5-Minute Ras El Hanout Spice Blend Recipe

This DIY recipe for Ras El Hanout, which translates to ‘top shelf’, is so good! The classic Moroccan spice blend comes together in just 5 minutes and makes a flavorful & versatile addition to many recipes. It’s a warm, pungent mix, pulling flavors of sweeter spices cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, while also incorporating savory spices like paprika, coriander, and cumin.

Ras el Hanout is a popular spice blend used across North Africa and in many authentic Moroccan recipes.

It’s known for it’s warming, earthy flavors and aromas. The blend combines subtle spice and sweetness along with complex earthy notes that adds a unique flavor profile wherever it’s used.

My dad and his friends used to joke about who’s family had the best blend, and we would often have multiple different combinations of the spice mix in our own pantry.

It’s a great mix to have on hand to use in tagines (like this vegetable tagine or beef tagine), on lamb chops, steak, chicken, roasted vegetables, or in tomato-based dishes (like this shakshuka or these stewed chickpeas).

Ingredients

Making Your Own Spice Blend

In general, using whole spices will result in a fresher, more flavorful end result. Because of this I encourage you to use as many whole spices as you can/have on hand.

Where to Use The Spice Blend

As mentioned above, there are a variety of different uses for this Moroccan spice blend. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Tagines – most Moroccan tagines will have their own specific spice blend depending on who you ask, but in general, this blend is the perfect catch all seasoning for tagines.
• Meat – this blend is to die for on red meat (especially lamb), chicken and even goes well with fish
• Veggies – this stuff has a way of bringing new depth to veggies and is really fun to sprinkle over some peppers, onions, and potatoes with olive oil before roasting

Here are some popular family recipes where we use ras el hanout:

Storing your spice mix

Store your ras el hanout blend in an air tight jar in your spice cabinet.

It should keep for up to 6 months if your spices are fresh.

Bismillah,

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