Adobo Seasoning Substitute: Best Swaps

Out of adobo? The closest swap is a homemade mix of garlic, onion, oregano and pepper, with salt added to taste. Just remember what you’re replacing: Goya’s Adobo with Pepper lists salt first,¹ and US labels list ingredients in descending order of weight,² so salt is the biggest single ingredient. Most substitutes carry a lot less salt than adobo, a few carry none, and a straight swap can leave a dish under-seasoned even when the spices are close. Table salt makes a handy yardstick: about 7/8 teaspoon carries the sodium of a teaspoon of Goya’s adobo.

Quick answer

What adobo is doing	Best substitute	Starting amount, per 1 part adobo	Treatment
Seasoning meat, fish or vegetables before cooking	Homemade garlic, onion, oregano and pepper blend	1 part, then salt to taste	Method
Same job, straight from a jar	Seasoned salt or Greek seasoning	1 part, plus 1/4 to 1/2 part table salt	Computed (salt)
Mostly salting a marinade, rice or beans	Table salt with garlic powder	About 7/8 part salt; garlic to taste	Computed (salt), Method (garlic)
A rub where chile heat is welcome	Cajun seasoning	1 part, plus 1/3 to 5/8 part table salt	Computed (salt)
Tex-Mex dishes	Chili powder, with salt added separately	1/2 part chili powder, then salt	Method, Computed (salt)

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
Attributed: a named source publishes this figure. We quote it as theirs.
Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

Every Computed figure here is about salt only. It comes from the sodium printed on each product’s Nutrition Facts label and tells you nothing about garlic, oregano or pepper flavor.

How much salt each substitute carries

Goya’s adobo has 520 mg of sodium per 1/4 teaspoon serving of 1.5 g.¹ Here’s how the alternatives stack up, spoon for spoon:

Product	Sodium per 1/4 tsp	A 1:1 swap gives this share of adobo’s sodium	Source
Goya Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper	520 mg	100%	¹
Morton Iodized Table Salt	590 mg	113%	³
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt	380 mg	73%	⁴
Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Cajun	310 mg	60%	⁵
Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning	241 mg	46%	⁶
McCormick Signature Seasonings Cajun	160 mg	31%	⁷
Chili powder, USDA reference sample	About 19 mg	About 4%	⁸

The percentages are our math from the label figures. The chili powder number comes from USDA FoodData Central’s 2,870 mg of sodium per 100 g and its weight of 2.7 g per teaspoon;⁸ brands will differ. Every row is a single product, not the whole category. TASTE notes that some newer adobo blends come in lower-sodium versions,⁹ so check the label on the jar your recipe was written for.

Two handy results fall out of this. A teaspoon of Goya’s adobo carries about as much sodium as 7/8 teaspoon of Morton table salt (520 ÷ 590 = 0.88), so table salt is your yardstick for topping up any of the substitutes. And Morton’s table salt also weighs 1.5 g per 1/4 teaspoon,³ so the comparison holds by weight as well as by volume.

If adobo is seasoning food before cooking

This is the shake-it-on-before-cooking use Goya suggests for meat, chicken, fish and vegetables.¹ Here, salt and garlic matter most.

1. Make your own

TASTE describes most commercial blends as garlic, pepper, salt and oregano.⁹ You probably have all of those already, so a homemade blend is your closest match.

A basic homemade adobo seasoning: 2 tablespoons garlic powder, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 2 teaspoons ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric and 2 teaspoons table salt. It makes a little under 6 tablespoons. It keeps the garlic, oregano, pepper and turmeric from Goya’s label,¹ adds onion, and uses much less salt.

David Leite’s homemade adobo, which he offers as a stand-in for commercial mixes “often loaded with salt,” leans harder on onion and garlic powder and adds cumin, which Goya doesn’t list.¹¹⁰ PepperScale also says making your own is the best option, from paprika, chili powder, black pepper, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder and ground cumin, and says regular chili powder works where its recipe calls for chipotle powder.¹¹ That version brings chile, which isn’t on Goya’s label. Turmeric adds the yellow. No turmeric? Leave it out. The blend will just be less yellow.

Ratio (Method): Use the homemade blend 1:1 for flavor, then salt to taste. Salt is 2 of about 17 teaspoons in the mix, so a teaspoon of it carries roughly 280 mg of sodium, going by Morton’s 590 mg per 1/4 teaspoon (approximate, by volume).³ For each teaspoon of adobo you’re replacing, about 3/4 teaspoon of extra table salt would bring the total close to Goya’s level. Treat that as a ceiling, not a target.

TASTE reports that one chef grinds and toasts his spices before mixing them into the salt, and uses each batch within a couple of weeks.⁹

2. Seasoned salt

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt lists salt, sugar, spices (including paprika, celery seed and turmeric), onion, corn starch and garlic.⁴ Like adobo, it’s salt-first with garlic, onion and turmeric. Unlike adobo, it has no oregano and adds sugar.

Ratio (Computed, salt only): A teaspoon of Lawry’s carries about 1,520 mg of sodium, against adobo’s 2,080 mg (4 servings × 380 mg and 4 × 520 mg).⁴¹ Use it 1:1 and add about 1/4 teaspoon of table salt per teaspoon to close the gap.³

3. Greek seasoning

Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning starts with salt, black pepper, corn starch, garlic, monosodium glutamate, oregano,⁶ which covers all four ingredients TASTE names for most adobo blends.⁹ It also contains MSG and a soy-based flavor base,⁶ worth knowing if you avoid either. McCormick’s Culinary Greek Seasoning describes its flavor as oregano, garlic and onion with a touch of mint,¹² and mint isn’t an adobo flavor.

