Start with a structure, not a recipe

Almost every seasoning blend worth keeping has the same five parts. Once you can see the parts, you can build a blend for any dish you already cook instead of hunting for someone else's recipe.

1. 1 A savory base. Garlic powder and onion powder do the work here. The American Heart Association specifically names garlic rather than garlic salt in its list of seasonings, and the same distinction applies to onion powder versus onion salt.
2. 2 Dried herbs. Thyme, rosemary, basil, dill, oregano, parsley, and marjoram. These carry the personality of the blend.
3. 3 Warm ground spices. Cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and curry powder. They add depth and a little sweetness without sugar.
4. 4 Heat and bite. Black pepper, crushed red pepper, mustard powder, or a small amount of cayenne.
5. 5 Brightness. Dried lemon or orange peel, or lemon zest you dry yourself on a plate for a day or two.

A starting ratio that works for most savory blends is roughly 4 parts base and herbs, 2 parts warm spices, 1 part heat, and 1 part brightness. That is kitchen practice, not science, and the point of writing it down is that it gives you something to adjust. If your first batch tastes dusty, add more of the bright part. If it tastes thin, add more base.

Three blends you can copy this week

Each of these makes roughly a half cup, enough to fill a small jar and season a dozen or more meals. The pairings draw on the herbs and spices the American Heart Association suggests using in place of salt.

Everyday savory blend, for roasted vegetables, chicken, potatoes, and beans: 2 tablespoons garlic powder, 2 tablespoons onion powder, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon dried rosemary crushed fine between your fingers, 1 tablespoon sweet paprika, and 2 teaspoons ground black pepper.

Warm spice blend, for lentils, winter squash, rice, and stews: 2 tablespoons ground cumin, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 2 teaspoons turmeric, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and a half teaspoon of cayenne if you want heat.

Bright herb blend, for fish, eggs, grain salads, and cooked vegetables: 2 tablespoons dried dill, 1 tablespoon dried basil, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 2 teaspoons dried lemon peel, 2 teaspoons black pepper, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Lemon juice on fish is one of the AHA's own suggestions, and dried peel in the blend gives you some of that character before the food reaches the table.

Crush the dried herbs between your palms as you add them. Whole leaves release very little flavor when they land on hot food; broken ones release a lot.

What to check on the jars you buy as parts

You are still buying ingredients, so the label still matters, just on simpler products. Two habits cover almost everything.

Read the ingredient list first, not the front of the package. A jar that says garlic powder should list garlic and nothing else. Blends sold as taco seasoning, lemon pepper, seasoned salt, poultry seasoning, or steak seasoning frequently list salt at or near the top. Some also carry anticaking agents and sugar. None of that makes a product bad, but it means you are buying salt at spice prices and you cannot tell how much is landing on your food.

Then use the claim definitions, which the Food and Drug Administration sets in law. They are more specific than most people realize:

1. 1 Salt free or sodium free means less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving.
2. 2 Very low sodium means 35 mg or less per serving.
3. 3 Low sodium means 140 mg or less per serving.
4. 4 Reduced sodium means at least 25 percent less sodium than the regular version of that same product.
5. 5 Light in sodium or lightly salted means at least 50 percent less sodium than the regular version.
6. 6 No salt added or unsalted means no salt was added during processing. It does not mean the food is sodium free, because the food itself may contain sodium already.

That last one catches people. A no salt added product can still carry meaningful sodium, and a reduced sodium product is defined only in relation to its own regular version, which may have been very high to begin with.

Sodium also travels under names that do not include the word salt. MedlinePlus lists monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrite, and sodium benzoate among the sodium compounds added to processed foods. In the spice aisle, the more common sources are plain salt and bouillon or broth powder, both of which show up inside blends.

The potassium question, and who needs to ask first

Some products sold as salt free or reduced sodium use potassium chloride to carry a salty taste. On an ingredient list, this can appear two ways. In December 2020 the FDA finalized guidance allowing manufacturers to use the term potassium salt as an alternate name for potassium chloride in ingredient statements. So potassium chloride and potassium salt on a label mean the same ingredient. The agency's stated reason was flexibility for products reformulated to contain less sodium.

How much potassium these products contain varies widely. The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements reports that potassium based salt substitutes range from about 440 to 2,800 milligrams of potassium per teaspoon. That is a large spread for products that look nearly identical on a shelf.

For most healthy adults, potassium from food is not a problem, and the Office of Dietary Supplements notes that no tolerable upper intake level was set for potassium from food. The exception is specific and worth knowing precisely. In its fact sheet, the office states that in people with impaired urinary potassium excretion due to chronic kidney disease or the use of certain medications, such as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or potassium sparing diuretics, even dietary potassium intakes below the recommended adequate intake can cause high blood potassium. Angiotensin receptor blockers such as losartan appear on the same list of relevant medicines.

