What herbs and spices do you use in everyday cooking?

[12234m]

Three households have come together so I now have an impressive and eclectic selection of herbs and spices. I eat a lot of stir fries, pasta dishes, fish and salads. What herbs and spices do you use and in what recipes please?

I add herbs to almost everything that I fry, stir fry, or put in the oven. I can only say, get creative!

Paprika, crushed mixed pepper and chilli flakes go in eggs (or sprinkled on top).

I use a lot of sweet paprika too. My top recommendation is a chickpea salad, seasoned with olive oil, a bit of salt, and lots of pimentón de la Vera, if you have any of that! Sweet paprika works well too but won’t have such a smoked aroma.

Thank you. Sounds delicious and I'll definitely try these. I just remember adding some to a dish and it was not as nice as expected. Made me nervous.

We often throw a blend of smoked paprika, oregano, black pepper, cumin, coriander and onion salt on anything we want to liven up, usually with some olive oil, fresh garlic and lemon zest too (roast veg, fish, meat). Just kind of mix by eye and if we like the smell, it’s ready to use. Also cumin or fennel seeds are good in stir fried greens. Cinnamon with mashed banana on toast. Thyme is great with anything tomato or beef based. Mix chickpea flour and water and throw in you favourite spices plus chopped spring or red onions and coriander leaf if you have it, then fry as pancakes.

If loads of them are from 1998, there's a reason for that. Don't feel bad about binning some ancient things especially duplicates. The spice drawer can get a bit "aspirational" - accumulating stuff because you think you should be using it, rather than being something you actually use. You could always sprinkle a bit of something unfamiliar on a bit of plain rice, toast or a cracker to develop your feel for it, work out whether you like it or not and imagine how it will affect the taste of a dish.

They don't last forever, check any dates on them & also sniff them - no smell then throw away. Keep them in the dark.
I used to work for a herb & spice company, so I use them in just about everything I cook.

Recently went on a self catering holiday with friends and it was interesting to see what each person brought with them. What they considered their basics.
Mine was:
Herbes de Provence
Smoky Paprika
Dried Chili Seeds
Cowboy Butter
Tandoori Masala
Along with fresh garlic, ginger and chillis.

OP are you talking about dried herbs and spices? Fresh is almost always better in terms of flavour and dried do lose their punch after a while.

I freeze lots of things- kaffir lime leaves, chilli, ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemon grass
Fresh from the garden- sage, 2 types of thyme, 2 types of mint, Vietnamese coriander, Thai basil, Bay, rosemary, chillis, garlic (haven't dug them all up yet), marjoram, oregano

I have a dried herb/spice drawer (see pic) but also a sealed, container with more Asian type spices. It might be easier to tell us what herbs/spices you have, then we can send you recipes and ideas to use them.

Forgot to add the pic!

Oregano, basil, parsley, cumin, coriander, black pepper, chilli

This is funny after just coming off a post where someone mentioned work parsley from a jar in their cooking, and had multiple multiple replies from people unaware that dried herbs were even a thing 😂

Cumin, coriander, paprika, oregano, thyme, turmeric, cinnamon, allspice, chili powder, curry powder, Chinese five spice are the ones that get used most often I would say.

Galangal
lemon grass
corrianda
garlic
basil chilli flakes
fresh Birds Eye chilli
A paste made of shrimps
fish sauce
lime leaves (these are picked at my MIL and bought home and frozen)
Guess where are every day cuisine is from ? 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I use a lot of dried oregano
Garlic granules
Sumac
Vegan bouillon powder
Soy sauce
Smoked paprika
Peppercorns
French sea salt

Cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice for sweet things.

I love fresh basil and parsley and mint. I grow thyme, sage and rosemary but I'm not keen on the latter two. They're just easy to grow!

Everyday basics: garlic, chilli, oregano, thyme, smoky paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, bay, cinnamon, star anise, black pepper. Fresh basil, dill, mint, chives, coriander leaf are bought for specific recipes.

We have lots of mixes like ras el hanout, dukka, mediterranean and italian herb mixes, garam masala and curry powders too.

Thyme, oregano and bay leaves in Italian dishes

chilli, paprika and cumin in Mexican and Caribbean dishes

garam masala and turmeric in curries

garlic in everything

Start making Ottolenghi recipes and you'll get a lot of use out of those herbs and spices!

Tarragon is my favourite herb, lovely with pork, chicken, mushrooms, creamy and tomatoey sauces, potatoes. If I could pick one herb it would be this one.

Madras curry powder, ground coriander, turmeric. My friend taught me to cook Bengali curries and these are the main ones.

Garlic powder, black pepper and chilli flakes to zhuzh things up.

Jerk seasoning, chicken fry mix for chicken.

Before I moved my friend came round and smelled them all. Didn't even know this was a thing. So I'll be checking all dates tomorrow and smelling them. It's my two finished uni kids herbs and spices that have joined my collection. They are all in a drawer so in the dark.

Thanks again. All very helpful.

That's the thread that inspired this one!

I think it depends on the sort of food you like. When roasting/baking chicken I tend to use things like fennel, lemon, maybe a bit of cinnamon or cumin or I'll go with chinese five spice, star anise etc - I think I like that slight sweetness etc. For things that are vaguelly mexican I'll go with paprika, chilli, cumin. I use oregano a lot across things.

Curry powder, cumin, coriander, cloves etc for curries.

Italian/generic European would be thyme, basil, parsley etc although i tend to only use fresh parsley or basil rather than dried.

Plus fresh ginger, chilli, garlic, lemon/lime as standard in lots of things.

The only dried herbs I tend to use are oregano, tarragon, bay leaves, occasionally mint, curry leaves.

My most used species are ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, chilli flakes then slightly less used, but still frequent ground cinnamon/cinnamon sticks, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, nutmeg, mace, baharat, cardamom pods, garam masala

I've also got cloves, fenugreek (ground and seeds), star anise but only use them occasionally.

There are obviously loads of other jars, that I barely use...

Basil and oregano that I grow outside, dried if I don't have fresh available, for Italian dishes 😊 coriander, only fresh, and it doesn't always last all year, for curries, and fresh rosemary for lamb and some sausage recipes. In store cupboard always paprika for a lot of different meals, ginger and cinnamon for some baking.

Cowboy Butter is a new one to me. Will have to look that one up!