili powder, taco seasoning, pumpkin spice, seasoned salt, everything bagel, and most curry/garam blends are just spices most cooks already have. Homemade is fresher (single spices fade slower than a pre-mixed blend), cheaper, and adjustable — you set the salt and heat.
Buy it if it needs something you wouldn't otherwise stock. Za'atar needs sumac; ras el hanout needs a dozen spices in tiny amounts; herbes de Provence needs lavender. If the only reason to buy an ingredient is one blend, just buy the blend.
Match the batch to the frequency. A blend you use weekly is worth a small stored jar. A blend you use twice a year should be mixed on demand in the exact amount a recipe needs — storing it just means it fades before you finish it.
Freshness beats a bigger jar. Blends lose potency faster than whole spices because the components are already ground and mixed. Make or buy small, and remake when the aroma goes flat. (See Buying & Storage at a glance on each spice profile.)
Salt and MSG are cheap filler. Many commercial blends are mostly salt. That's fine for convenience, but it's also why making your own lets you cut the salt and taste the actual spices.

When the blend is the shortcut vs. the point

Shortcut blends (taco seasoning, curry powder, all-purpose seasoned salt) exist to save you from measuring five things. Once you're comfortable, making your own is a small step up and a real improvement — these are the best DIY candidates.
"The point" blends (garam masala, chaat masala, za'atar, ras el hanout, five-spice) are the dish's identity, built from many components in careful proportion. These reward either a good store version or a from-scratch batch made with intent — not a lazy approximation.

Notes

A blend is a starting point, not a law. Any recipe calling for a blend can be bumped — more cumin, less salt, a pinch of heat. Taste and adjust.
Label and date homemade blends. Ground blends fade; a date tells you when to remake.
Toast-and-grind for from-scratch blends. For blends built from whole spices (garam masala, five-spice, baharat), toasting before grinding deepens flavor — see the Spice Blending Guide (Indian) and Tadka Guide.
"Chili powder" is a blend, not pure chile. The single most common spice-aisle confusion — the Tex-Mex blend vs. pure ground chile (cayenne / Indian red chili powder) are not interchangeable. See the Chili Powder recipe.

Added Oct 25, 2026 · Updated Oct 25, 2026