Best Baharat Substitutes (and How Much to Use)

Out of baharat? There’s no single recipe to copy, which is good news: a quick mix of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, paprika and black pepper gets you close, and ras el hanout is the best ready-made stand-in. Which way to go depends on which baharat your recipe expects. Katzer describes two main styles, a fiery Gulf blend and a simpler eastern Mediterranean mix of mainly black pepper and allspice.¹ If it’s the second kind, you may already have both spices in the cupboard.

Quick answer

What baharat is doing	Best substitute	Starting amount, per 1 part baharat	Treatment
The whole seasoning (lamb, kofta, kebabs, rubs)	A quick homemade blend	1 part	Method (formula Attributed)
Sweet, peppery warmth (Lebanese “7 spice” style)	Black pepper and allspice, equal parts	1/2 part, then taste	Method
Earthy, complex warmth in stews and rice	Ras el hanout	3/4 part, then taste	Method
Background warmth, in a pinch	Garam masala	3/4 part, then taste	Method
Red color and heat (Gulf style)	Paprika plus a pinch of cayenne, added to any of the above	To taste	Method

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 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.

If baharat is the whole seasoning

In kofta, kebabs and lamb dishes, baharat is often all the spicing there is, and it’s mainly used for mutton dishes. Here you want something that covers both sides of the blend: the pungent side (black pepper, sometimes chile) and the sweet side (cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg).

1. Make a quick version from single spices

Formula (Attributed): Mike Hultquist of Chili Pepper Madness suggests mixing equal parts of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, paprika and black pepper. He says it gives you a similar warm base, not an exact match.²

Ratio (Method): Use the same amount the recipe gives for baharat, then taste. A homemade blend of the same spices stands in for the jar directly, though no source tested the swap.

What the mix lacks is the clove-and-allspice sweetness of many baharat blends. If you have either, add a pinch.

For a fuller recipe with measured amounts, see baharat seasoning, which compares five published versions. RecipeTin Eats’ version is, in its author’s words, “uniquely heavy on all-spice and cinnamon,” and it lists swaps inside the recipe: mixed spice for the allspice, and more nutmeg if you’re out of cloves (or more cloves if you’re out of nutmeg).³

2. Lebanese seven spice

RecipeTin Eats presents its baharat as “also known as Lebanese 7 Spice.”³ If you have a jar sold under that name, it’s the same family of blends. Check the label for chile and salt.

Ratio (Method): Start with the recipe’s amount and adjust to taste.

If baharat is sweet, peppery warmth

This is the eastern Mediterranean style, mainly black pepper and allspice. If your recipe is Lebanese or Levantine and you’ve got those two spices, you already have the core of the blend.

Black pepper and allspice

Allspice brings the sweet, clove-like note, and black pepper brings the bite. What you’ll miss is the cumin and coriander of Gulf-style blends.

Ratio (Method): Mix equal parts and start with about half the baharat amount, since both spices are strong on their own. Taste and add more.

If baharat is earthy, complex warmth

In stews, rice and roasted vegetables, the blend is a rounded background of warm spice.

1. Ras el hanout

Suzy Karadsheh of The Mediterranean Dish says there’s no great substitute for baharat, but “the next best thing would be to use ras el hanout.”⁴ Hultquist calls it “one of the closest alternatives.”²

The two share a lot. The Oxford Companion to Food lists cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg as ras el hanout’s standard ingredients, usually with cinnamon, cayenne, rosebud and oregano.⁵ Cumin, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon all show up in baharat recipes. They differ too. Turmeric turns things yellow, and some blends carry floral notes; World Spice’s label includes lavender.⁶ Karadsheh warns that the color and flavor “won’t be quite the same.”⁴

Ratio (Method): Start with about three quarters of the baharat amount, taste, and add more. If the dish tastes flat, add a little black pepper, since pepper leads in many baharat blends.

2. Garam masala

Ottolenghi compares the two directly: “Baharat is to the Middle East what garam masala is to India.”⁷ Hultquist calls garam masala “a workable stand-in in a pinch.”²

Both lean on warm spices. Bengali garam masala, at its most basic, is cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, and the usual spices include cloves, bay leaf, fennel, cinnamon and cardamom. Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe in Saveur uses a quarter cup of cardamom seeds,⁸ so some versions are very cardamom-forward. Garam masala usually skips allspice and paprika, so baharat’s sweet-peppery and red notes will come through thinner.

The “garam” in the name refers to spices thought to warm the body in Ayurvedic medicine, not to chile heat. Hultquist describes garam masala as “typically spicier and a bit more pungent than baharat.”² That’s his palate, and blends vary.

Ratio (Method): Start with about three quarters of the baharat amount and taste.

3. Madras curry powder, as a last resort

Hultquist notes that “some sources also mention Madras curry powder as a potential substitute.”² It shares several warm spices with baharat, but it’s a different kind of blend. Expect a yellow dish from the turmeric and maybe more heat.

Ratio (Method): Start with about half the baharat amount and taste.

If baharat brings red color and heat

Gulf-style baharat can be fiery. It’s built partly on chiles and paprika,¹ and Ottolenghi’s blend lists paprika, chilli and cayenne.⁷ Ras el hanout, garam masala and black pepper with allspice won’t give you that color.

Ratio (Method): Add paprika for color a teaspoon at a time, and cayenne a pinch at a time, tasting as you go.

If the recipe is Turkish

Saveur’s Turkish baharat karisimi adds dried mint and winter savory to cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and black pepper, and Saveur says mixes like this are common in kitchens all over Turkey.⁹ If your recipe expects this herbal style, add a pinch of dried mint to whichever substitute you use.

What isn’t known

You’ll often read that baharat is mainly a condiment added to cooked food. We found no source for that. Katzer says the blend is usually fried briefly in oil or clarified butter.¹

Gernot Katzer, “Paprika (Capsicum annuum)”, Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Mike Hultquist, “Baharat”, Chili Pepper Madness, 2025. chilipeppermadness.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Nagi Maehashi, “Baharat”, RecipeTin Eats, 2026. recipetineats.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
Suzy Karadsheh, “Baharat Spice Blend”, The Mediterranean Dish, 2024. themediterraneandish.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
“Ras-el-hanout”, The Oxford Companion to Food, Oxford University Press. app.ckbk.com · Reference work ↩
“Ras El Hanout”, World Spice Merchants (product page). worldspice.com · Merchant ↩
“Baharat”, Ottolenghi (product page). ottolenghi.co.uk · Merchant ↩ ↩²
“Garam Masala” (Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe), Saveur, 2014. saveur.com · Publication ↩
“Turkish Herb and Spice Mix (Baharat Karisimi)”, Saveur, 2007. saveur.com · Publication ↩

Also drawn on

Bengali Garam Masala (24 Nov 2016), Bong Eats. bongeats.com
How to make garam masala (GBC Kitchen, updated 14 Feb 2025), Great British Chefs. greatbritishchefs.com
Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety (last updated April 2025), National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NIH). nccih.nih.gov

Baharat Substitutes, Ranked by the Job Baharat Is Doing