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    🏠Home » Recipes » Sauces, Rubs, and Seasonings Recipes

    Homemade Blackened Seasoning

    Jun 18, 2016 · Modified: Sep 15, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 7 Comments

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.28 from 22 votes

    This homemade blackened seasoning mix is perfect with fish, chicken, or any place you want a great spicy taste. Adjust it to your tastes and needs; no need to buy an expensive mix.

    The spices for Homemade Blackened Seasoning.

    Jump To:
    • 👨‍🍳Cajun, Creole, and Blackened Seasonings
    • 🧂Ingredients
    • 🥣Uses
    • 📖Other Spice Mixes
    • 📝Recipe

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    Introduction

    Made with pantry staples, this is a great basic blend of spice that will add tons of flavor to your delicious meals.

    Blacken Fish has always been a great go-to dinner, but mixing all those spices every time is too much. And I don't want the "commercial" blend that plays to the lowest common taste and adds fillers.

    I love my blackened tilapia based on an Aaron MaCorgo Jr (Food Networks “Big Daddy”) recipe, which is the basis for this everyday blackened seasoning I will be keeping on hand for other recipes.

    My Rating

    My rating system. Great 5 out of 5

    A very nice spice mix.

    👨‍🍳Cajun, Creole, and Blackened Seasonings

    These are a bit confusing and have a lot of overlap in the usage of the terms. Here are a few generalities.

    Cajan is usually the spiciest of the three. To make this seasoning Cajan, crank up the cayenne to the upper end of the range.

    Creole is usually the mildest and may have various herbs mixed in, like oregano, basil, and thyme.

    And blackening seasoning hangs in the middle. So a very spicy blackening seasoning can properly be called Cajan, and a mild spiced one will cross over into Creole territory, especially if it has more herbs.

    🧂Ingredients

    The ingredients are commons pantry items. Paprika, garlic and onion powder, and a few other things with cayenne pepper. And, of course, salt and pepper.

    Variations

    The main variable is the cayenne pepper. I offer a suggested range of ¼ to 1 teaspoon. My estimate it ¼ teaspoon is about 2/10. Will ½ teaspoon will be about 5/10. A full teaspoon will be 7-8/10. I generally use ½ teaspoon.

    By doing this yourself, you get to make the adjustments you want. Use smoked paprika, more garlic, more pepper, or white pepper; increase the heat with more cayenne. Don't like oregano or thyme—take them out.

    I put mine in a shaker from Penzeys Spices. Be sure to seal tight.

    🥣Uses

    The most common uses are chicken, fish, and vegetables. But it can also be used on beef, like steak.

    baked Blackened Tilapia
    Oven-Baked Blackened Tilapia

    📖Other Spice Mixes

    All Purpose Seasoning - 7:2:1 and 7:2:2

    Chipotle Seasoning

    Marlowe's Black Magic Seasoning

    8:3:1:1 Dry Rub

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    📝Recipe

    Spices for Homemade Blackened Seasoning

    Homemade Blackened Seasoning

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    This homemade blackened seasoning mix is perfect with fish, chicken, or any place you want a great spicy taste. Adjust it to your tastes and needs, no need to buy an expensive mix.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.28 from 22 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 0 minutes
    Total Time: 10 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 18 teaspoons

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 2 tablespoons paprika
    • 2 teaspoons onion powder
    • 1 ⅓ teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 teaspoon pepper
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon oregano
    • 1 teaspoon thyme
    • ¼-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
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    Instructions

    • Mix two tablespoons paprika, two teaspoon onion powder, 1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt, and one teaspoon each of garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and black pepper. The range for cayenne pepper is ¼ to 1 teaspoon.
      Homemade Blackened Seasoning from 101 Cooking for Two
    • Store in an airtight container.
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Great for fish, chicken, or vegetables. Can be used any place you want an nice spicy taste.
    2. By doing this yourself, you get to make the adjustments you want. Use smoked paprika, more garlic, or white pepper. Don't like oregano or thyme, take them out.
    3. The main variable is the cayenne pepper. I offer a suggested range of ¼ to 1 teaspoon. My estimate is ¼ teaspoon is about 2/10 heat. While ½ teaspoon will be about 4-5/10. A full teaspoon will be 7-8/10. I generally use ½ teaspoon.
    4. I put mine in an airtight shaker from Penzeys Spices. Be sure to seal tight.
    5. It should be good if sealed well for months like normal spices.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Nutrition Facts
    Homemade Blackened Seasoning
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 5
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 0.01g0%
    Saturated Fat 0.004g0%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 0.004g
    Monounsaturated Fat 0.002g
    Sodium 89mg4%
    Potassium 5mg0%
    Carbohydrates 0.3g0%
    Fiber 0.1g0%
    Sugar 0.1g0%
    Protein 0.05g0%
    Vitamin A 400IU8%
    Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
    Calcium 3mg0%
    Iron 0.2mg1%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : American
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editor's Note: Originally Published May 18, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

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    More Sauces, Rubs, and Seasonings Recipes

    • Blue Cheese Compound Butter
    • All-Purpose Seasoning Recipe
    • BBQ Dry Rub for Ribs, Brisket, or Pulled Pork
    • How to Make Gravy from Scratch—Quick & Easy

    Reader Interactions

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    1. Vonnie

      August 03, 2019 at 9:21 pm

      5 stars
      Great flavor!! I added more heat and less salt but dang this was yummy! Thank you for this recipe!!

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        August 09, 2019 at 7:29 pm

        Hi Vonnie,

        Welcome to the blog and sorry for the delayed reply.

        I think of this as a great base recipe to make it what you need. I do just it a lot.

        Thanks for the note and rating. And again, sorry for the delayed response.

        Dan

    2. Sadrudeen

      January 25, 2019 at 4:48 pm

      We just back from NOLA. Loved it.
      Our best mid range restaurant is Oceana, 739conti in the French quarters

      Service was excellent
      Food quality was excellent
      Value was excellent
      Try it when u visit

      Reply
    3. Melissa

      November 15, 2017 at 11:27 pm

      Very tasty loved it, thanks again for sharing

      Reply
      • DrDan

        November 16, 2017 at 8:21 pm

        Thanks
        Dan

    4. Leslie

      June 26, 2016 at 10:15 pm

      How long will this keep?

      Reply
      • DrDan

        June 26, 2016 at 10:20 pm

        Hi Leslie
        I would keep it about 6 months like I do other spice mixes.

        Dan

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