Name: Lebanese Spice Mix
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients: 1 tsp cumin; 1 tsp paprika; 1/4 tsp allspice; 1/8 tsp cloves; 1/8 tsp nutmeg; 1/8 tsp cinnamon; 1/8 tsp cardamom

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Here is a simple homemade spice mix to add a new flavor profile to your kitchen. This Lebanese spice mix combines spices you likely already have in the kitchen to create a savory and warm blend perfect so season a variety of dishes.

I love to use this Lebanese spice mix when I’m in a bit of a recipe rut. Have you ever been there? Making the same few dishes over and over again even though you’re tired of the same flavors.

Yeah, that’s totally us too. Especially when life gets busy and meal planning feels like a chore – this is exactly the kind of situation where we default to the same few dishes then quickly get bored.

Which is why I needed this spice mix in my life — to spice things up! haha

In all truth, this is how the Lebanese spice mix was born for us. We had been making a lot of tomato-based dishes (lots of Instant Pot sausage and pepper pasta) and needed a shakeup.

I bought a pack of premade seasoned meatballs at Publix that week, and didn’t know what else I was going to pair them with. Pasta sauce would have been a no brainer, but I wanted something different, and so I clicked over to Pinterest to find some ideas.

I guess subconsciously I had Mediterranean flavors in mind, because I kept thinking about pita bread, feta, warm and savory spices, and searched accordingly. I found a few ideas with tomatoes in the mix, which I didn’t want, and went back to the drawing board. What about something similar to what we’d find at our favorite local Mediterranean restaurant which serves delicious Lebanese food?

So I got to Googling Lebanese spices and found several ideas revolving around similar spices. I took a look in our spice drawer to pull out what we had, and got to mixing.

Cumin and paprika bring wonderful savory notes, while cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and cardamom blend together to add lovely warm flavors to the mix.

One important feature was to make it not hot-spicy because Finn is still a little young for anything too hot. So I left out anything hot, but which you can add in on your own if you’d like.

I used this to season farro which I paired with those meatballs, but it also goes well on vegetables, or to season meats.

How To Make Lebanese Spice Mix

In a bowl mix together:

cumin

paprika

allspice

ground cloves

nutmeg

cinnamon

cardamom

How to Store Lebanese Spice Mix

Store in an airtight container or

Store in a clean spice jar

I store my spice mix in a clean spice jar – I use a funnel set in the top of the jar, then spoon in the mix and then seal it up!