Chicken Seasoning Blend

This homemade Chicken Seasoning Blend is a combination of herbs and spices that will add tons of delicious flavor to your favorite poultry dishes. This recipe is a must for folks who rely on store-bought chicken seasoning. It’s all-natural, more flavorful than the jarred stuff, and the good news is, it contains common ingredients you already have at home. 

What is Chicken Seasoning?

Chicken seasoning is a blend of 12 herbs and spices- so, yes, one more than the Colonel- added to poultry to flavor it. This spice blend is not just a cure for bland chicken, though. You can use this seasoning mix on other poultry, as a pork rub, on seafood, or even use it to season your veggies. 

How Do I Make Chicken Seasoning?

To make the best chicken seasoning recipe, you need kosher salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, ground coriander, ground mustard, Accent, or MSG (totally optional), granulated garlic powder and onion powder, rubbed sage, black pepper, dried thyme leaves, and ground cumin.

You will mix everything in a mixing bowl and transfer it to a glass jar or similar storage container with a tight-fitting lid. 

Can I Swap Out Any of These Herbs and Spices?

The great thing about making your chicken seasoning blend at home is that you can adjust the spice mix to make your own unique version. You can swap out the rubbed sage and thyme for different herbs like oregano and crushed rosemary. Replace the regular paprika in this recipe with smoked, hot, or sweet paprika instead. You can add more cayenne pepper for a spicy chicken seasoning or replace it with milder chili powder, or omit it if you’re not big on spice. Reduce the salt if you’re on a low sodium diet or use sea salt instead. You can add dried lemon peel for a lemon seasoning or a combination of fruit peels for a citrus version. Or add a sweet element by including brown sugar.

Accent gives this chicken seasoning blend more umami flavor. Because I know some people have an aversion to MSG, it’s one of those optional ingredients, which you can omit without losing any of that great flavor.

Since Accent also contains sodium, don’t go overboard adding more than the recipe calls for. If you do, your chicken seasoning is likely to be too salty. 

This is one of those easy recipes where you just dump all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir. I recommend making a big batch since you’re bound to use it often.

How Do I Keep My Chicken Seasoning From Clumping?

Use a small whisk or spoon to stir everything in a small bowl until evenly blended. 

An easy way to keep homemade spice blends from clumping is to add a food-safe silica gel packet to the mixture before storing it. Since you’re probably splitting the recipe between one or more glass jars, get enough packets to add to the jars. Add one packet to each jar you use. You don’t have to add the silica packets if you don’t have them. A great way to break up clumpy chicken seasoning is with a butterknife or measuring spoons.

Use a funnel to pour your spice blend into a airtight container, which is non-porous and won’t allow air in or out. A glass spice jar is perfect. Seal the jar with a tight-fitting lid and store it until you’re ready to use it in your recipes.

What’s the Best Way to Store Spice Blends?

A general rule when it comes to storing spice rubs is to store the containers in a cool dry place at room temperature. 

Light and heat are the enemies of spice blends, so you want to keep yours in a dark pantry or spice drawer to maintain the best flavor. A cabinet is fine, so long as it’s not above the stove. The stove emits heat that will warm up the spices, causing them to lose their potency faster. 

Don’t refrigerate spice blends as that causes moisture to develop inside the jar when you take it out of the fridge. Likewise, storing the chicken seasoning blend above stoves where boiling might occur causes the spices to swell up with moisture. Eventually, that moisture turns to mold and ruins your spice blends. 

How Long Can I Store Spice Blends?

You can store chicken seasoning blend for a long time- up to one year- if you make it with fresh herbs and spices. 

If you’re making it with open herbs and spices, store it for only nine months at the longest. Six months is best when using opened herbs and spices, though. The longer the spices have been open, the more potency of flavor they lose. As a result, the overall flavor they give to your foods will be less impressive. 

How Do I Use It In Recipes?

Use 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of chicken seasoning blend per pound of meat. Simply sprinkle the spice blend over the meat and cook right away or allow it to marinate in the seasoning overnight. 

Can I Use It On Other Types of Poultry?

