What Are Pickling spices and How Can I Use Them?
Here's everything worth knowing about pickling spices and how to pick them, what they are, how to store them, and what to use instead, plus 82 recipes to cook tonight.
Key Points
- Whole-spice blend, usually mustard seed, allspice, bay, peppercorn, coriander, and clove, for pickling brines.
- Add about a tablespoon per quart to hot vinegar brine, then strain or bag it.
- Beyond pickles it seasons corned beef, shrimp boils, braises, and pot roasts.
- Do not over-steep; cloves and cinnamon turn a brine bitter if left for days.
- Whole and sealed it keeps two to three years; replace it once the aroma fades.
What are pickling spices?
Pickling spice is a blend of whole and broken spices made to flavor a pickling brine. There is no single fixed recipe, but most jars share a common backbone: mustard seed and allspice, bay leaf and black peppercorn, plus coriander and a few cloves.
Beyond that base, blends often add dill seed and ginger, along with mace and a stick of cinnamon, sometimes crushed chili or a little cardamom. The spices are left whole on purpose, so they steep their flavor into the liquid without clouding it or turning it muddy.
The result is warm and peppery, slightly sweet, with a little heat. It is the flavor you taste in a good jar of bread-and-butter pickles or a pot of corned beef.
How to Use It
Its home turf is the pickle jar. Add a tablespoon or so per quart to the hot vinegar brine, simmer briefly to release the oils, then pour it over your cucumbers or beets.
You see this at work in Sweet Gherkin Pickles and Company Best Pickles, where the blend carries the whole flavor of the brine. Pickled Beets & Cucumbers leans on it the same way, and Pickled Eggs - Pub Style steeps eggs in a spiced vinegar built on it.
It reaches well beyond pickles. A spoonful tied in cheesecloth is the classic seasoning for corned beef and a shrimp or crawfish boil, and it deepens braises and pot roasts.
Many cooks bundle the spices in a tea ball or cheesecloth so they are easy to fish out before serving. Whole seeds left loose can be unpleasant to bite into.
Cooking and Common Mistakes
Pickling spice loves vinegar, sugar, onion, garlic, and dill. It pairs naturally with cucumbers, beets, carrots, eggs, and cured meats, and it gives sweet pickle recipes a rounded, mulled-spice warmth.
The biggest mistake is letting it steep too long. Cloves and cinnamon especially can turn a brine bitter and overpowering if left in for days, so most recipes remove the bundle or strain the spices once the brine has taken on flavor.
The other common slip is using stale, old spices. A blend that has sat open for years has lost its volatile oils, so your pickles taste flat no matter how long they cure.
Give the jar a sniff. It should smell bright and pungent, not faint.
Substitutes
If you have no blend on hand, mix your own. A workable batch is two tablespoons mustard seed, a tablespoon each of coriander and dill seed, a teaspoon each of allspice and peppercorns, plus a couple of bay leaves and a few cloves, with a broken cinnamon stick.
For a smaller, simpler stand-in, combine mustard seed and a bay leaf with a few peppercorns and a pinch of allspice. That covers the core flavors of most blends.
Mulling spices can fill in for sweet pickles since they carry the same cinnamon and clove and allspice notes, though they skew sweeter and lack the mustard and dill. Add a little mustard seed to balance them out.
Buying and Storing
You will find pickling spice in the spice aisle, usually near the canning supplies in summer. Brands differ, so glance at the ingredient list and pick one whose balance suits you, since some lean hot with chili while others lean sweet with cinnamon.
Like all whole spices, the blend keeps far longer than ground spice. Stored in a sealed jar away from heat and light, it holds good flavor for two to three years, though it is freshest in the first year.
Keep it in an airtight container in a cool, dark cupboard, not above the stove where heat and steam wear it down fast.
If the aroma has faded to almost nothing, it is past its prime, and a fresh batch will give you far better pickles.
Quick facts
Where to find pickling spices: Pickling spices are usually found in the spices section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.
- In Chinese
- 酸洗香料
- British (UK) term
- Pickling spices
- en français
- épices de décapage
- en español
- especias de decapado
Recipes using pickling spices
There are 82 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Red Tomato Marmalade
Red tomato marmalade simmers fresh tomatoes with cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pickling spices into a tart-sweet preserve. Old-fashioned condiment that pairs beautifully with ham, cheese, or sandwiches.
Fourth of July Ketchup
Kick up your Independence or Flag day celebration an extra notch by making your own home-made ketchup (catsup) to make your barbecued hot dogs and burgers extra special. This is an easy way to really impress your friends and family and it's much better tasting than store bought varieties.
14-Day Sweet Pickles
Old-fashioned 14-day sweet pickles canned at home. A traditional brine-and-syrup method that builds crisp sweet-tart [cucumbers](/recipes/cucumber) over two weeks, finished with celery seed and pickling spice.
