6 Must-Have Spices To Keep in Your Kitchen Pantry
The spices in your kitchen play a huge role in what you can create. Here are the best and most versatile spices to have ready to go in your pantry.
6 Must-Have Spices To Keep in Your Kitchen Pantry
No matter what your experience level is when it comes to cooking, even a beginner knows that seasoning is one of the most important factors of any dish.
Sometimes you’ll need very specific seasonings if you’re trying to make a very specific dish, but overall, it’s a good idea to have a range of spices ready for any dish.
When we consider the most important spices to have in your kitchen, there are a few that immediately spring to the top of the list.
Chili Powder
Chili powder is the perfect go-to spice for when your meals just seem to come out blander than you would like.
This powder is a mixture of many spices, including some of the other spices on this list, but it’s a crucial thing to have because of its versatility.
Almost any dish can get better with a little chili powder to give it a smokier flavor and a bit of heat.
Garlic Powder
Easily one of the most important spices to have in your kitchen, garlic powder is practically essential for making quick meals that taste much better than they would without this spice.
Pure garlic powder is just dried garlic cloves ground into a powder, which makes it a very excellent and convenient substitute for fresh garlic.
Cumin
If you feel like your meals are just a little too bland for your liking, ground cumin just might be the solution to that particular problem.
While it has a bit of heat to it, this spice is mostly used for the richness of flavor it provides to whatever you use it on. If you plan on cooking something savory, ground cumin is always a good bet for great flavor.
Ginger
One really great spice that not as many people consider using is dried ground ginger.
Ginger is really good for you and has a ton of uses, whether you want to use it in savory meat dishes or in spice-heavy baking. If you enjoy cooking flavorful food often, you’ll end up using a lot of ginger for its unique spiciness that even a small amount can bring.
Paprika
For savory dishes, paprika is often an unsung hero that allows you to get the most out of them.
You can use paprika to add a rich dimension to the flavor of any dish that might only call for salt and black pepper.
Bring in some paprika along with these basic flavors, and you’ll be surprised how much better the end result is.
Nutmeg
Like the ginger we mentioned before, nutmeg is actually very useful in both savory dishes and sweet ones.
If you enjoy cinnamon, combining it with nutmeg brings out the best flavor in both of these spices. While you can buy ground nutmeg, professionals tend to swear by freshly grated nutmeg, as its flavor and aroma is usually much more intense.
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Stacey is a Southern girl with a taste for travel, thriving on the discovery of the world through food. After spending many years traveling and living overseas, she’s now back home in her beloved deep south enjoying life with her three little ones and loving the adventure. She’s a food stylist and food photographer, as well as, the creative behind Little Figgy Food, where she loves to inspire others to try new flavors and foodie techniques.
