This flavorful Southwest Spice Blend is perfect for chicken, beef, and pork! Make your own southwest seasoning with spices from your pantry.
Looking for a new seasoning combination for your meat? Try using a southwest spice blend for a smoky, spicy flavor. You can use it as a marinade, a rub, or simply sprinkle it on your meats or vegetables.
What You’ll Find In This Post
Why We Love This Recipe
We love this recipe because spice blends save time in the kitchen which makes life easier. This southwest seasoning is a combination of eight spices. So you only have to grab one jar from the cupboard instead of eight!
Now that grilling season is upon us, we will be doing so much cooking outdoors. Mix up some southwest spice mix, garlic and herb seasoning, and Italian seasoning so your pantry is stocked. Then, when you are ready to prepare dinner, you can season your meat and vegetables with spice mixes, make marinades, and dry rubs.
What You’ll Need To Make Southwest Spice Blend
- Chili Powder: The main ingredient in chili powder is ground chili peppers, but it also includes cumin, oregano, garlic, and salt.
- Black Pepper: We added coarse ground black pepper for flavor and heat. If you prefer finely ground pepper, we suggest adding less than you would for coarse ground black pepper.
- Paprika: The paprika adds the flavors of sweet bell peppers to the mix. There isn’t an easy substitute for paprika. You can use other ground peppers, but keep in mind that they are hotter, so you’ll want to use much less.
- Onion Powder: This recipe uses onion powder to bring the taste of onions to the seasoning blend. You can use 4 1/2 tablespoons of dried minced onions instead of the onion powder for a chunkier texture.
- Garlic Powder: The garlic powder adds the pungent aroma and flavor of garlic. If you prefer using dried minced garlic, you can substitute 2 1/2 teaspoons of it for the garlic powder.
- Salt: The salt adds flavor and enhances the other flavors of the spice blend.
- Cumin: Ground cumin adds a warm, earthy flavor.
- Cayenne Pepper: The cayenne pepper adds a hot, spicy flavor. You can add more or less depending on how much heat you prefer.
How To Make Southwest Spice Blend
Making a southwest spice blend is super easy! All you have to do is decide how much you want to make, measure the spices, and mix them together!
Volume: Decide how much southwest seasoning you want to make. Our recipe makes 1/2 cup and fits in a 4-ounce spice jar. If you only need one tablespoon, you can scale the recipe down.
Measure: Use tablespoons and teaspoons to measure each seasoning into a bowl.
Mix: Stir the seasonings together until they are evenly combined.
Jar: Transfer the blend into a glass spice jar using a funnel.
Southwest Seasoning Label
We made a printable Southwest Seasoning label that you can glue to your spice jar. Save the label to your computer, print it, cut it out, and glue it to the front (or the top) of the glass jar.
Ways to Use
Southwest Spice Blend Marinade
McCormick Southwest Marinade was discontinued, but we’ve got a fabulous copycat recipe you can make using this Southwest Spice Blend. Use four tablespoons of the seasoning, 1/2 cup of olive oil, three tablespoons of vinegar, and one tablespoon of lime juice. Add one pound of chicken and marinate for 20-30 minutes before cooking the southwest chicken.
Southwest Dry Rub
You can also make a southwest dry rub from this spice blend. Combine four tablespoons of the seasoning mix with 2 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Rub the mixture over pork or chicken and refrigerate for 30 minutes before cooking.
Seasoned Vegetables
Place vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and bell peppers, on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil. Stir until they are evenly coated. Sprinkle with the southwest spice blend. Bake at 425˚F for 30-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until tender and browned.
How To Store Southwest Spice Blend
- Store the blend in an airtight glass container in a cool, dry pantry for up to a year, as long as you start with freshly opened spices.
- Otherwise, check the expiration date on each spice you add. The one with the earliest date would be the expiration date of the blend you create.
- Write the date on the bottom of the jar with a permanent marker.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is made up of a few different dried ground peppers, along with black pepper, salt, garlic, onion, and cumin.
Taco seasoning has similar ingredients but in different amounts.
Yes, you can use this seasoning blend as a substitute for a HelloFresh southwest spice blend packet. One packet contains one tablespoon of seasoning.
More Seasonings To Try
Italian Seasoning is a blend of dried herbs that is perfect for all of your Italian recipes, from crock pot spaghetti to chicken parmesan.
Make your own Poultry Seasoning mixture with only six ingredients. You can use it to season chicken and turkey!
Did you know that you can make Taco Seasoning? This flavorful blend is super handy to have on hand.
Everything But The Bagel Seasoning is delicious on everything from homemade bagels to air fryer chicken breasts.
Southwest Spice Blend
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoon chili powder
- 1 ½ tablespoon paprika
- 1 ½ tablespoon onion powder
- 1 ¼ tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ tablespoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon ground cumin
- ¼ tablespoon cayenne pepper (¼ tablespoon = ½ teaspoon + ¼ tsp)
Instructions
- Put all of the seasonings in a bowl and stir to combine.
- Use a funnel to transfer the seasoning blend into a glass spice jar.
- Store in a cool, dry place for up to one year.
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