Healthy Spice Mix Recipes

Making your own shrimp seasoning blend is easy and lets you control exactly what's inside. Use it in place of packaged seasoning blends to bring zesty flavor to shrimp as well as chicken, beef and more.

Make a big batch of this Turkish spice mix to have on hand when you need to whip up a quick vegetable dip or flavorful, easy salad dressing. Or try it as a rub for grilled or roasted meat or vegetables. The spice mix is also perfect to give as a hostess gift along with a recipe card for turning it into a dip or vinaigrette (see Tips, below). For the freshest, most economical spices, head to a store that has a large, well-stocked bulk spice department.

In the Mediterranean region, blends of dried locally grown herbs are common. This version is ideal for vegetables, seafood, poultry, and pork.

Bright and zesty, this Spanish seasoning mixture is perfect for paella. It also works well with chicken, potatoes, seafood, and vegetables.

Make a big batch of this super-herbed spice mix to have on hand when you need to whip up a quick vegetable dip or flavorful, easy salad dressing. The spice mix is also perfect to give as a hostess gift along with a recipe card for turning it into a dip or vinaigrette (see Tips, below). For the freshest, most economical spices, head to a store that has a large, well-stocked bulk spice department.

This spice rub is sweet and savory and pairs perfectly with chicken, pork, or fish.

Sofrito is a flavorful cooking base for all sorts of dishes. It has countless variations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. This Puerto Rican sofrito contains tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell pepper and cilantro. Make a batch to use for flavoring rice, stews and much more.

This Moroccan spice blend is often used to season chicken in Moroccan cuisine. It also works well with beef or salmon.

This spice blend conjures up the sunny flavors of the Yucatán. You'll need to track down annatto seeds (aka achiote), which provide the blend's vibrant color and flavor. Use it to flavor rice (add 1 tsp. for each 1 cup dry rice), sprinkle on chicken or pork cutlets before cooking, or make Yucatán-Style Pulled Pork (Cochinita Pibil; see Associated Recipes).

Baharat is an Arabic term for spices or spice blends. Many countries in the Middle East have variations of a basic baharat for fish, poultry, and meat. This version is designed for fish and seafood dishes, but can also be used with beef, poultry, and vegetables.

One of the Test Kitchen's favorite blends is baharat, which means "spices" in Arabic—and this Middle Eastern seasoning is loaded with them.

This spice blend is Padma Lakshmi's riff on an Indian street-food blend called chaat masala.