Yes, Your Spice Cabinet Needs Pickling Spice

updated Jun 20, 2020
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Credit: Jeff Roffman

If you’ve ever looked at a recipe for pickles or chutneys, you may have encountered an ingredient simply called “pickling spice.” Rather than a single spice, pickling spice is a blend of several spices designed to flavor pickles and help them keep a crisp and crunchy texture in the fridge. You’ll find pickling spice floating around lots of jarred pickles and occasionally tucked into corned beef packages as well.

What’s in pickling spice, and should you buy it premixed or make your own?

Credit: Jeff Roffman

What Is Pickling Spice?

Taste: Sour
Most Popular Use: Pickling and preserving

Pickling spice is a blend that stands up well to the pickling process and lends complex flavor to preserved fruits and vegetables. It usually includes whole or crumbled spices rather than ground. The mixture is often tied in cheesecloth, added during cooking, and then removed.

The precise blend can vary by individual cook and manufacturer. Most include the following basic spices:

  • Bay leaves
  • Mustard seeds (yellow or brown)
  • Peppercorns (black, white, red, or green)

Other spices may include the following:

  • Allspice berries
  • Cardamom seeds
  • Celery seeds
  • Dried chili peppers (whole or flakes)
  • Cinnamon sticks
  • Coriander seeds
  • Whole cloves
  • Dill seeds
  • Fennel seeds
  • Dried ginger
  • Juniper berries
  • Mace blades
  • Star anise

From McCormick to Penzeys, many spice companies offer a pickling blend, and it may be cheaper to buy it premixed if you don’t already have the individual spices. However, it’s easy to make your own, and you can customize it to your tastes and ensure that the spices are fresh. If you regularly have enough of the component spices on hand, you can mix just the amount that you need, and even tailor it to the particular dish you’re cooking. Or, you can make up a larger batch at once and keep it in an airtight jar.

Credit: supriya

How to Use Pickling Spice

In addition to be a regular ingredient for pickling and preserving fruits and vegetables, pickling spice can also be used in stews and other vegetable and meat dishes.

Recipes for Cooking with Pickling Spice