This is why the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases tells people with chronic kidney disease to use spices and herbs instead of salt substitutes, and to limit foods with potassium chloride on the ingredient list. The American Heart Association notes that potassium based salt substitutes may support a lower sodium eating pattern and healthy blood pressure. It also advises checking with your health care professional before increasing potassium.

A homemade blend of herbs, spices, and dried aromatics contains neither sodium chloride nor potassium chloride unless you add them, which makes it the one seasoning that does not require this conversation. If you are considering a potassium based product, a separate article in this series covers exactly what to ask your health care professional or pharmacist first, including whether your kidney function and blood potassium have been checked recently.

How much salt, if any, belongs in your own blend

Your blend does not have to be salt free. Making it yourself means you decide, and because you measured, you know.

The FDA notes that the daily value for sodium, less than 2,300 mg per day, is about the amount in one teaspoon of table salt. That number makes the arithmetic easy. Suppose you make a half cup of blend, which is 24 teaspoons, and you stir in one level teaspoon of salt. The salt is now spread across the whole jar. Each teaspoon of finished blend carries roughly 95 mg of sodium, about a twenty fourth of that teaspoon. Season a pan of vegetables for four people with two teaspoons of blend and you have added roughly 190 mg of sodium to the whole pan, or about 48 mg per serving.

Compare that with how salting usually happens, which is a few shakes from a shaker into a pan and a few more at the table, with no idea of the total. The blend does not make the salt healthier. It makes the amount visible and repeatable, which is the part people usually lack.

There is also a reason not to overthink the shaker. The American Heart Association reports that more than 70 percent of the sodium Americans eat comes from packaged, prepared, and restaurant foods rather than from salt added at home, and that average intake runs over 3,100 mg a day against a recommended limit of no more than 2,300 mg and an ideal limit closer to 1,500 mg for most adults. Your blend is not where the bulk of sodium lives. It is, however, the thing you reach for four nights a week, so it is worth getting right.

Using the blend so the food actually tastes better

Where you add the blend changes what you get from it. Ground spices with a warm, woody character, such as cumin, coriander, paprika, and turmeric, give more flavor when they hit hot oil early in cooking. Dried herbs do better with some liquid and time, so they belong in the pot rather than sprinkled on at the end. Anything bright, such as dried citrus peel or fresh herbs, does its best work in the last minute or on the plate. None of this is a health claim. It is how flavor behaves in a pan.

For a starting amount, use about 1 teaspoon of blend per pound of vegetables or per four servings of a stew or grain dish, then taste and adjust. The AHA's simplest suggestion is also the most useful: taste your food before adding salt. Most people salt on autopilot, before the first bite.

Expect the first week to feel underwhelming if you are also using less salt. Taste preference is not fixed. In a classic study, young adults who followed a reduced sodium diet for five months came to prefer less salt in soup and crackers, while a comparison group eating normally did not change. The AHA puts it plainly: it may take some time for your taste buds to adjust to a lower sodium diet. No one can tell you the exact number of weeks, and anyone who gives you a specific number is guessing.

If a familiar family recipe tastes flat with the new blend, the fix is usually not more blend. It is acid, heat, or a browned surface on the food. Another article in this series covers changing a recipe one ingredient at a time, including the AHA's suggestion of mixing a lower sodium version of a product with the regular version in equal parts while your taste adjusts.

Storage, labeling, and a shared kitchen

Make small batches. A half cup of blend used twice a week disappears in a couple of months, and a blend you finish quickly is always more fragrant than one that sits. Ground spices fade faster than whole ones, so if you have a small grinder, buying whole cumin or coriander and grinding as needed gives you a stronger blend for the same money.

Keep the jar closed, away from heat, light, and steam. The cabinet directly above the stove is the worst spot in most kitchens, and it is where most people keep spices. A drawer or a cabinet across the room is better.

Label the jar with the name, the date, and the actual contents, written in your own words. This sounds fussy until the day someone else in the house needs to know whether the blend contains salt, or a care team asks what you have been seasoning with. If you have kidney disease or your health care professional has asked you to track potassium or sodium, a written label turns your blend into something you can report accurately.

For a household where one person is watching sodium and others are not, a salt free blend solves the problem cleanly. Season the pan with the blend, let everyone salt their own plate, and nobody cooks two dinners. The same goes for a care partner cooking for someone else: the blend on the shelf is a fixed, known quantity, so the only variable left is the shaker at the table.

Start with a half batch of one blend. Use it on the vegetable you already roast most often, write what you would change on a piece of tape on the jar, and adjust the next batch. Three rounds of that and you will have a blend nobody sells.