Top 19: Herbs and Spices I use in my From Scratch Kitchen

Herbs & spices can make all the difference in your cooking. They can take your dishes from “Yum” to “OMG this is delicious!”

Knowing the flavour profile of each herb or spice you are using can give you a big advantage in adding depth and flavour to your dishes.

Knowing which herb or spice to use in which dish, and which combination of spices complement each other, can diversify your family meals.

My 19 Favourite Herbs & Spices and How I Utilise Them

• Bay Leaves – these are an aromatic leaf which can be used in dishes such as curries, stews & making your own stock. Be sure to remove them before eating the dish, as you want their flavour but don’t want to be eating them directly.
• Cayenne Pepper – this powder is created by dehydrating cayenne peppers and grinding them to a powder. Used in a lot of Mexican cuisine dishes, this fiery little pepper can give off quite a lot of heat.
• Chilli Powder – usually a blend of dried chillis and other spices, chilli powder is another option to give your dishes a little kick of heat. Adding a small amount in with a Roasted Pumpkin Soup can make a huge difference in the flavour profile & give you an extra boost of warmth while eating it.
• Chinese Five Spice – a blend of star anise, Chinese cinnamon, Szechuan pepper, fennel seeds & cloves, this spice is typically very strong. In a large serving of stir-fry, I generally only use about 1/8th of a teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice. This does then mean that one small container can last a really long time in your pantry.
• Cinnamon – this is actually a spice that can be used in both sweet & savoury dishes. Adding some depth of flavour to Middle Eastern dishes, sprinkling it on your pumpkin when roasting or giving your apple pie a nice warm flavour is just a few of the very varied ways cinnamon can be used in your From Scratch Kitchen.

• Coriander – probably the most controversial spice in the culinary world, you either love coriander or you think it tastes like soap! For those of us who do like to use it in our cooking, Mexican dishes are where it is at. Add to dishes such as White Chicken Enchiladas, Slow Cooker Pulled Mexican Chicken & Quick Weeknight Nachos.
• Cumin – another spice that is welcome in the Mexican cuisine, cumin is created by roasting & grinding up cumin seeds.
• Garlic Powder – who doesn’t love a bit of garlic? I know some of my family members love it, but it doesn’t love them, so there are times where we need to minimise the quantity of garlic in our dishes. But where possible, I will add garlic to most savoury dishes I create. I make my own Garlic Powder by dehydrating cloves of garlic and then grinding them to a powder and storing in airtight containers. A flavour enhancer, garlic can change the profile of a dish and give it a real boost of flavour.
• Ground Ginger – think Ginger Cookies and Chinese cuisine. A versatile spice, ginger can give a subtle spicy kick to a dish while also adding great flavour. Adding ginger to your tea when under the weather can also help boost your immune system. What a super star!
• Nutmeg – another versatile spice that can be utilised in both sweet & savoury dishes, nutmeg can sometimes be used in replacement of cinnamon in a pinch. Adding to your apple pie instead of cinnamon can change the flavour of the dish slightly, but it is still more than enjoyable.
• Onion Powder – another spice that I make myself, Onion Powder is a great replacement for fresh onion when necessary. Utilised as a flavour enhancer, you can add onion powder to sauces & marinades, use it to season meat before cooking or flavour your soups & stews.
• Oregano – utilised in Italian, Mexican & Greek dishes, oregano is quite versatile. It has a robust flavour which compliments tomatoes in your Italian pasta sauces, pairs nicely with cumin & coriander in enchiladas & can enhance marinades for Greek meats.

• Paprika – made from ground, roasted capsicums, this spice is well used in Mexican dishes to not only add flavour, but also colour. There are variations of paprika such as smoked, sweet or hot, which are created equally except the type of capsicum/chilli/pepper that is roasted & ground. Add to your rub on your Homestyle Smoked Chicken Wings, enhance the depth of flavour of your stews & soups or use as garnish on top of your Classic Shepherd’s Pie.
• Parsley – with it’s earthy flavour you can use parsley in your Potato Salad, create a Chimichurri to add to your Mexican Dishes or to finish off a dish with a garnish of fresh green colour. Best added at the end of a dish, parsley can be used both fresh and dried. Drying my own home-grown parsley is definitely something that I have recently started doing & it has so much more flavour that the shop bought version.
• Pepper – peppercorns come in many varieties, but the most commonly used are white & black peppercorns. These two varieties do have different flavour profiles & heat levels. I tend to use black pepper for most of my cooking, except when it comes to seafood or Chinese dishes. Freshly cracked pepper has more heat and flavour than the ground pepper you can buy from the store but utilising whichever variety you have can enhance the flavour of your dishes.
• Rosemary – a favourite with our Roast Lamb, rosemary can be used fresh or dried depending on what you have available. Add a hint of the woody herb to your roasted potatoes or combine with lemon in some Lemon & Rosemary Cookies.
• Salt – though not technically a spice or herb, salt, which is actually a mineral & seasoning, can be the most beneficial item in your spice rack. It can come in many forms such as salt flakes, rock salt or Celtic salt which all have their place in your kitchen with different uses. Salt enhances the flavour of your dishes, can balance out bitterness & just season anything and everything. Salt is also essential in Home Preservation so is definitely something to always have on hand in a From Scratch Kitchen.
• Thyme – with it’s earthly and slightly minty flavour, thyme can enhance many dishes. You can add whole sprigs of thyme to soups & stews (removing before consuming, pulled from the stem & added to your mashed potatoes or adding to the cavity of a chicken with some lemons & garlic before roasting.
• Turmeric – vibrant and golden in colour with a warming, bitter taste, turmeric is a very common spice in Indian cuisine. The flavour isn’t very overpowering, even when used in large amounts, so you are able to get some great colour to your curries, soups & breads without changing the flavour profiles.

Once you have slowly built up your stash of herbs & spices in your from scratch kitchen, you will be able to put together your own blends.

Below are some of the blends that I make up for myself & use on a regular basis:

• Mexican Blend – this blend includes paprika, cumin, coriander, oregano & garlic powder. Utilised to flavour all of my simple Mexican dishes.
• Wing Blend – I keep this blend mixed up in a large jar at all times, as we do tend to randomly decide to smoke chicken wings on a regular basis. It includes coarse salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, turmeric, black pepper, ginger, cumin & coriander.
• Pickling Spices – including mustard seeds, allspice, coriander seeds, chilli flakes, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves & bay leaves, this pickling spice mix is a great base to use to pickle almost anything. This can be adjusted or have other items added to make it your own, but a great place to start.

Do you have any favourite herbs or spices that I haven’t listed here? I would love to hear about what others you may use & how, in the comments below.