Homemade Ras el Hanout Recipe

By
Jennifer Olvera
Jennifer Olvera is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Jennifer Olvera
Jennifer Olvera is a Chicago-based food writer and cookbook author who has written eight cookbooks and contributed to Serious Eats, the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and others.
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Updated Aug. 30, 2018
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Jennifer Olvera

A slew of North African spices combine to make a fragrant, exotic mixture. Whether used as a grill rub, when pan-frying fish or as the foundation for tagine, diverse, distinctive ras el hanout is worth the investment and effort to make.

Note: Though this heady Moroccan spice blend can be purchased at ethnic markets and online at Amazon.com, there's something particularly rewarding about making it from scratch.

Recipe Facts

Active: 5 mins
Total: 5 mins
Serves: 16 servings
Makes: 1 cup

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Ingredients

  • One 3-inch cinnamon stick, broken

  • 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds

  • 1 teaspoon whole cubeb pepper

  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds

  • 10 green cardamom pods

  • 1 teaspoon whole allspice berries

  • 8 whole cloves

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried anise seeds

  • 1 teaspoon fresh-grated nutmeg

  • 1 tablespoon, plus 1/2 teaspoon, sweet paprika, divided use

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1 teaspoon ground mace

  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  • 1 teaspoon dried rosebud petals

  • 1 teaspoon lavender

Directions

  1. Add cinnamon, peppercorns, coriander seeds, cubeb, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, allspice berries, cloves, and anise seed to a dry skillet set to medium-low heat. Lightly toast until fragrant and a shade darker, shaking so spices don’t burn (about two minutes). Cool slightly and remove cardamom seeds from pods by tapping with something heavy, such as a pestle. Discard pods.

  2. Add remaining ras el hanout spices and toasted spices to a small coffee grinder used only for grinding spices. Pulse the grinder to get things started, and let it run until the mixture is ground into a fine powder. Store in an airtight jar in a dark, cool place until ready to use.

Special equipment

Coffee grinder for spice-use only, pestle

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
9 Calories
0g Fat
2g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 16
Amount per serving
Calories 9
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 2mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 2g 1%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg 2%
Calcium 14mg 1%
Iron 1mg 4%
Potassium 41mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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