Homemade everyday seasoning spice mix recipe inspired by Trader Joe’s famous Everyday Seasoning Blend. This copycat recipe spice mix is perfect for seasoning savoury dishes, roasted vegetables, soups or salads. It gives your every dish an extra flavour and you don’t need to worry about using any other spices in your recipe.
Why make this recipe?
- Use it on any dish you like, it works with all flavours
- Quick & easy to make
- Make it your own way (with the proportions of your own favourite spice)
- Great as gift for your family and friends
What exactly is Everyday Seasoning Blend?
This copycat recipe for Trade Joe’s Everyday Seasoning Blend is great spice mix that can be used on any kind of dish, hot or cold, soups, burgers or salads.
It’s a homemade version of the shop bought spice mix, which if you have most of the spices at home, is a budget friendly way of having your spice mix, without the extra expense.
To create this recipe, I’ve used the exact ingredients that are listed on the Trade Joe’s packaging. It’s tricky to know exactly what the proportions are, so I’ve made several batches until I was happy with the consistency.
Equipment needed
- grinder or mortar & pester if your spices are not already powdered
- 1 medium size jam jar with lid
Note on Ingredients
The original Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning Blend has the following spices:
- onion (dried)
- garlic (dried)
- sea salt
- black pepper
- mustard seeds
- coriander
- chilli pepper
- paprika
You are welcome to omit or substitute any of these spices, but you’ll end up with a different spice blend. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but not using the exact spice will result in a different flavour.
The other issue is of course getting the proportions right. You can increase one or the other spice amount in this recipe mix, but again you’ll end up with a slightly different version. I think that this is the fun of making your spice blend at home, because you never know what amazing flavours you are going to get!
Before you get started with this recipe
Make sure that all your spices are ground or of a fine texture. It’s usually easier to buy ground version of any spice as it’s going to be much finer than if you try to ground your spices at home.
Most spices are easily available in the shops, but the onion and garlic powder could be a little trickier to source.
The only spice I sometimes leave quite coarse is the sea salt and the chilli pepper flakes. I like the bit of extra flavour you get when they are not quite powdered and there is a bit bigger piece.
How to use powdered spice or whole spice
If you have a pepper mill for your table, you can use all ingredients whole and just add it to your pepper mill. The original spice blend is sold in glass jar with a grinder, so that the spices are freshly ground as you need it.
If you don’t have a pepper mill that you can use, it’s best to ground all spices first before adding them to a jar to use for later.
How to make Everyday Seasoning Blend – a copycat Trader Joe’s spice mix
Make sure that all the spices are ground or milled first. The chilli pepper flakes can be whole, but you can mill or ground them too if you like.
Measure out all the spices and add them to a small bowl.
Mix all the spices well.
How to make your own version of Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning Blend
Here is my favourite versions of the original seasoning blend and you are of course welcome to make it your own.
Smokey Everyday Seasoning Blend – use smoked sea salt and smoked paprika instead of the regular version. If you can find any other smoked version of the spice on the list, swap it too.
Herb Everyday Seasoning Blend – add more dried herbs to the seasoning mix, such as dried chives, parsley, oregano etc. To keep things in proportions, use about 1/2 teaspoons of each herb
Lighter Everyday Seasoning Blend – instead of using just 1 teaspoon of sea salt, use 1 tablespoon. This way you are going to dilute the spice blend and make it less strong.
If you want to re-create your favourite version of this recipe, always write down what measurements you are using. When you use the seasoning, you can decide if it needs more of one spice or the other and then adjust it (and amend your master recipe).
Pro tip
I’ve adjusted the recipe proportions the way I like them and they way I think are the closest to the original blend.
But if you wanted to start from the starting line, I’d suggest to mix together first equal amount of all the ingredients – say one teaspoon of each spice. Then mix it together and more of the spice that you like the taste of.
How to use everyday seasoning mix spice
You can use the spice blend directly into your dishes, when you are cooking. This way you’ll disolve the blend into your dish and flavour the whole food.
Alternatively, you can also use it as a seasoning right before you serve your dish or leave it on the table for people to help themselves.
Best food to go with everyday seasoning blend
This seasoning spice mix can be used with absolutely any dish or food ingredients. Any recipe that mentions ‘season with salt and pepper’ can be used and you can use this spice blend instead. You’ll find your own favourite dishes soon, so here are just a few suggestions.
- Meat – Fish, Chicken, Hamburgers, Meatloaf, Beef etc
- Vegetables – roasted or baked
- Soups
- Fresh Green Salads
- Deviled eggs
- Gnochi
- Pasta
- Pizza
- Sauces
- Stews
- Gumbo
- Casseroles
Recipe size
This recipe will give you a small amount (about 45 grams or about 3 tablespoons) of spice.
Can I scale up or down this recipe?
I’ve already scaled down the recipe, so that you don’t end up with too much spice mix, in case you want to adjust the flavours or don’t use is as much as you thought you might.
You are welcome to double or triple the recipe quantities to make a bigger amount (for example if you are making a food spice gift for your friends or family).
How to store this recipe
Store your everyday seasoning spice mix in an airtight container (small glass jam jar) if using powdered versions of all the spices.
Store in an emptied pepper mill (it’s usually stronger mill mechanism than salt mill) if using whole spices.
How long will everyday seasoning last?
Ideally, use your spice within 3 months, so that it keeps fresh. Your spice blend won’t go off as such, but the spice and especially the salt can start absorbing moisture and this might spoil the spice mix.
Everyday Seasoning Spice Mix – a copycat Trader Joe’s blend recipe
Equipment
- grinder or mortar & pester if your spices are not already powdered
- 1 medium size jam jar with lid
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper (or mixed pepper)
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard seeds powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander ground powdered
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli pepper flakes or powdered chili pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
Instructions
- Make sure that all the spices are ground or milled first. The chilli pepper flakes can be whole, but you can mill or ground them too if you like.
- Measure out all the spices and add them to a small bowl.
- Mix all the spices well.
- Store your everyday seasoning spice mix in an airtight container (small glass jam jar) and use it within 3 months.
Learn how to bake bread at home with my practical bread making e-book. Step by step techniques, photos and tips on how to bake artisan bread, sourdough and enriched dough treats. Read the customer’s review on Amazon and 
I’m always running out of good seasoning mix, so making my own just makes sense. This one has a great flavor and I keep mine in a pepper grinder so that I can grind fresh seasoning when I needed.