You can totally use this chicken seasoning blend on many other types of poultry. It’s great to use on turkey, duck, and cornish hens in addition to chicken. You can also use it on pork chops, seafood, fish, and vegetables. 

Use the same amount as you would for chicken or 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons per pound of meat. Because vegetables are more delicate than proteins, decrease the amount you use to only 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons per pound.

What Other Recipes Can I Use This Chicken Seasoning In?

This chicken seasoning blend isn’t just for chicken. Use it in place of the spices and herbs in your other recipes. Here are the recipes where I use it most:

• Black Eyed Pea Fritters with Sofrito Dipping Sauce
• Tripletas (Steak, Pernil, and Ham Sandwiches)
• Vegan Lentil Stew

Free yourself from the seasoning aisle of your local grocery store. This Chicken Seasoning Blend is the perfect seasoning for your favorite chicken recipes and gives a delicious taste to many other proteins and veggies, too. You’ll love this simple chicken seasoning recipe, and with the swaps and substitutions in the recipe card, it’ll become one of your favorite ways to create flavorful chicken. Save this recipe to your spice blends board and let me know what you think in the comments. 

Chicken Seasoning Blend

Marta Rivera at Sense & Edibility

5 from 5 votes

This Chicken Seasoning Blend is made with 12 different herbs and spices, which makes it an all-in-one seasoning for your chicken and poultry dishes.

Servings: 20 tablespoons

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Equipment

• glass jars for storing
• small whisk or spoon
• 2-quart mixing bowl

Ingredients

  

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• 1/4 cup (60 grams) kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons (20 grams) granulated garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons (20 grams) granulated onion powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (2 grams) rubbed sage
• 1 tablespoon (2 grams) dried thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons (4 grams) ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons (2 grams) black pepper
• 2 teaspoons (2 grams) paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (2 grams) ground mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (2 grams) ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon (1 gram) cayenne pepper optional
• 1 teaspoon (2 grams) Accent flavor enhancer optional

Instructions 

Mix, then Store the Chicken Seasoning Blend

• Add the salt, granulated garlic, granulated onion, rubbed sage, thyme leaves, cumin, pepper, paprika, ground mustard, ground coriander, cayenne, and Accent to a 2-quart mixing bowl. 
• Use a small whisk or spoon to stir everything in the bowl until evenly blended. 
• Using a funnel, pour the chicken seasoning blend into a quart-sized glass jar or multiple smaller jars.

  Seal the jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in a cool, dark place until you're ready to use it in your recipes.

To Use the Chicken Seasoning Blend

• Use 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of chicken seasoning blend per pound of meat.

  Sprinkle the spice blend over the meat and cook right away or allow it to marinate in the seasoning overnight. 

Notes

Swaps and Substitutions:

• Swap out the rubbed sage and thyme for dried oregano leaves and crushed rosemary using the same amount called for in the recipe.
• Replace the regular paprika in this recipe with an equal measurement of smoked, hot, or sweet paprika instead. 
• Add more cayenne pepper for a spicy chicken seasoning, replace it with chili powder for a milder heat, or omit it if you don't like spice.
• Reduce the salt to 2 tablespoons (30 grams) if you're on a low sodium diet.
• You can omit the Accent if you have an aversion to it.
• Add 1 1/2 tablespoons (2 grams) of dried lemon peel for a lemon chicken seasoning blend or a combination of fruit peels for a citrus version.

Tips and Techniques:

• The best way to keep homemade spice blends from clumping is to add a food-safe silica gel packet to the jar.
• You can store chicken seasoning blend for up to one year if you make it with fresh herbs and spices. If you're making it with open herbs and spices, store it for only nine months at the longest. 

• You can use chicken seasoning blend on any poultry, or on pork, seafood, fish, and vegetables.
  Use the same amount as you would for chicken or 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons per pound of meat. Because vegetables are more delicate than proteins, decrease the amount you use to only 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons per pound.

Storage Instructions:

Nutrition

Calories: 26kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 1151mgPotassium: 94mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 228IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg

Course Spice Blend

Cuisine North American

Keyword chicken, herbs, poultry, spice blend, spices

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