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Home » Recipes » Moroccan Recipes

Ras El Hanout Spice Mix

July 17, 2017 Updated February 25, 2021 by Lisa Goldfinger 8 Comments This post may contain affiliate links

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pinterest pin: ingredients for homemade ras el hanout spice mix

Ras el hanout is a fantastic North African spice blend, complex, warm and fragrant, with subtle heat. It takes just a few minutes to combine these eleven spices, most of which you probably have in house. There are so many good reasons to have a jar of Ras el hanout on hand. It's a delicious rub for beef, chicken or fish and a wonderful flavor base for soups, stews and marinades.

Ras el hanout is a fantastic North African spice mix that's super easy to make. There are so many good reasons to have a jar of Ras el hanout on hand. It's a fantastic rub for beef, chicken or fish and a wonderful flavor base for soups, stews and marinades | recipe by panningtheglobe.com

"Ras el hanout" is Arabic for "head of the shop," which refers to the fact that this mix of spices is top of the line, the best mix of spices in the shop. And I have to say, it's become the head of my spice cabinet. I've been fairly obsessed with it lately - rubbing it on lamb before grilling; mixing it into yogurt for marinating chicken; smearing it on eggplant before roasting.

So far, everything I've made with ras el hanout has been totally delicious. 

There is no definitive recipe for ras el hanout. Some mixes contain dozens of spices. Others have only a handful.

Certain spices are common to all mixes, such as cinnamon, cumin and ground ginger. I tested various combos of spices and I've come up a spice mix that I absolutely love.

Ras el hanout is a fantastic North African spice mix that's super easy to make. There are so many good reasons to have a jar of Ras el hanout on hand. It's a fantastic rub for beef, chicken or fish and a wonderful flavor base for soups, stews and marinades | recipe by panningtheglobe.com

If you want to test out your spice mix try this delicious Ras El Hanout Grilled Chicken Thighs Recipe. It's a simple marinade of yogurt, garlic, lemon and ras el hanout spice mix. The chicken comes out tender and scrumptious!

Ras El Hanout is the perfect mix of spices for flavoring Moroccan Tagines. Try it in this slow cooker chicken tagine recipe. Use 4½ teaspoons of  ras el hanout plus ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, in place of all the ground spices listed in the tagine recipe, and use only one cinnamon stick instead of two.

Here's the recipe for ras el hanout spice mix. If you make this I hope you'll come back to leave a review and let me know what you think.

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Recipe

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Ras el hanout is a fantastic North African spice mix that's super easy to make. There are so many good reasons to have a jar of Ras el hanout on hand. It's a fantastic rub for beef, chicken or fish and a wonderful flavor base for soups, stews and marinades | recipe by panningtheglobe.com

Ras El Hanout


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Lisa
  • Total Time: 5 mins
  • Yield: ½ cup 1x
Print Recipe

Description

A fragrant spice blend for rubbing on beef, chicken, fish or vegetables and for seasoning soups, stews, and marinades.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoon kosher salt or fine sea salt, optional
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions

  1. Mix all the spices together. Store in an airtight container in your spice cabinet.
  2. NOTE: For an even more spectacular flavor, toast and grind cumin seeds and coriander seeds before adding them to the mix and use freshly grated nutmeg.
  3. NOTE: If you're on a low-salt diet or if you prefer to salt your dish, to taste, you can omit the salt from this mix.
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Category: Spice
  • Method: no cook
  • Cuisine: North African

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this recipe, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on instagram with the hashtag #panningtheglobe

 

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    Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Chickpeas
  • ras el hanout grilled chicken thighs
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Filed Under: Africa, All Recipes, Moroccan Recipes, vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: dairy-free, gluten-free, spice mix

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

  1. Keith Jolley

    November 05, 2023 at 4:51 pm

    Great spice mix and recipes

    Reply
  2. Holly

    December 29, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    Would love to know what kind of paprika to use. Smoked, hot, sweet?

    Reply
  3. Tamar

    December 30, 2019 at 1:42 pm

    This mix rocks-- I even sprinkle it on my savory oatmeal for breakfast!

    Reply
  4. Ed

    February 19, 2018 at 2:16 am

    I just came upon this recipe a few weeks ago when another recipe I was using called for a spice rub. Wow - what a great combination of flavors! Thanks for posting - it was the star of the chicken dish I made.

    Reply
  5. Brook

    July 19, 2017 at 8:29 am

    Yeah, well....if you want those special powers you need to add things like ash berries, Spanish fly, and grains of paradise to the mix. ;>)

    Reply
    • Lisa

      July 19, 2017 at 4:13 pm

      🙂

      Reply
  6. Brook

    July 19, 2017 at 6:05 am

    So glad you've discovered Ras El Hanout, Lisa. It's been my go-to spice mix for years. My mix contains 15 ingredients. Original Moroccan versions use as many as 50.

    British colonialists were fascinated with Ras el Hanout, because many of the ingredients were said to be aphrodisiacs.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      July 19, 2017 at 7:32 am

      Hi Brook! Yes, I'm glad I discovered it too. I've been trying it on so many things - all delicious. And if it's got other special powers beyond just great flavors, all the better!

      Reply

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