Spice Substitutions

From: BH&G's New Cook Book

For more spices and their substitutes, visit this BHG webpage

Spice	Flavor	Common Uses	Substitution
Allspice (ground)	Blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves	Baked goods, jerk seasoning, stews	Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves
Anise seeds	Licorice-like flavor	Cabbage dishes, meats, fruit desserts	Fennel seeds or a few drops of anise extract
Cardamom (ground)	Spicy-sweet with peppery and ginger-like tones	Curried dishes, bean dishes, baked goods	Ground ginger
Cayenne pepper	Hot, pungent, smoky	Stews, barbecue rubs and sauces, and bean, meat, egg, and cheese dishes	Use 2-3 drops bottled hot pepper sauce for 1/8 to ¼t. cayenne pepper
Chili powder	Hot, spicy, peppery taste and aroma	Soups, stews, marinades, meat dishes	Dash bottled hot pepper sauce + equal measures of ground oregano & cumin
Cinnamon (ground)	Strong, spicy-sweet flavor	Meats, breads, pumpkin and fruit desserts, hot coffee, tea, chocolate	Ground nutmeg or allspice (use only ¼ of the specified amount)
Cloves (ground)	Strong, pungent, almost hot flavor	Baked beans, barbecue dishes, chili, mulled wine, fruit desserts, cakes	Ground allspice, cinnamon, or nutmeg
Cumin (ground)	Pungent, spicy, slightly bitter	Indian and Mexican cooking, meats, poultry	Chili powder
Curry powder	Fragrant, mild-to-hot blend of up to 20 ground spices	Meats, sauces, stews, root vegetables; often used in Asian & Indian cooking	Combine = parts ground spices common in curry such as cumin, coriander, red & black peppers, ginger, turmeric
Fennel seeds	Mild licorice-like flavor and aroma	Meat, sausage, poultry dishes, baked goods, fruit desserts, coleslaw	Anise or caraway seeds
Ginger (ground)	Sweet-hot flavor, nippy aroma	Stir-fries, marinades, meats, baked goods	Ground allspice, cinnamon, mace, or nutmeg
Mustard (dry, seeds)	Dry mustard attains hot flavor when mixed with water; seeds are hot & spicy	Dry—salad dressings & egg, cheese, & meat dishes; seeds—pickling, relishes, & boiled vegetables & meats	In cooked mixtures, 1T. yellow mustard for ea. 1t. dry; no substitutes for mustard seeds
Nutmeg (ground)	Slightly sweet and spicy flavor & aroma	Baked goods, white sauces, custard, eggnog	Ground cinnamon, ginger, or mace
Paprika	Hungarian paprika is generally more pungent than Spanish & can be labeled sweet (mild) or hot; Spanish paprika is slightly sweet & bitter	Vegetables, beef, fish, chicken, salads, egg dishes	Cayenne pepper, but use sparingly because it’s much hotter
Pepper, black or white	Black pepper is more pungent than white	Savory foods, spiced desserts	White may be substituted for black, but it’s milder in flavor

Learn about Asian herbs/spices at this website.
Learn about herbs/spices from south of the border on this spice site and this site.
Learn about Mediterranean/tropical herbs/spices at this site and this spice site.

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