Food is supposed to be enjoyed, not just consumed for fuel! A perfectly seasoned meal can become the star of the evening, or maybe even the whole week, depending on how long it takes you to stop fantasizing about leftovers. This level of food greatness isn’t easy to achieve, especially not for home cooks who are just starting! Meat can seem like one of the hardest things to get right, but with these flavor suggestions, you will quickly discover that no matter your level of experience in cooking meat, you too can have some incredibly flavorful meat.
What Spices Go with Beef?
When cooking with beef, you want herbs and spices that stand up for themselves. They will have a strong flavor on their own, and they will be able to complement the strong flavor of beef without becoming overwhelmed by it. Beef can come in many different forms and cuts. Ground beef, steak, or chuck roast all have intense flavors but slightly different flavor profiles, so what you like with one beef style you might not like with another. Consider what foods you will be serving with the beef and the type, and apply herbs and spices from there.
• Spices like onion and garlic, which are intense alone, are some of the first that come to mind when thinking of seasoning beef. They are savory and robust but also easy to come by!
• Black Pepper is another strong contender, with its slightly hot bite and spicy aroma. The flavor of the beef does not so easily drown it out.
• Cayenne is a spicy partner for beef. It is hot but not too hot, so it works with the strong flavor of the meat instead of pushing against it and drowning it out with mouth-searing heat, like some other chile powders may. Don’t use Ghost Chile Powder on a steak, or you’ll regret spending the money on the steak when you could have just dumped ghost chile powder in your mouth and gotten the same amount of steak flavor.
This is an exciting flavor combination to add to savory meats, as it surprises the mouth. · Basil is an excellent herb to pair with beef because it is peppery, sweet, and slightly minty. A nice savory flavor can be easily shaken up by a minty coolness in a refreshing sort of way, making a hearty dish feel brighter and maybe even less indulgent.
• Yellow Mustard Powder is the intense, sharp flavor your grilled burger needs. Combine some in your ground beef before grilling for an intense flavor.
• Green or Red Bell Pepper is fantastic with beef. Dried is excellent in marinades as they can rehydrate, and their flavor seeps into the surrounding liquid. This is great for a long marinade.
• For Mediterranean-inspired beef dishes, Oregano is the herb of choice. It is earthy and strong, standing up with beef quickly. Just be sure to add it to the beef dish last, as Oregano loses flavor quickly once exposed to heat.
What Spices Go with Chicken?
Chicken is the blank slate of land animal meat. Mild in flavor, there are many different spice and herb combinations that you can use on chicken and find great success. Since there are so many flavors, you can go from savory options to brighter, sweeter options in a heartbeat and still have something unique to eat. You could season this type of meat to go well with what the rest of your meal is, so you don’t simply season for the chicken itself.
• Garlic, the universal spice, tastes just as good with chicken as pork and beef.
• If you want something smoky for your chicken, smoked paprika is the way to go. It will add not only good flavor but vibrant color to your otherwise plain white chicken.
• Lemon Peel, Lime Peel, and Orange Peel all add a citrusy brilliance to chicken. They are vibrant flavors that work well in marinades and dry rubs for chicken. You might even want to make an orange marinade with orange peel and orange juice.
• As far as herbs go, Cilantro is always a good one for chicken, as long as you are one of those who doesn’t despise this herb. To those that do enjoy Cilantro, it is refreshing, Anise, and with hints of pine; this herb is perfect for adding flavor to light, roasted chicken dinners.
• Rosemary and chicken are iconic couples. They’ve been everywhere, from fancy restaurants to your grandma’s dinner table. Rosemary is cooling, woody, and somewhat balsamic, acting as the star in this classic pair.
• Savory works well on chicken because it has a multi-dimensional flavor, tasting simultaneously like mint, Thyme, and marjoram. This herb is perfect for cooks trying a versatile flavor profile on a plain piece of chicken.
• The sweet warmth of Cinnamon on chicken might feel like too foreign an idea for you, but put some on baked chicken for a guaranteed delight. The sweetness is a welcome flavor, especially when combined with other spices like Cumin for warmth.
• Mace is a perfect spice to add to chicken that you plan to eat with barbecue sauce. This spice is savory and overpowering when used in excess. Just a tiny amount will significantly improve the flavor of both your chicken and the barbecue sauce you’re dipping into.
• Mysteriously, adding a Bay Leaf to a chicken marinade brings together the flavors in a way that one can’t describe. It’s like when you make rice with bay leaves. Something about it is better, though you don’t know how to put your finger on it. Either way, using bay leaves in the chicken marinade is like having real-life magical powers.
What Spices Go with Lamb?