Company Best Pickles
These heirloom sweet pickles are worth the 8-day wait. Crisp cucumber coins bathe in a spiced vinegar-sugar brine for that old-fashioned crunch your grandma swore by.
Sweet Gherkin Pickles
Sweet gherkin pickles: classic four-day pickling process for whole baby cucumbers with sugar, vinegar, turmeric, and pickling spices. Crunchy sweet-tart canned pickles for the pantry.
Soused Herrings with Lemon
Classic British soused herrings slow-baked in a tangy bath of white wine vinegar, lemon juice, Marmite, and pickling spices. Served cold as a traditional pub-style appetizer.
Scandinavian Fish Salad
Scandinavian herring salad with pickled fish strips, crisp apple slices, sour cream, Dijon mustard, and malt vinegar marinade. A classic Nordic appetizer served chilled on lettuce.
Fried Venison Heart
Fried venison heart marinated overnight in red wine, vinegar, and pickling spices, then dredged in flour and pan-fried in butter. A hunter's classic for nose-to-tail wild game cooking.
Kosher Garlic Dills
Homemade kosher garlic dill pickles with a spiced vinegar brine, bay leaf, mustard seed, and fresh dill. A classic canning recipe that yields 7 pints of crunchy pickles.
Brined Dills
Old-fashioned brined dill pickles fermented in a crock with pickling spices, vinegar, and fresh dill. Crunchy, tangy homemade pickles worth the three-week wait.
Sauced Shrimp
Sauced shrimp with poached shrimp in pickling-spice broth, then simmered in white wine and tomato sauce with grated onion. The Mediterranean-style shrimp dinner served over rice.
Tomato Pickles
Tomato pickles cook down ripe tomatoes with apples, pears, peaches, and onions in a spiced vinegar syrup. A sweet-tart relish for the canning jar, classic farmhouse preserve.
Honey-And-Spice Glaze
Honey and lemon glaze with crushed pickling spices for ham, poultry, or pork roasts. Four ingredients, 15 minutes, and a sweet-tart-spicy coating that caramelizes beautifully.
Stone Jar Pickles
Old-fashioned stone crock pickles made over 15 days with a salt brine, alum soak, spiced vinegar cure, and sugar layering. A heritage pickling method that produces crisp, sweet pickles that keep indefinitely.
Fruit Chili Relish
Fruit chili relish combines tomatoes, peaches, apples, onions, and red peppers cooked down with pickling spices and cider vinegar. A sweet-tangy preserve for canning.
Fig Pickles for Gourmets
Fig pickles made from dried California figs simmered in apple cider vinegar, sugar, and pickling spices. Includes a herb pairing guide so the pickles complement turkey, beef, lamb, fish, or pork.
Pastramized Beef
Homemade pastrami from beef brisket cured for 3 weeks with salt, pickling spices, and black pepper, then smoked low and slow. A true from-scratch charcuterie project.
Sugar & Spice Salmon
Gin-marinated smoked salmon with brown sugar, pickling spices, and star anise. Bruised spices create complex flavor in this 2-hour cold-smoke recipe.
Acapulco Chicken
Get in on the fun of cooking chicken with this scrumptious recipe that uses jalapeno peppers and pickling spices.
Grandma's Pickled Red Onions
Grandma's quick pickled red onions, ready in 30 minutes after a hot-water blanch tames their sharp bite. A bright-pink tangy refrigerator pickle for tacos, sandwiches, salads, and burgers.
Fish Cakes No. 1
These scrumptious fish cakes are made out of bread crumbs, potatoes and pickling spices. Great on it's own or with a meal!
Striped Bass Escabeche with Bell Peppers & Green Beans
Sauteed striped bass escabeche marinated in white wine, sherry vinegar, and citrus with bell peppers, green olives, and crisp green beans. A stunning make-ahead dish.
Fresh Artichokes with Mustard Sauce
Microwave-steamed globe artichokes with a zesty mustard dipping sauce made with brown mustard, Italian dressing mix, Worcestershire, and hot sauce.
Icycle Pickles
Icycle pickles are old-fashioned 14-day sweet crock pickles with a glassy crisp bite. Cucumber spears soak through brine, alum, and a daily-reheated cider vinegar syrup with pickling spices.
Glazed Barbecued Beef Brisket
Glazed barbecued beef brisket simmered fork-tender then finished on the grill with your choice of three glazes: honey-spice, apple-mustard, or apricot. A two-stage method for smoky, glossy brisket.
Green Tomato Catsup
Green tomato catsup made with apples, cabbage, bell peppers, and hot chilies in a tangy vinegar brine with pickling spices. A classic big-batch canning recipe for end-of-season tomatoes.
