Greek Seasoning: Ingredients and Uses

America’s best-known Greek seasoning comes from Harrison, Arkansas. Lester “Spike” Cavender built it from a Greek chef friend’s recipe, and the family started selling Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning in 1968.¹ Greek seasoning in general is a dried, all-purpose supermarket blend, usually built on salt, garlic and oregano, but labels vary a lot: one is a salt-and-pepper-led mix with MSG, another a salt, garlic and herb blend. Both of those labels list salt first, so it’s worth reading one before you shake.

At a glance


What it is	A dried seasoning blend sold as “Greek”; no fixed recipe
Best-known brand	Cavender’s, Harrison, Arkansas; first sold 1968¹
Common ingredients	Salt, garlic, oregano, black pepper, onion
Key herb	Oregano, Origanum vulgare, mint family
Sodium	Cavender’s: 241 mg per ¼ tsp (10% of the Daily Value)²
Official standard	None found; the USDA spice-blend specification does not include it³
Watch for	Salt, MSG and soy-derived protein in some brands²

Measured values

1 figure, sourced

Measure	Value	Scope	Source
Sodium	241 mg per 1/4 teaspoon (10% of the Daily Value)	Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning label, 8 oz canBrand label figure; company's own figures	foodlion.com

Each figure is quoted as its source states it, with the samples or standard it applies to. Where sources differ, both are shown; nothing is averaged. All measured values

What is in it

There’s no standard recipe, and the two labels we checked share little beyond salt and garlic:

Product	Ingredients, as labeled	Source
Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning	Salt, black pepper, corn starch, garlic, monosodium glutamate, oregano, flavor base seasoning (hydrolyzed corn soy protein, sugar, onion powder, spice extractives), parsley and five other spices	²
McCormick Culinary Greek Seasoning	Salt, spices, garlic, sugar, maltodextrin, onion, autolyzed yeast, lactic acid	⁴

McCormick describes its blend as oregano, garlic and onion with a touch of mint, though its label lumps the herbs under “spices.”⁴ Neither label lists lemon peel, cinnamon or nutmeg. The USDA’s purchasing spec for spice blends has no entry for Greek seasoning.³

Where it came from

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas credits Lester “Spike” Cavender of Harrison, working with his son Ronald Stephen Cavender, with creating Cavender’s in the late 1960s. They adapted it from a recipe by a Greek chef Cavender and his brother had befriended in Texas, who kept his seasoning ingredients a closely guarded secret. The encyclopedia reports, with a “reportedly,” that the chef willed the recipe to Cavender. The family started selling it in 1968, mixed its first commercial batch on July 4, 1970, and incorporated the S-C Seasoning Company in 1978. Today the company makes four to five tons a day for sale in all 50 states and Canada.¹

We couldn’t trace who first used the name “Greek seasoning” for a dried blend.

Flavor and the herbs behind it

Most Greek seasonings taste of salt first, then garlic and a resinous, peppery oregano. Oregano is the herb most labels and descriptions name.

Ingredient	What the source says	Source
Oregano	Origanum vulgare, mint family (Lamiaceae); strong aroma and warm, pungent taste	⁵
Oregano oil	Carvacrol and thymol make up about 78 to 85% of the essential oil	⁶
Greek oregano	O. vulgare subsp. hirtum is one of the subspecies Kew accepts; the review notes denser, larger peltate trichomes (glandular hairs) in Greek oregano	⁷⁶
Marjoram	Origanum majorana, a separate species in the same genus	⁸

Oregano is essential in Greek salads and gyros.

Origin of the herbs. You’ll often hear that oregano originated in Greece. Kew gives its native range as Macaronesia to China, which takes in the Mediterranean but is far wider.⁷ Marjoram’s native range is southern Türkiye and Cyprus. Garlic does have a long Greek history: a review of its historical use notes it was found in ancient Greek temples.⁹

How to use it

McCormick suggests its blend for grilled chicken with lemon, chicken and vegetables, burgers, steak, gyros and souvlaki, and on anything you’d season with salt and pepper.⁴ By the same logic, it works in rubs for lamb and fish, or as a pinch in the vinaigrette for a Greek salad. Salt leads both labels, so taste before you add any more.

Buying and quality

Read the ingredient list first. Both labels we checked start with salt. If you want the herbs without the salt, buy dried oregano and mix your own.

In an EU coordinated control plan on herbs and spices run from 2019 to 2021, 48% of oregano samples were at risk of contamination, most often with olive leaves.¹⁰ That finding covers oregano sold on its own, not Greek seasoning blends.

Storage

No source gives a shelf life for Greek seasoning. Keep it airtight, cool and out of the light, like any dried herb blend.

Safety

Sodium. Cavender’s lists 241 mg of sodium per ¼ teaspoon, 10% of the Daily Value.² So a full teaspoon carries about 964 mg by our math, against an FDA Daily Value of less than 2,300 mg a day.¹¹

MSG. Cavender’s lists monosodium glutamate.² The FDA says MSG has to be named on the label, not hidden under “spices and flavoring.” It also says reports of reactions like headache and nausea have never been confirmed as caused by MSG in controlled studies.¹²

Allergens. Cavender’s flavor base contains hydrolyzed corn soy protein,² and soybeans are one of the nine major US food allergens.¹³

Health claims

You’ll see claims that Greek seasoning improves digestion, protects against oxidative damage or helps control blood sugar. We couldn’t trace any of them to a regulator or systematic review, and we’re not making them here.

Substitutes and comparisons

Greek seasoning substitutes
The main herb: oregano, oregano uses, cooking with oregano, marjoram vs oregano
Other components: garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, marjoram, mint, rosemary, thyme
Other American herb blends: Italian seasoning, all-purpose seasoning, lemon pepper, zaatar

Cody Lynn Berry, “Cavender’s All-Purpose Greek Seasoning”, CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas. encyclopediaofarkansas.net · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³
Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning, product label as listed by Food Lion. foodlion.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Commercial Item Description A-A-20001C, Spices and Spice Blends, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, 2023. ams.usda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩²
McCormick Culinary Greek Seasoning, product page, McCormick. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³
Anoushka Pant, “Oregano”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Lombrea et al., “A Recent Insight Regarding the Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of Origanum vulgare L. Essential Oil”, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020. mdpi.com · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩²
Origanum vulgare L., Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. powo.science.kew.org · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Origanum majorana L., Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. powo.science.kew.org · Reference work ↩
Rivlin, “Historical perspective on the use of garlic”, Journal of Nutrition, 2001. synapse.mskcc.org · Peer-reviewed ↩
“Herbs and spices (2019-2021): EU coordinated action”, European Commission. food.ec.europa.eu · Regulator ↩
“Sodium in Your Diet”, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. fda.gov · Regulator ↩
“Questions and Answers on Monosodium glutamate (MSG)”, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. fda.gov · Regulator ↩
“Food Allergies”, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. fda.gov · Regulator ↩

Greek Seasoning: What’s in the Blend, Where It Came From, and How to Use It