Smoky, sweet and tangy spices bring a deep and aromatic flavour to your cooking. Baharat is one spice mix you’ll want to add to your pantry. Use this all-purpose Middle Eastern spice blend to season meats, chicken and fish, or add a new depth of flavour to your favourite dishes.
Why We Love This
Baharat is a deliciously simple spice mix that you can whip up in under two minutes. If you love cooking, chances are you’ll have all the spices you need in the pantry already. For the freshest experience, you can grind your own whole spices OR use already-ground versions for a quick mix.
Baharat is perfect as an all-purpose seasoning or rub for meats, fish and chicken. You can even add it to soups, stews or casseroles to add extra smokey flavour. Or why not sprinkle over your favourite dips such as hummus?
Since you’re making your own spice blend from scratch, it’s easy to tweak the ingredients to suit your taste!
P.S. If you love making your own homemade spice blends, try our recipes for curry powder, Japanese 7 spice or matcha green tea salt next!
What is Baharat?
‘Baharat’ simply means ‘spices’ in Arabic language. This all-purpose blend / seasoning is most often in Middle Eastern, Turkish and Greek cuisine, and varies slightly from region to region. It’s also known as Lebanese 7 spice.
The special part about this Baharat recipe is not just its tiny list of ingredients. It’s the magic flavour they create when they come together.
Before you even have a taste, those freshly mixed spices will be filling your kitchen with a unique and exotic aroma.
What You’ll Need
If you already have the following spices in powdered/ground form, you’ll be able to whip up this Middle Eastern spice mix in just a few minutes. If not, you can easily grind whole spices in a spice grinder OR use a mortar and pestle.
This recipe for baharat spice mix calls for eight individual spices (yes, 8! Even though it is referred to as Lebanese 7 spice):
- Black pepper
- Cardamom
- Cinnamon
- Cloves – These can be bought whole and ground or buy them as a powder.
- Coriander – You can buy them as coriander seeds and grind them yourself, or look for ground coriander – not fresh!
- Cumin
- Nutmeg
- Smoky paprika – We love the smoky flavour with this paprika, you can also use regular Hungarian Paprika or Hot Paprika for extra spice kick.
If you’re missing any of these spices, most should be available at your local supermarket, Asian or Middle Eastern grocer or online.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Storage – Store your blended baharat in an airtight glass jar out of direct sunlight.
- Use Within 3 Months – Any longer and your blend may start to lose its potency.
FAQs
While baharat is also referred to as Lebanese 7 Spice, it more commonly contains 8 spices. Some of the 7 spice variants use allspice to replace the cinnamon, nutmeg and clove components of the mix.
Baharat is most popularly used alongside chicken, however lamb and beef are also popular.
Here are a few ways you can add an extra flavour to your cooking by using this wickedly aromatic spice:
– Use as a spice rub – for meats, chicken or fish.
– Use as a flavouring – for soups, stock, casseroles, tureens or rice dishes. We recommend trying it in Egyptian Koshary or blending into a batch of Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce.
– Use as a condiment – sprinkle across pita bread, popcorn or fresh dips such as hummus. Or sprinkle over vegetables such as eggplant before roasting to give an extra depth of flavour.
– Use as a marinade – simply mix with olive oil and lime juice for a quick marinade recipe.
Both spice mixes share a lot of the same base spices, however there are some notable differences. Garam Masala is more common in Indian cuisine while Baharat is more popular in the Middle East. Garam Masala is a little spicier and contains bay leaves and red chilli powder instead of the paprika in Baharat.
Variations
- For a More Turkish Flavour Profile – Try adding dried mint flakes.
- Tweak to Your Liking – Don’t be afraid to experiment with your own ingredient ratios – this spice blend is easy to adapt to your own tastes.
- Substitutes – You can substitute the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with 1 tsp of allspice.
Try these delicious recipes next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating below!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp cloves
Instructions
- Pop all your aromatic spices (smoked paprika, cumin, black pepper, ground coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves) into a mortar and grind away with your pestle until blended into luscious dark red and brown powder.2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp cloves
- Alternatively, if you’ve already got your spices ground and ready to go, pop them in a small bowl and mix until well combined.
- Store your gorgeous aromatic Baharat mix in an airtight container in the pantry until ready to use.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Storage – Store your blended baharat in an airtight glass jar out of direct sunlight.
- Use Within 3 Months – Any longer and your blend may start to lose its potency.
- For a More Turkish Flavour Profile – Try adding dried mint flakes.
- Tweak to Your Liking – Don’t be afraid to experiment with your own ingredient ratios – this spice blend is easy to adapt to your own tastes.
- Substitutes – You can substitute the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with 1 tsp of allspice.
- Uses –
- Use as a spice rub – for meats, chicken or fish.
- Use as a flavouring – for soups, stock, casseroles, tureens or rice dishes. We recommend trying it in Egyptian Koshary or blending into a batch of Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce.
- Use as a condiment – sprinkle across pita bread, popcorn or fresh dips such as hummus. Or sprinkle over vegetables such as eggplant before roasting to give an extra depth of flavour.