Ratio (Computed, salt only): A teaspoon of Cavender’s carries about 964 mg of sodium (4 × 241 mg).⁶ Use it 1:1 and add about 1/2 teaspoon of table salt per teaspoon to reach adobo’s level.¹³

4. Table salt and garlic powder, when adobo is mostly salting

When adobo goes into a marinade or a pot of rice or beans, it’s mostly there for salt.

Salt (Computed): About 7/8 teaspoon of table salt carries the sodium of 1 teaspoon of Goya’s adobo.¹³

Garlic (Method): Start with about 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder per teaspoon of adobo replaced, and add a pinch of dried oregano and black pepper if you have them.

If adobo is part of a rub where heat is welcome

Cajun seasoning

Slap Ya Mama’s Original Blend is just salt, black pepper, red pepper and granulated garlic.⁵ McCormick’s Signature Cajun lists salt, then paprika, red pepper, thyme, black pepper, celery seed, garlic and onion.⁷ Both share adobo’s salt, garlic and black pepper. Neither lists oregano, and both add red pepper. Goya’s adobo has no chile at all.¹ So reach for Cajun seasoning only where some heat suits the dish.

Ratio (Computed, salt only): A 1:1 swap gives you 60 percent of adobo’s sodium with Slap Ya Mama and 31 percent with McCormick Signature.⁵⁷¹ To match adobo, add about 1/3 teaspoon of table salt per teaspoon with Slap Ya Mama, or about 5/8 teaspoon with McCormick Signature.³ Worried about heat? Use less of the blend and make up the difference with salt.

Chili powder, for Tex-Mex dishes

The USDA’s federal purchasing specification says chili powder should include ground chili pepper, cumin, oregano, salt and garlic powder,¹³ and Saveur says the chile is usually ancho.¹⁴ So chili powder shares adobo’s garlic and oregano but adds chile and cumin. It changes the color, too: the specification calls for a reddish-brown powder,¹³ while turmeric makes adobo yellow.¹¹⁵

Ratio (Computed, salt only): Chili powder is barely salty. The USDA reference sample works out to about 77 mg of sodium per teaspoon,⁸ about 4 percent of adobo’s. Start with half as much chili powder as the adobo called for, since it brings chile flavor adobo doesn’t have, then add salt separately, up to about 7/8 teaspoon of table salt per teaspoon of adobo replaced.¹³

A weak match: vadouvan

Vadouvan is a curry-style blend. The Spice House’s version includes shallots, turmeric, onion, coriander, garlic, sugar, cumin, mustard, ginger and fenugreek among its 20 ingredients, while World Spice Merchants’ version has no onion or garlic at all.¹⁶¹⁷ Both include fenugreek. Expect your dish to taste of curry, not adobo.

Ratio (Method): If a curry note suits the dish, start with half the adobo amount and salt separately. The Spice House’s blend lists kosher salt among its ingredients, but we didn’t find a sodium figure for either blend.¹⁶

Not for a dry rub: adobo sauce, adobo paste and chipotles in adobo

The same word shows up on jars of wet adobo sauce and paste and on cans of chipotles in adobo, and those are different products from the dry seasoning (see adobo seasoning). PepperScale warns that the sauce or paste adds water, so a dish built on a dried powder may turn soggy.¹¹ It adds that chipotles in adobo bring extra heat and smoke, so go carefully.¹¹

Ratio (Method): Use them only in wet dishes: start with a small spoonful, taste, and salt separately.

What isn’t known

The salt figures above are label math. Everything about garlic, oregano and pepper strength is a judgment call.
Goya doesn’t publish the proportions of garlic, oregano and pepper in its blend, so how much of each to use when rebuilding it is a starting point, not a match.¹
Sodium varies by brand and version, including lower-sodium adobo.⁹ The table above covers only the labels named.

Goya Foods, “Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper”, trade product page. trade.goya.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴
21 CFR 101.4, Food; designation of ingredients. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩
Morton Iodized Table Salt, product page, Morton Salt. mortonsalt.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, ingredients and nutrition label, via Giant Food Stores. giantfoodstores.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³
Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Cajun Seasoning, ingredients and nutrition label, via Giant Food Stores. giantfoodstores.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³
Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning, ingredients and nutrition, via Food Lion. foodlion.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
McCormick Signature Seasonings Cajun, ingredients and nutrition label, via Giant Food Stores. giantfoodstores.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³
Spices, chili powder (FDC ID 171319), USDA FoodData Central. fdc.nal.usda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩² ↩³
Alicia Kennedy, article on adobo seasoning, TASTE, 2018. tastecooking.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
David Leite, “Adobo Seasoning”, Leite’s Culinaria. leitesculinaria.com · Publication ↩
Matt Bray, “What’s A Good Adobo Seasoning Substitute?”, PepperScale, 2022. pepperscale.com · Publication · PepperScale is also owned by Matt Bray, the editor of this site. ↩ ↩² ↩³
McCormick Culinary Greek Seasoning, product page, McCormick. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩
Commercial Item Description A-A-20001C, Spices and Spice Blends, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, 2023. ams.usda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩²
“Chili Powder”, Saveur, 2009. saveur.com · Publication ↩
“Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety”, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. nccih.nih.gov · Regulator ↩
Vadouvan Curry, product page, The Spice House. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩ ↩²
Vadouvan Curry, product page, World Spice Merchants. worldspice.com · Merchant ↩

Adobo Seasoning Substitutes, Matched for Salt as Well as Flavor