Season to Taste: One Stress Free Change for Simpler Recipes

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There are so many recipes that add those two little words “to taste” after a variety of seasonings. What does that even mean!?! Okay, well, I get that everyone has different levels of seasoning preferences. But, “season to taste” seems less than helpful. [Guilty!]

On the other hand, recipes sometimes give you a list of seasonings to use like onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper… usually in 1/4 teaspoon increments. And, I don’t know about you, but I have two littles who want to be fed yesterday. I don’t usually spend the time measuring out seasonings. I often joke that I use recipes as ingredient lists. I follow no rules, and I have only read a recipe all the way through a handful of times; I’ve followed them through to the letter even fewer than that.

To keep things simple, I recommend having a handy spice mix – your one-stop, go-to spice bottle that you can snatch out of your cabinet to cover the basics.

I highly recommend finding a go-to spice blend for your family. Ignore all the seasonings in a recipe and just substitute with your favorite spice blend.* This will simplify most recipes substantially, and keep your weeknight meals simplified and still fresh and tasty. 

There are some great options for a wide variety of palates.

We’ll start with my personal favorite:

Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning

(Tony’s for short)

The seasoning blend mixes salt, red pepper, black pepper, chili powder, and dehydrated garlic. There is also a no salt blend for those that prefer to add their own salt or need a salt-free option for medical reasons. For my family, this is an all-around great blend that requires next to no thought, and it applies to most recipes – not just the Cajun ones. 

Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb – great for pasta dishes. 

For most pasta meals, I use a basic Italian herb blend with the Tony’s. If the recipe calls for sauceless pasta, I usually stick to Italian seasoning blend with salt and pepper. BUT if you make a lot of pasta, though, a garlic and herb mix would be a great benefit to your kitchen. This is a great choice for those that need a salt-free option. Mrs. Dash makes many salt-free blends that could be helpful. 

Holy Garlic All-purpose blend

Definitely not safe for vampires. 😉

They say it tastes great on everything – especially meats and roasted veggies. The flavor profile has garlic, sea salt, ground chiles, activated charcoal, brown sugar, and black pepper. 

I really like it for meats or anything that might be grilled. The activated charcoal gives it a definite smoky flavor that usually comes from the grill.

Everything Bagel Seasoning

This has that great mixture of flavors: salt, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, black sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. The everything bagel seasoning also comes in a variety of blend options including salt-free and without the black sesame seeds. 

I love using this blend on steamed veggies. It also makes a great complement to cream cheese on just about anything: cucumbers, celery sticks, bagels (obviously), toast, or pretzels. It also works well for stir fry and Asian-inspired dishes since the base is sesame and garlic. 

Nature’s Seasons

A simple option that is great for all savory applications, this one covers the basics: salt, black pepper, sugar, onion and garlic flavor, and celery seed. 

OR make your own blend! 

Can’t find one you like? Pick out your favorite elements and mix your own. It will make cooking so much faster than measuring out individual seasonings. Save the specialty cooking for special occasions and keep your weeknights tasty and stress-free. 

*Remember me saying to ignore the seasonings in a recipe for your favorite spice blend? I’ll qualify that statement by saying you shouldn’t ignore all the herbs in a dish for a seasoning blend unless you already know the needed flavor profile. I would create a flavor chart for you, but Ellen over at Canola! has already made an amazing herb flavor chart that does a fantastic job of showing you what herbs work well in what dishes.