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Homemade Old Bay Seasoning is a simple way to bring bold, zesty flavor to your dishes! This spice blend has a classic taste but with the freshness and flexibility of making it yourself. Perfect for seafood, meats, and more!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Versatile: This mix has a distinctive taste that pairs especially well with seafood like shrimp and fish. But it also enhances chicken, vegetables, and snacks like popcorn!
- Budget-Friendly: Save money by making your seasoning at home! While you’re at it, give my pizza seasoning, Greek-inspired gyro seasoning, and spiced fajita seasoning a try!
Better Than Store Bought
When you combine your own seasonings at home, the flavors are so delicious and always make something unique and special. Homemade blends always taste better than store-bought. This homemade old bay seasoning recipe is the perfect balance of savory, spicy, and slightly sweet.
Ingredients Needed
How to Make Copycat Old Bay Seasoning
This homemade old bay seasoning recipe comes together in just 5 minutes! You can even prepare it in bulk, so you always have it on hand. Simply grind the bay leaves, mix the herbs and spices, then give them a quick stir or shake.
- Add the Bay Leaves to a Grinder: To make the ground bay leaves, add 8-10 whole bay leaves to a spice grinder or a coffee grinder.
- Grind the Bay Leaves: Grind until you have a fine powder. Depending on the strength of your grinder, this can take a couple of minutes. Alternatively, you may use a mortar and pestle to crush the bay leaves into powder.
- Mix: Add ground bay leaves, celery salt, paprika, ground mustard, ground ginger, ground black pepper, ground white pepper, cayenne pepper, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground cardamom to a small bowl and mix until combined. Use in place of store-bought Old Bay seasoning.
Tips and How to Use Old Bay Seasoning
You’re going to love having this homemade old bay seasoning in your pantry! It’s super flavorful and can be used to season so many different foods!
- How Do I Use Old Bay Seasoning? Use in place of store-bought old bay seasoning in any recipe that calls for it, or season fish, chicken, other meats, vegetables, or even eggs with it!
- Do you have to grind your own bay leaves? You don’t have to grind your own if you’re able to find ground bay leaves at the store or online! If you grind your own, definitely use a spice or coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle to grind them finely. I tried using a blender, but it wasn’t able to grind the leaves finely enough. Using a spice grinder takes time, but keep it running long enough, and you will have a beautiful powder of bay leaves!
- Make it Spicy! If you like things a little bit spicier, go ahead and add a full ¼ teaspoon of cayenne powder!
- Grinding the Spices: If you want to meld the flavors better together, add the whole spice mixture to a spice grinder and pulse it a few times to let them grind together even finer.
Storing Seasoning
Store the homemade old bay seasoning blend in an airtight jar, container, or ziplock bag for up to 3 years! Ideally, seasonings and spices should be kept in a cool, dark cupboard in order to maintain freshness and flavor.
More Homemade Seasoning Recipes
Homemade spice blends always have a fresher, more flavorful taste, plus you can customize them to create unique variations. Here are a few more recipes that I use all the time and I know you’ll love!
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Old Bay Seasoning
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 2 ½ teaspoons paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- To make the ground bay leaves, add 8-10 whole bay leaves to a spice grinder or a coffee grinder and grind until you have a fine powder. Depending on the strength of your grinder, this can take a couple of minutes. Alternatively, you may use a mortar and pestle to crush the bay leaves into powder.
- Add 1 teaspoon ground bay leaves, 1 tablespoon celery salt, 2 ½ teaspoons paprika, 1 ½ teaspoon ground mustard, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, and ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom to a small bowl and mix until combined.
- Use in place of store-bought Old Bay seasoning.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
