Allspice Substitutes, Ranked by the Job Allspice Is Doing

Out of allspice? Despite the name, it’s one spice, not a blend. It got its name because the dried berry tastes like a combination of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, and those three, mixed, are the usual stand-in. The Spice House’s version is 2 parts cinnamon to 1 part each of nutmeg and cloves.¹ What you reach for still depends on what allspice is doing in your recipe: warming up a cake, carrying a savory rub, or flavoring a pot of liquid from whole berries.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. 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.

What you are trying to copy

Cloves usually share allspice’s main aroma compound,²³ which is why cloves come closest on their own.

The other two members of the classic trio bring something different, and the mix copies the overall impression of allspice, not the chemistry. That’s fine in a cake. It’s less convincing where allspice is the main flavor.

If allspice is a warm spice in baking

1. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, mixed

Ratio (Attributed): The Spice House says to “mix 2 parts cinnamon, 1 part nutmeg, and 1 part ground cloves,” and to use the mix 1:1 wherever a recipe calls for ground allspice.¹ Its worked example is 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon cloves for 1 teaspoon of allspice.¹

You’ll often see equal parts of all three suggested, but we didn’t find a named source for that. With cloves at a quarter of the Spice House mix, cinnamon carries most of the sweetness and the cloves bring the clove note.

2. Pumpkin pie spice

The Spice House lists pumpkin pie spice as a substitute and calls it “a close match for sweet recipes.”¹ What’s in it depends on the brand. McCormick’s lists cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice, with no cloves.⁴ US rules require ingredients to be listed in descending order by weight,⁵ so cinnamon is the biggest part of that blend. And since it already contains allspice, you’re getting some of the real thing.

Ratio (Method): Start with the same amount as the allspice, taste, and add a pinch of ground cloves if the clove note is missing.

3. Apple pie spice

The Spice House also names apple pie spice.¹ McCormick’s lists cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.⁶

Ratio (Method): Start 1:1 and taste. Expect it to come out more cinnamon-forward.

If allspice is savory warmth

Allspice is central to Jamaican jerk. Smithsonian Magazine’s history of the dish calls pimento (allspice) and fresh thyme essential ingredients, and notes that traditional jerk meat is smoked over pimento wood.⁷ No substitute here recreates that. Where allspice is one warm note among several, in a rub, a chili or a braise, a substitute works better.

1. The same mix, plus black pepper

The Spice House suggests leaning on cinnamon, with smaller equal amounts of clove and nutmeg, plus a pinch of black pepper for savory dishes.

Ratio (Attributed): Use the 2:1:1 mix 1:1, as The Spice House suggests.¹ For the pepper, add a small pinch per teaspoon of mix and taste.

2. Ground cloves alone

Cloves usually share allspice’s main aroma compound,⁸³ so they come closest where allspice is the lead flavor. They’re also much richer in essential oil than allspice.⁹¹⁰ We found no measurement of what that means for strength in a dish, but it’s a good reason to start low.

Ratio (Method): Start with half as much ground clove as the allspice called for, taste, and build up.

3. Mace

Mace is the dried covering of the nutmeg seed. It brings warmth but not allspice’s clove note.

Ratio (Method): Start with half the allspice amount and add a little clove if you have it.

Cincinnati chili shows how these spices play together: Saveur’s recipe uses allspice alongside cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.¹¹ If one’s missing, the others cover for it.

If allspice is whole berries in a liquid

PROSEA says whole allspice goes into meat broths, gravies and pickling liquids, while ground allspice is the pick for desserts.² In a liquid, the berries slowly give up their flavor and are easy to fish out.

1. Ground allspice

Ratio (Computed): McCormick’s conversion is 5 whole berries (1 teaspoon) to 1 teaspoon ground allspice.¹² That’s a volume conversion, not a strength measurement. Ground spice releases its flavor faster and can’t be strained out, so add it later in the cooking and expect a cloudier liquid.

The Spice House suggests 4 to 6 whole berries per quart of liquid for long simmers and braises, pulled out before serving.¹ Put the two together and five berries in a quart, or about a teaspoon of ground allspice by McCormick’s conversion, is a sensible amount for a pot of liquid.¹¹²

2. Whole cloves with a few black peppercorns

Ratio (Method): Cloves hold a lot more oil than allspice berries,⁹¹⁰ so start with about half as many whole cloves as the allspice berries called for, add a couple of peppercorns, and taste the liquid before it’s done.

Have whole berries but the recipe wants ground? The Spice House says to grind them in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.¹ Use the same McCormick conversion: 5 berries for each teaspoon.¹²

What isn’t known

• The Spice House’s 2:1:1 mix is a merchant’s rule of thumb.
• Allspice oil varies a lot by origin, according to studies compiled in one 2022 review.⁸ How close cloves come depends on the allspice you’re replacing.
• Brands don’t publish their blend proportions, so no source says how much allspice is in a given pumpkin or apple pie spice.

Related

• Allspice, too much allspice
• Allspice vs. cloves, allspice vs. nutmeg, allspice vs. black pepper, mace vs. allspice
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace, black pepper
• Pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, jerk seasoning, pickling spice
• Substitutes for cloves, nutmeg substitutes, mace substitutes

Footnotes

1. Allspice Substitute, The Spice House. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. D. Sulistiarini, Pimenta dioica, Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩²

3. Batiha et al., “Syzygium aromaticum L. (Myrtaceae)”, Biomolecules, 2020. mdpi.com · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩²

4. McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice, product page, McCormick. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩

5. 21 CFR 101.4, Food; designation of ingredients, eCFR. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩

6. McCormick Apple Pie Spice, product page, McCormick. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩

7. Vaughn Stafford Gray, “A Brief History of Jamaican Jerk”, Smithsonian Magazine, 2020. smithsonianmag.com · Publication ↩

8. Andrade Avila, Cruz-Olivares and Pérez-Alonso, “Antioxidant Effect and Medicinal Properties of Allspice Essential Oil”, IntechOpen, 2022. intechopen.com · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩²

9. “Clove”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩ ↩²

10. “Allspice”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩ ↩²

11. “Cincinnati Chili”, Saveur. saveur.com · Publication ↩

12. How to Grind Your Own Spices, McCormick. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³

Also drawn on

• Mace (Britannica Editors), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com