Seasoned salt is exactly what it claims: salt with added seasonings like garlic, onion, and paprika. The first iteration was Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, created for seasoning prime rib and other beef cuts. More recently, the blend has become associated with soul food. Whether you have run out or want an alternative, you have options. Here are some of the best seasoned salt substitutes.
Table of Contents
- Your best bet: Make your own seasoned salt
- A decent second choice: Old Bay
- In a pinch: Adobo
- Other alternatives
- Must-read related posts
Your best bet: Make your own seasoned salt
Making seasoned salt at home is pretty simple. All the ingredients are familiar, easy to find, and affordable; you probably have them in your spice cabinet if you cook regularly.
The most important are onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. You can add others like paprika, sugar, and MSG for a closer match to the commercial blends. Nothing limits you to dry seasonings either; fresh onion and garlic will significantly improve the taste of almost every dish that requires seasoned salt.
Pre-made seasoning blends like Lawry’s Seasoned Salt are usually not perfect for every dish; you get to correct the imperfections when making your own. You can use more of your favorite ingredients or omit others that you don’t like. Perhaps most importantly, you can lower the salt level to make a healthier seasoned salt.
A decent second choice: Old Bay
Old Bay seasoning went to market a year after Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Old Bay is the state of Maryland’s favorite seasoning blend and has become associated with its famous blue crabs. The Old Bay ingredients list is a long one with 18 spices, including some of those that show up in seasoned salt. Most importantly, Old Bay includes a significant amount of salt, just like seasoned salt.
Despite its many spices, Old Bay’s flavor profile is not that much more complex or different from seasoned salt. While the difference might be noticeable if no other seasonings are used in a recipe, using Old Bay won’t ruin most dishes that require seasoned salt and may even improve some of them. Old Bay has the added benefit of being easy to find though it might not be less expensive.
In a pinch: Adobo
A popular Latin American seasoning heavily associated with Puerto Rican cooking, Adobo contains some essential ingredients in seasoned salt. Garlic, onion, and salt are included in adobo.
Adobo has a more distinctive flavor profile than seasoned salt, which means that the difference may be noticeable in dishes where it is the primary seasoning; however, this usually won’t be a problem since it does have most of the same flavors. Adobo is another spice blend that is generally affordable and easy to find.
Other alternatives
Sazon is another seasoning blend that gets used extensively in Latin food cultures. It is a general-purpose seasoning with garlic and salt and many of the same flavors as seasoned salt. You can use it the same way though it tends to have a noticeable color from achiote, which may dramatically alter a dish’s appearance.
Creole seasoning is another American spice blend with many ingredients and flavors as seasoned salt. Different brands and blends have different tastes, but any of them should be able to work as a seasoned salt substitute.
Must-read related posts
- Too Much Salt? How To Save Your Dish: It’s easy to get heavy-handed. We cover some of the best ways to fix your meal.
- Old Bay Vs. Creole Seasoning: Both make interesting alternatives to seasoned salt, but how do they compare?
- MSG – What You Need To Know: MSG shouldn’t be as controversial as it is. We list it as a potential ingredient above. If you have questions, read all about it here.