Best Homemade Poultry Seasoning (DIY 5 Minutes)

This homemade poultry seasoning recipe adds a burst of deliciousness to vegetable dishes, elevating their flavor profile with a savory and aromatic blend of herbs and spices. Its versatility enhances the overall taste of dishes like roasted vegetables, casseroles, and hearty soups. Adding this seasoning will surely kick your culinary adventure up a notch!

Poultry seasoning mix sounds like a bizarre ingredient for a plant-based person to need, right? Yeah, I thought so too, but I recently found I needed it for a recipe I was working on and unfortunately at the time, I had nothing even remotely resembling a poultry seasoning in my spice rack.  

This hiccup in my menu plans caused me to decide that it was time to create my own DIY recipe.  I found that making poultry seasoning is quick and easy, and you probably already have everything you need for this fresh herbed recipe in your spice rack or cabinet and can have it ready to use in five minutes in recipes like sweet potato white bean soup and this poultry seasoning gravy. I now stand corrected; poultry seasoning is a MUST!

What is poultry seasoning?

Poultry seasoning mix is most commonly used to season both chicken and turkey. Our flavorful blend of poultry-seasoning herbs and spices is an unexpected seasoning mix necessity that will enhance countless numbers of your plant-based recipes like our golden gravy recipe and even crispy baked tofu.

What is the difference between an herb and a spice?

Poultry seasoning is a ground blend of herbs (and in case you’re like me and always wonder…according to Miriam Webster, most Americans pronounce it ‘erb’ …silent ‘h’) and spices. 

Herbs and spices come from different parts of the plant.  Herbs are generally leafy like mint, oregano, basil, parsley, and cilantro while spices are more likely to be roots, stems, seeds, fruit, bark, or flowers like cinnamon, ginger, garlic, dill seed, and anise. 

There are even a few plants that can host both herbs and spices. For example, cilantro (leaf) and coriander (seed) both come from the same plant.

This recipe is

• Inexpensive
• Plant-based
• Vegan
• Vegetarian
• Gluten-free
• Simple
• No fillers or GMOs
• Tailor to suit your tastes and dietary preferences

How to make poultry seasoning mix

To create your spice blend, collect all necessary ingredients and blend them together thoroughly. You can achieve a finely ground texture by using a mortar and pestle, or by pulsing them in a spice/coffee blender or food processor.

Be sure to store the blend in an airtight container to maintain freshness. OXO has a great 8 oz adjustable spice shaker for storage.

Poultry seasoning uses

Homemade poultry seasoning can be surprisingly versatile in vegan cooking! Sprinkle it on roasted vegetables for a savory kick or mix it into tofu scrambles for that familiar poultry flavor southern blend without the meat.

You can even add it to soups, sauces, bouillon, or marinades. Use it to enhance the depth of flavor in your plant-based dishes like beans, casseroles, gravies, veggie burgers and so much more!

Substitutions for poultry seasoning

If you find yourself in a position where you don’t have any poultry seasoning in the cupboard, and the spices needed for this DIY recipe are not on hand, there are a few options that can be substituted for it in a pinch as an alternative.

1. Dried thyme is a good substitute in a tight spot. This spice makes up a good portion of our poultry seasoning recipe, so it does a good job of mimicking the flavor profile.
2. Sage. Replacing poultry seasoning with dried sage is a simple solution, given its widespread availability in most spice collections. With its distinct herbal taste, sage enhances the inherent flavors of roasted poultry, creating a delightful culinary experience.
3. Rosemary boasts a unique flavor profile that complements a wide range of dishes. With its combination of woody and citrus hints, rosemary can enhance the taste of various culinary creations either on its own or when paired with other spices. When substituting rosemary for poultry seasoning, it’s recommended to use half the amount of dried rosemary compared to the quantity of poultry seasoning typically used.

Pro-Tips

• Keep it fresh. Spices give food flavor and aroma.  Whole spices will generally retain their flavor and potency significantly longer than herbs. Herbs and spices don’t necessarily go bad, but they do lose their potency over time.  To tell if your seasonings are fresh, just open them up and give them a sniff. If they don’t have much aroma, they won’t have much flavor, and it’s time to replace them.
• Customize. Making poultry seasoning at home gives you the flexibility of being able to adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes and dietary needs without added fillers and preservatives.
• Storage. This is a great recipe to double or triple to keep it on hand. Homemade poultry seasoning should be sealed in an airtight container and stored in a cool, dry, dark place like a cabinet or pantry. You can add corn or potato starch or a food-grade silica gel packet to the mix to prevent the herbs from hardening and clumping.  Poultry seasoning will maintain its freshness for about six months depending on the freshness of the spices you use.
• Spice it up. Take things in a spicier direction by using a bit of Creole seasoning, cayenne, or white pepper in the blend.
• Add-ins. Try adding other herbs and spices like dried lemon peel zest, dried mustard, or garam masala to add new dimensions to the flavor.

More homemade seasoning blends

• Easy Taco Seasoning Mix
• Savory Spice Blend
• Vegan Parmesan
• Homemade Bouillon
• Furikake Rice Seasoning

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