- Use as a marinade – simply mix with olive oil and lime juice for a quick marinade recipe.
Nutrition
34 Comments
Kelly Anthony
26/07/2019 at 9:54 pmI love making my own spice blends. Excited to add another blend to my cabinet.
Wandercooks
29/07/2019 at 9:51 amIt’s so much fun hey – any excuse to put the mortar and pestle to work!
David
26/07/2019 at 9:05 pmMmm, very flavorful! Reminds me a bit of garam masala which I’ve been using a lot lately but that doesn’t have the paprika.
Wandercooks
29/07/2019 at 9:51 amThat’s another gorgeous spice blend for sure! It’s fun how different they can become with just a little tweak of ingredients.
Paula Montenegro
26/07/2019 at 8:31 pmI just adore middle-eastern spice mixes, and I love cooking with baharat. Now I can’t wait to make it at home! Thanks for this recipe!
Wandercooks
29/07/2019 at 9:50 amOh yay hope you enjoy the fun of making it at home 🙂 What are your favourite dishes to cook with Baharat?
Amy | The Cook Report
26/07/2019 at 8:12 pmI love all the ingredients in this, sounds like a delicious combination!
Wandercooks
29/07/2019 at 9:54 amI know, it’s like all the spices come together for a flavour party haha – time to crank up the kitchen and have some fun!
Timothy
15/04/2017 at 6:27 amHow much would you add per lb of ground beef to make burger patties ?
Wandercooks
18/04/2017 at 12:34 pmHi Timothy thanks for stopping by! We’d recommend starting with around 1 tbsp of Baharat to 1lb of beef to start, and then you can always experiment from there depending on how you like it. Baharat is a gorgeous smoky seasoning and would be great with beef for burger patties, but you wouldn’t want it to overpower everything either. Would love to hear how your burgers turn out! 🙂
Natalie
08/04/2017 at 12:20 amI’m a HUGE fan of homemade spice mixes. This mix sounds fantastic. Love all spices you used here. Can’t wait to try this.
Wandercooks
10/04/2017 at 1:01 pmHaha that’s great Natalie, enjoy your spicy shenanigans! 😀
Nicola @ Happy Healthy Motivated
07/04/2017 at 7:25 pmI’ve heard of this spice (and tried it!) plenty of times before, but I never knew how simple it was to make. I’ve got all these ingredients in the cupboards right now so I’m going to give it a whirl and make something crazy delicious!
Wandercooks
10/04/2017 at 1:01 pmOh that’s awesome Nicola! Not many people we’ve spoken to so far have come across if before. Where did you first try it?
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry
07/04/2017 at 5:59 pmLove the addition of smoky paprika, what a great spice blend, looks amazing
Wandercooks
10/04/2017 at 1:00 pmSmoky paprika definitely gives the whole blend such a delicious depth of smoky heat! One of our favourite spices actually.
Pretty
07/04/2017 at 3:50 pmI love making my own Indian spice mixes so will give this Middle Eastern one a try.
Wandercooks
10/04/2017 at 1:00 pmI feel like mixing spices is kind of like casting an edible magic spell!
Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com
07/04/2017 at 3:28 pmThis sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try this on some grilled chicken!
Wandercooks
10/04/2017 at 12:59 pmYum I can almost taste it now haha 😀
Kim | Low Carb Maven
29/05/2016 at 3:37 amWow! I love trying new spices and spice blends. I can’t wait to try this one. Thank you.
Wandercooks
30/05/2016 at 9:10 amOoooh yay, enjoy the spice adventure! You’re in for a treat. 😀
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours
20/05/2016 at 12:07 amOh that combination sounds delicious. Baharat seems one to try, and I am sure I have all the ingredients. I’d far rather mix my own then buy it.
Wandercooks
20/05/2016 at 5:37 pmDefinitely Helen, 100% agree! Hope you enjoy, let us know if you like it! 🙂
Kate @ VeggieDesserts
19/05/2016 at 7:26 pmHow lovely! I was given a jar of Baharat and I use it all the time. Now I can make my own when it runs out – thanks for the recipe 🙂
Wandercooks
20/05/2016 at 5:36 pmYay! Now it’s like a never-ending jar of deliciousness 😛
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
19/05/2016 at 7:18 pmThat is literally my ideal spice mix. I bet it would go really well on salmon.
Wandercooks
20/05/2016 at 5:35 pmWe haven’t tried that yet but it is definitely on the To-Cook List. We’ve also heard it makes a great marinade for lamb!
Florentina
19/05/2016 at 3:00 pmI love making my own spice mixes. Now I need to try this one because you have smoked paprika in there, and I just can’t pass on anything with smoked paprika. That spice is everything to me lol
Wandercooks
20/05/2016 at 5:35 pmHow good is smoked paprika! It gives such a wonderful depth of flavour to whatever you’re cooking. We loved how it added to the baharat but didn’t overpower the rest of the spices. We’re looking forward to more spice experiments asap!