Looking for ways to spice up your love life? Try an at-home dinner date! These 10 flavorful spices are great to cook with any time of the year and each adds a unique flavor to your dish that your date will love and appreciate. Because who doesn’t love satisfying, flavorful food?
Use these flavorful spices for your dinner!
Whether you’re planning on an appetizer, a side dish, or the main course, these first eight flavorful spices will be a great addition!
1. Garlic Powder
Garlic Powder is one of those classic, flavorful spices that everyone should have in their pantry! Garlic powder provides an easy way to add the taste of garlic to your favorite dishes without all the hassle of peeling and chopping. Use it to season dips, spreads, garlic bread, vegetable dishes, and soups.
2. Turmeric
This spice is known for its bright color! Turmeric is an ancient spice, a native of Southeast Asia, used as both a dye and a condiment. In fact, in India and the Middle East, it is used to tint many sweet dishes, including sfouf. Apart from its wide use in Moroccan cuisine to spice meat (particularly lamb) and vegetables, its principal place is in curries and curry powders, to which turmeric gives its beautiful golden color. Use this colorful and flavorful spice in stir-fried chicken, seafood, vegetables, curries, rice dishes, and sauces.
3. Chili Powder
Low in heat, high in flavor! Our Chili Powder is excellent for adding just the right amount of heat to any dish. Use it for seasoning blends, soups, stews, marinades, condiments, rubs, and of course, chili! There are also many varieties of powdered chilis and peppers. The spice experts at Old Town Spice Shop can help you pick the perfect pepper for your culinary creation!
4. Cayenne
Looking for a little more heat to add to your dish than our chili powder? Cayenne may be for you! Cayenne pepper is one of the most pungent varieties of chili peppers. Cayenne is great in chili, soups, and stews, or as a rub for meat. Want a spicy side dish for your date night? A bit of cayenne can give the right kick to homemade salsa. Or use it in melted chocolate for a delicious kick when making homemade chocolate-covered strawberries!
5. Italian Seasoning
Italian Seasoning is another kitchen staple you may want to use on your date night meal! Made with basil, marjoram, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and parsley, this seasoning sets the stage for robust flavor in any culinary creation. Since it has so many essential spices, it’s perfect for dressings, sauces, rubs, marinades, and sides, like these grilled potatoes!
6. Cumin
Fun fact: Cumin is one of the most-used spices across the globe! It has a warm, earthy aroma and a peppery flavor with citrus notes. If you don’t have it already, it’s time to add cumin to your collection of flavorful spices! We have it in both the ground and whole form.
7. Smoked Paprika
Smoked Paprika has a delicious robust aroma and flavor. Use smoked paprika in small quantities to add depth of flavor to a variety of dishes, including stews, casseroles, pasta dishes, and even pizza!
8. Curry Powder
Making curry for date night? Remember to purchase our Madras Curry Powder! Curry powder can be used for a lot more than just curry, though! Sprinkle it onto dal, a lentil soup popular all over South Asia. Or blend our curry powder with some melted butter and brush it on fish or potatoes before grilling or broiling.
Ready for dessert? Incorporate these flavorful spices!
Enjoying a delectable dessert after a delicious dinner is the best. These two flavorful spices are awesome in any dessert and will help sweeten the evening!
9. Cinnamon
Ceylon Cinnamon is from Sri Lanka with citrus and clove notes. This cinnamon is preferred in Europe and Mexico over Cassia Cinnamon. The light, intricate flavor of Ceylon cinnamon makes it the ideal cinnamon of choice for dishes that do not have a lot of conflicting flavors. Use our Ceylon cinnamon in desserts like custards, cinnamon ice cream, Dutch pears, and stewed rhubarb, for dessert syrups, or mixed into whipped cream.
10. Nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed of the fruit that grows on the tree Myristica fragrans. The oval-shaped seeds have a sweet, spicy flavor. Commonly used in sweet and savory foods, nutmeg blends well with other spices. Make gingerbread cookies (great any time of the year!), carrot cake, candied pecans, or sticky pudding.
Enjoy your elevated dinner date
A home-cooked meal is a great way to level up the romance, and with any of these ten flavorful spices, your recipes are sure to be a hit! Didn’t see one you’d like to try? Our website has over 170 options available. We think you’ll find something that you and your partner will love! Check out our website here to find even more flavorful spices to try.