Premade packet seasonings you can grab at the store seem like a quick and easy choice. But oftentimes they contain fillers, flavor enhancers, and other ingredients that I simply choose to stay away from (like MSG, which usually causes a migraine for me). They also seem cheap when you buy them, but in reality, you can make most homemade spice mixes for half the price!
For me, it was an easy decision to buy a few spices in bulk and make my own.
We also found that we enjoyed our food more using fresher seasonings and as an added bonus, we began to play around with recipes we found online and came up with quite a few that worked super well for our personal tastes.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I still buy a seasoning packet here and there. If I don’t pay attention, I’ll run out of my own blend and it’s easier to grab a quick packet at the store instead of interrupting my weekly meal plan (and I’d rather buy my bulk herbs from our local health food store or favorite online retailer).
I focus on my overall food choices and don’t stress about every little thing. 😉
Sometimes I’ll serve a meal I cooked with a premade packet and I hear “This isn’t as good as normal…”. Once I got “Hey! These are the best tacos you ever made!” :facepalm: And that’s when I knew I needed to redo my bulk seasoning recipe.
Some of the homemade spice mixes that I always have on hand:
- Italian Dressing Mix (great for dressing and chicken marinade)
- Ranch Dressing/Dip
- Taco Seasoning
- Pizza Sauce Seasoning (which doubles as my spaghetti seasoning)
- All Season Spice (I use it all the time when grilling burgers or chicken)
The last couple of days I’ve sat down with my herbal catalogs trying to figure out what spices I need to re-stock. My top nine spices are still going strong, but I’m thinking of branching out a bit and trying a few new recipes.
My usual process is to buy spices by the pound! Once they get delivered I spend an afternoon mixing up my seasoning blends into half or full quart jars – usually enough to last about 6 months. Whatever bulk spices I don’t use immediately get put into the freezer for later use. (I also make sure to refill any of the smaller containers in my spice cabinet while I’m at it!)