Whether carved into chops, legs, or in-ground form, Tender lamb comes from young sheep about one-year-old or younger. If the sheep is less than three months old, the meat is called “spring lamb.” Mutton, from a sheep that’s three years old or older, is a popular meat in India, and as such, many Indian spices are well suited to this meat.
Lamb can be a somewhat succulent, rich-tasting meat. It pairs very well with herbs because of its crisp, refreshing flavors.
• Garlic is savory and an all-around delicious, easily recognizable flavor.
• Turmeric is earthy, vibrant, and adds a warm flavor element to lamb.
• Coriander is citrusy, nutty, and warm. It pairs well with rich meats because of the contrast it gives.
• Earthy, nutty, and spicy, Cumin and lamb work because Cumin’s earthiness is a terrific foil against the gamey flavor of lamb. Cumin is especially well-suited for lamb-based curries.
• For an herb with a bit of spiciness and a hint of lemony flavor, Thyme is your strongest contender. It is perfect for use in rubs.
• Dill Weed is a refreshing herb. Added to lamb dishes, it gives a bit of brightness to the otherwise heavy, strong-tasting meat.
• Mint acts similarly to dill because it gives lamb brightness. The menthol flavor of mint also adds a chilling effect, which significantly contrasts rich and grassy lamb.
• For a woody, balsamic taste that’s got a natural pine flavor to it, add Rosemary to this meat. Rosemary is a very “outdoorsy” type spice, so it lends to the natural, fresh taste of the lamb.
Herbs and spices that work well with lamb also work well with mutton. Use a slightly heavier hand for mutton, as the older meat can put up quite a fight against outside flavors from herbs or spices. For spring lamb, the most delicate of all the sheep meats, use only those herbs and spices that will not easily overpower the dish, as the flavor of the meat may potentially be wholly drowned out by the herbs and spices.
What Spices Go with Fish/Seafood?
“Fish” covers a wide range of various types of animals that we enjoy eating. Depending on the fish, herbs and spices can give them a lot of flavors! There are very few things that you can add to fish that won’t help the flavor improve.
• For a bright, fruity flavor on your fish, try lemongrass. It pairs well with shellfish especially, but any fish with a bit of sweetness goes well with lemongrass. You may find you like to use this in Asian or Asian-inspired dishes, as lemongrass is a common ingredient across various Asian cuisines.
• Sage is often a poultry-only herb, but the earthy flavor goes well with fish like trout, flounder, and swordfish.
Could you not knock it until you try it? • For salty fish like cod, Anise is a weird but satisfying pairing. The licorice flavor is excellent on this white fish that doesn’t have a strong taste either way.
• Halibut is often thought of as difficult to season because it’s quite a sweet fish, but pair it with Cinnamon for a hint of smoky flavor that is sure to surprise and please you.
• Tarragon is an exciting herb with some real dimensions to it. Try it with lobster, crab, prawns, and crawfish. If you have a recipe that uses crab, for example, that calls for Oregano, replace that with tarragon for a fresh twist and a flavor that you may not have expected.
• Basil is perfect for fish like mahi-mahi or sole or firm flesh.
• Mint works nicely with any sturdy fish that can hold up to a marinade with some acid in it. Fish like arctic char and orange roughy are great with mint!
• Freshwater fish like catfish or bass taste excellent with Mediterranean Oregano. This herb is potent, with hints of sweetness and Anise in it.
• Salmon is a commonly eaten fish in America. While we are fond of just a dash of Black Pepper on it, it also tastes incredible with the warm, nutty, and slightly citrusy flavor of Coriander.
What Spices Go with Eggs?
Eggs aren’t meat. So, what are they doing on this list? Eggs are a typical breakfast food, and they are incredibly high in protein, just like meat. They are full of rich flavor that gives you a lot of protein for only a tiny amount of money. For some people, eggs are their primary source of protein! Mixing up your regular egg routine with some delicious spices will help diversify any egg-based dish.
Mountains of scrambled eggs sprinkled with black pepper are a Sunday brunch staple. • Black Pepper is the classic spice for eggs. The two are simply a match made in heaven because of the pepper’s bite combing so nicely with the creaminess of eggs.
• Parsley is an excellent herb for eggs. It brightens and lightens the flavor of the eggs, which most people agree are pretty savory and rich on their own.
• Chives are a savory companion for eggs. They add a little bit of oniony, garlicky flavor to eggs without being overwhelmingly flavorful, like actual onion or garlic, maybe.
• Yellow Mustard Powder is a secret ingredient in nearly all those eggs; you thought, “wow, these are the best eggs I have ever tasted!” about.
• Green or Red Bell Pepper adds a bit of a zing to eggs. They give a nice, fresh, peppery flavor that tastes amazing and smells very pleasing.
