I'll be honest, for the past few years, I have generally snubbed all of these new spice blends coming out from companies like McCormick. I would either try to make it a point to use fresh herbs as much as possible, and/or mix up my own blends and dry drubs from various recipes I found online. It seemed like kind of a cop-out to just use one of these pre-mixed blends, and I assumed they all had a bunch of MSG, corn starch, and other additives. Lately, I kind of had a change of heart and started trying out a few of the McCormick grill mates blends, the newer Lawry's seasoned salts, as well as Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix and Morton Season-All. I will say, I'm starting to really like some of these. Currently I'm hooked on the McCormick Grill Mates Roasted Garlic & Herb blend, I've been using it on chicken breast, chicken wings and steamed veggies a lot lately. It's just got a great balance of flavors, and really livens up plain old chicken, without overdoing it. This past summer I was making a lot of fajitas, and really got into Lawry's Fire Roasted Chili and Garlic seasoning. It's a blend of Chipotle, Smoked Paprika and Garlic. It's great on chicken, but I really liked it on steak in particular. I will warn you though, it's really heavy on the smoked paprika, in fact I can taste that more than the chipotle in it. I was pretty surprised to find out that the Good Seasons italian dressing mix doesn't have any MSG in it, and the ingredients are all pretty straightforward and natural. I've been using that on oven baked buffalo wings with great results, as a nice change of pace from the usual hot sauce and butter combo. Although it's also great mixed into that as well. Morton Season-All has also kind of become my go-to blend for home fries, I don't even bother eyeballing out all the garlic powder, paprika, etc. any more.
Reading your post made my mouth water! I have actually given the Greek seasoning a chance after a friend recommended I try it and it is delicious! I also have used a Montreal steak spice that is lovely on steaks, so I would recommend these two to others as well. The spice blends are excellent and they to add some pizzazz to otherwise boring meals.
I usually just follow the recipe and add a little extra of my favorites. I'm not very creative when it comes to it seasoning. I like a seasoning called Rendezvous. It's from a BBQ restaurant in Memphis, but they also sell it in grocery stores. It's been good on meat and vegetables.
I tend to go for ready-mixed spice blends, because I think the people who blend them are a lot more experienced than I am with that sort of thing. My husband makes a mean curry, and he doesn't blend the spices for it, he uses Bolst's hot curry powder blend. He made one just last week, and our visitors were bowled over by it.
I rarely use spice blends. I'm a bit of a picky cook, and I like to decide exactly what spices go into my dishes. The only spice blend I use often is Adobo. Other than that, I mix my own spices depending on my mood at the moment.
I don't use many prepared spice blends. The one exception is Emeril's Essence. It really makes just about anything taste good. Lately, I have been using them on grilled portobello mushrooms. Delicious. I really want to start experimenting mixing my own spice blends. It maybe a bit more expensive, but I'll know exactly what's in them.
I do a little of both. In the summer I will use my own herbs like basil, chives and garlic. In addition to this I will add some seasonings as well. I am a big fan of seasonings. I know it is a lot better to make your own, but using the prepackaged seasoning is a lot easier. Plus, in my opinion it tastes better. There is just no way to duplicate some of the seasonings. A lot of people tell me that I should make my own marinade for my steak, but I find it a lot tastier when I use store boughten marinade.
When it comes to spices, I love using what I grow in my garden. There's nothing like the taste of fresh home grown herbs and spices. I can usually taste the difference. There are a few mixes that I like, though. One is McCormick's California garlic salt and another one is Paul Prudhomme's Pizza and Pasta blend.
I like to make my own concoctions when it comes to spices. If you've got a big collection in the cupboard then why not. Although, You can find some great spice recipes here too. Log In
I pretty much always make my own. I rarely use the same set of spices in the exact same proportion twice. And when I do (like with taco seasonings), then I just make up a whole bunch and store it myself. As for things like the McCormick mixes, I have bought them on clearance before and really enjoyed them. Then I try to mimic them myself later because I don't want to pay full price for them later.
I tend to go both ways. I do have fresh herbs growing on my kitchen window sill and really love using them while cooking. We do have a few favorite blends that I keep on stock in the pantry. Some are homemade and others are ones that I buy at our local butcher shop. They sell some that are made locally with no MSG that are really good. I haven't tried the ones mentioned above but you have convinced me to give them a try. I think the only national brand seasoning that I have in my pantry right now is Old Bay. That one is a must have!
When I was younger I used a lot of Italian Seasoning. Now depending on what I am cooking, I either use fresh herbs from my garden, dried herbs like smoked paprika and curry powder, or Spike, a seasoning blend from Gaylord Hauser. It's very versatile and I use on everything from french fries to salmon. I buy the salt free one.
I usually do my own but I found a spaghetti spice that is actually really good. I Use that for my spaghetti sauce almost any time I make it now.
Got some really good ideas from your post and really want to get some food started now.....I usually just use basic things like garlic and pepper, but Im going to have to start making some custom blends because it sounds delicious.
I used to buy the McCormick buffalo wings seasoning bag. It was pretty delicious. I normally put together my own blend of spices. I use a lot of fresh garlic, rosemary and also dried spices. It really depends on the dish that I'm making. I wouldn't mind giving some of the other McCormick seasonings a try. I think I'll put that on my grocery list.
Personally, I prefer making my own. It's fun because if it doesn't taste perfect, you can tweak it until it's perfect to you. With a premade blend, there's nothing you can do other than keep trying other brands and in some cases, that can be a waste of money. I like buying blends though, just every so often to prevent wasting money on mixtures that I can do a better job of.
I'm in the same boat as you are. While I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen, I'm not trained at all. I have some random spices (cinnamon, black pepper, cayenne pepper), but I also have things like Old Bay, grilling spices, taco mixes, chili mixes, etc. It's just so much easier, especially since I am not experienced at blending - or even where to start. I usually get coupons or buy all of the spice blends on sale, so, personally, it's a really easy decision for me at the grocery store. I don't follow the recipes on the spice blend packets, though - I tend to do my own thing!
