Spice Mixes

Making your own spice mixes and having them on hand is a great time-saver and a brilliant way to make tasty food without needing to look for a recipe.

Introduction

When I first started to eat a low carb diet in late 2013, I had to go looking for recipes. They were usually complicated and required a lot of outlandish ingredients, including a host of herbs and spices.

I quickly figured out which ones worked and made my own spice mixes to speed up the cooking process. It's a lot easier to measure out 2 teaspoons of something than 1 of this, half of that, a quarter of ...

I bought the spices in bulk from Amazon and set to work.

Here are my favourites.

(Recommended serving size is for an average size recipe for 2 adults and 2 children.)

Tagine Spice Mix

Tagine is a great way to cook lamb but it also works with chicken thighs.

Mix the following spices...

  • 4 Tbsp Paprika
  • 4 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp Ground Ginger
  • 2 Tbsp Ground Coriander
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon

Suggested Serving Size: 3.5 teaspoons

Chilli Spice Mix

We make turkey chilli but this spice mix works just as well with lamb and beef.

Mix the following spices...

  • 4 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • 2 Tbsp Turmeric
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Ginger
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 4 Tbsp Sea Salt

Suggested Serving Size: 3 teaspoons

Korma Spice Mix

I use this to make lamb korma but chicken works just as well. This mix does need to be mixed with fresh garlic, ginger, tomato paste and almonds for best results.

Mix the following spices...

  • 12 Tbsp Garam Masala
  • 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp Paprika
  • 4 Tbsp Ground Cardamom
  • 2 Tbsp Tyrmeric
  • 2 Tbsp Sea Salt

Suggested Serving Size: 3 teaspoons

Fajita Spice Mix

Fajitas seem to work best with chicken but we have successfully made them with beef.

Mix the following herbs and spices...

  • 4 Tbsp Medium Chilli Powder
  • 2 Tbsp Sea Salt
  • 2 Tbsp Paprika
  • 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar (I have left this out and it was OK)
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Onion Powder (don't buy this in bulk, it solidifies quite quickly on its own)
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Oregano
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

Suggested Serving Size: 2 tablespoons

Creole Spice Mix

I've used this to spice up my daily beef and eggs from time to time. As happy as I am just to season the beef with salt, every now and again it's nice to have a little variety.

Mix the following herbs and spices...

  • 5 Tbsp Paprika
  • 4 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 4 Tbsp Salt
  • 2 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp Black Pepper (freshly rough ground)
  • 2 Tbsp Oregano
  • 2 Tbsp Thyme

Suggested Serving Size: 2 teaspoons

Bobotie Spice Mix

The bobotie recipe on this site lists the spices separately, but if you like to make the recipe often - as I do - having the spice mix handy is a another of those little time-savers.

Mix the following herbs and spices...

  • 8 Tbsp Medium Curry Powder
  • 4 tsp Salt
  • 2 tsp Ground Ginger
  • 2 tsp Ground Turmeric
  • 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
  • 2 tsp Marjoram
  • 1 tsp Ground Cloves
  • 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Suggested Serving Size: 3.5 tablespoons (for 1kg of meat)

Summary

If you want to be sure what is in your food, you have to cook it yourself. This can be a bit time-consuming, but buying the raw spices and making the spice mixes in advance saves a lot of time and makes you more likely to cook because it removes some of the hassle.

Related Posts

Italian-Style Meatloaf

Introduction This Italian-style Meatloaf recipe results in a meal that’s high in protein with the concentrated flavour you’d find in many Italian dishes. We’ve long made a very simple meatloaf with turkey mince, but I’ve always found it a little bland and dry. The fact that it’s quick and easy to make has kept it on

Read More

Katsu Chicken Recipe

Introduction This Katsu Chicken recipe is my take on this dish, inspired by reading the horrid ingredients list on a store-bought ready-meal. This Katsu Chicken recipe came about when my wife brought home a Katsu ready-meal for herself one evening (I refuse to eat “processed food slop”, so I wouldn’t even be offered a mouthful

Read More

Your Warm-Up Matters, This is Why

Introduction Doing a good warm-up can make a huge difference to your workout as well as competition results. It’s not just something to do halfheartedly. I’m a coach and an athlete. As much as I like to know WHY something works, the fact THAT IT DOES WORK is all I really care about. This sometimes puts

Read More

Freestyle Swimmer: Why You Should Swim All Four Strokes

Introduction Every swimmer should swim all four strokes. It’s a bold claim and one which strikes fear into the hearts of most triathlete freestylers. If there is one word uttered on the pool deck that strikes fear into the hearts of triathletes the world over, it’s this…”BUTTERFLY” Of all the ways there are to imitate someone drowning,

Read More

Grip Training Drills

Introduction Many people make the mistake of resorting to lifting straps long before they should need them. These grip training drills will help. At it’s most basic, training your grip means heavier lifts. But it goes a little deeper than that because there’s a correlation between grip strength and longevity, albeit it’s only a correlation

Read More

Ladder Workouts

IntroductionLadder workouts are a way to structure volume in your workouts to balance the load you’re moving with a degree of strength endurance. We’re all familiar with the standard way of structuring workouts that look a bit like this… 3 sets of 10 reps with 1 minute rest (3 x 10) OR 5 sets of 5 reps with 3

Read More

Will Newton

In over twenty years of coaching, I have coached everyone from absolute beginners to world champions.
My interest in getting the best results for people who train for health and fitness or the love of sport, rather than as professionals, drives me to find the most effective ways to get results.
My mission is simple: Be in better shape at 70 than most people are at 20, and to help you do the same.

Leave a Comment