Ground Turkey Tacos
Slow cooker ground turkey tacos with mushrooms, tomato paste, white wine, and pickling spices, topped with a homemade yogurt cream sauce with nutmeg.
Pickled Pink Egg Appetizers
Pickled pink eggs tinted with beet juice and brined in a vinegar-pickling-spice mix with garlic and bay leaf. Classic pub-snack or potluck appetizer that gets better the longer it sits. Just six ingredients.
Garlic Dill Pickles- Country Living
Canned garlic dill pickles with pickling spices, dill seed heads, red chili peppers, and a sweet-salty vinegar brine. Water bath processed for shelf-stable storage that improves over two months.
Garlic Half Sour Dill Pickles
Garlic half-sour dill pickles: classic New York deli-style fermented cucumbers with garlic, dill, and pickling spice. Just 2 weeks to crisp, lightly sour pickles at home.
Pickled Blueberries
Pickled blueberries in a sweet cider vinegar brine with cinnamon and pickling spices. Refrigerator pickles that are ready after an overnight soak.
Pickled Tuna with Sour Cream
Pickled tuna salad with sour cream, red wine vinegar, pickling spices, lemon slices, and thinly sliced onions. A tangy, creamy chilled tuna appetizer or salad.
Pickeled Jalapenos
Six-ingredient pickled jalapenos packed whole into jars and sealed in a vinegar-olive oil brine with pickling spice. Simple Texas-style pickled peppers ready in 30 days.
Deli Brisket Bake
Deli brisket bake, a Reuben-inspired oven dinner where brisket slow-roasts in foil with mustard and pickling spice, then gets topped with sauerkraut and bubbling Swiss under the broiler.
Sweet Cucumber Chunks
These are best if they sit for a month or so after canning, to give them time to work
Surprise Spareribs
Surprise your spareribs with this simple recipe that uses pickling spices and prepared mustard.
Quick Fresh-Pack Dill Pickles
Quick fresh-pack dill pickles canned in pint jars with mustard seed, dill heads, and a hot vinegar brine. The classic American summer canning project, no fermenting required.
Acapulco Chicken (En Escabeche)
Spice up your chicken with this wonderful recipe that uses yellow bell peppers, rice wine vinegar and jalapeno peppers.
Chutney in The Raw
The variety of spices in this recipe help create a wonderful aroma in the kitchen. Can be used in place of any seasoning or marinade!
El Charro Barbacoa
El Charro Barbacoa, shredded slow-simmered beef brisket (or eye of round) layered with roasted green chile, chile colorado salsa, green olives, tomatoes and jalapenos. Tucson-style barbacoa with bright, complex heat.
Rosy Pickled Eggs
Rosy pickled eggs colored bright magenta by canned pickled beet juice and seasoned with vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, and pickling spice. The classic diner counter snack with Pennsylvania Dutch roots, ready after a 3 to 4 day fridge cure.
Sweet Gerkins
Homemade sweet gherkins the old-fashioned way: a 4-day process of soaking, brining, and building layers of spiced vinegar-sugar syrup. Turmeric, cinnamon, and celery seed. Water bath canned for the pantry.
Eight-Day Bread & Butter Pickles
Old-fashioned eight-day bread and butter pickles made in a crock with cucumbers soaked in boiling water, then cured in a sweet vinegar syrup reheated daily for extra crunch.
Pickled Spiced Eggs
Spiced pickled eggs in white vinegar brine with dried red chilies, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and pickling spice. Refrigerator-method bar snacks ready in two days.
Pickled Asparagus
Homemade pickled asparagus spears with garlic, hot chile peppers, and pickling spice in a tangy brine. Crisp, spicy, and shelf-stable for months.
Greek Beef Stifado
This Greek beef stew is packed with flavors. Enjoy it with some Greek pilaf or pita bread with a Greek chop vegetable and feta salad.
Pickled Meats
Old-fashioned pickled beef tongue or pork cured with salt, pickling spices, brown sugar, and garlic. Dry-rubbed and refrigerated for weeks, then simmered low and slow until fork-tender.
Herring Pickled
Pickled herring in a sour cream and vinegar marinade with sweet onions. Old-world Scandinavian smorgasbord classic that gets better after a day or two in the fridge.
Robb's Bread & Butter Pickles
Bread and butter pickles with thin-sliced cucumbers and onions brined with salt and ice, then packed in a sweet-sour brown sugar, cider vinegar, mustard, and turmeric syrup.
Sweet Pickled Beaver
Traditional Canadian sweet pickled beaver brined overnight, simmered with pickling spices, then roasted under a sticky glaze of brown sugar, dry mustard, cinnamon, white wine, and pineapple juice. Wild game cooking at its finest.
