Moroccan Spices – Live Laugh Love Do http://livelaughlovedo.com A Super Fun Site Thu, 09 Oct 2025 03:36:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 Easy Homemade Moroccan Spice Blend http://livelaughlovedo.com/easy-homemade-moroccan-spice-blend/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/easy-homemade-moroccan-spice-blend/#respond Thu, 09 Oct 2025 03:36:08 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/10/09/easy-homemade-moroccan-spice-blend/ [ad_1]

Moroccan spices are the perfect flavor addition for chicken thighs, roasted vegetables, and tomato-based stews. When I traveled to Morocco in college, I fell in love with the warm spices. I remember eating the most delicious tagine and Moroccan Chicken, yum!

Here’s how to make your own homemade Moroccan spice blend with 7 basic spices you probably already have!

Moroccan spices on a plate

What Makes This Seasoning Great

Any recipe is only as good a the spices in it. This Moroccan spice blend is packed with flavor and is a favorite in my kitchen for so many reasons.

  • This Moroccan seasoning is savory and slightly smoky. It has wonderful hints of cumin, ginger, and turmeric. It has a delicious balance.
  • It’s typically a beautiful orange in color thanks to the cumin, turmeric, chili powder, and cayenne.
  • I make a batch of this blend to keep at all times because it’s an easy way to add delicious flavor to the simplest meals.

“This was such a great rub. Can’t wait to make this in bulk and use this on more things! Thank you!”

-Christi

What spices are in a Moroccan spice blend?

All you need is 7 total ingredients for our homemade Moroccan spices, and you likely have all of these on hand already!

  • Cumin is a warm and earthy spice.
  • Turmeric pairs well with warm spices and adds gorgeous color to any meal.
  • Ginger powder is a warm and spicy ground spice.
  • Garlic powder is a savory and earthy spice that everyone loves.
  • Chili powder is an earthy and savory spice that can sometimes make spices a little spicy, depending on the freshness of the mix.
  • Cayenne powder is earthy and spicy.
  • Salt enhances all of the flavors of the other spices.
Moroccan spices on chicken thighs

How to Use Moroccan Spice Blend

I love using this spice blend to flavor simple things like simple vegetables or sauces. Below are more ways you can utilize this spice mix.

Chicken: I love making Moroccan chicken and have great recipes for Instant Pot Moroccan Chicken and a One-Pot Moroccan Chicken. These recipes call for chicken thighs, but you can easily use this blend for breasts, legs, and whole chicken. Use about 3 tablespoons of spices for 1.5 lbs. of chicken.

Other Meat: Try using a tablespoon or two with ground beef or turkey for a Moroccan twist on tacos or lettuce wraps!

Roasted Veggies: Sprinkle on a tablespoon or two over a pan of roasted veggies before you roast them for a delicious flavor boost.

Soup: This blend would be delicious in any soup or stew. I recommend using 2 tablespoons in our Sweet Potato Lentil Stew in place of the other spices it calls for.

How do I store this blend?

Store your spice blend in a glass container or jar in a cool, dark place.

spice jars.

Glass

Spice Jars

Organize your homemade spices with this empty glass spice jar set!

Inspiration for this Blend

This Moroccan spice blend is a simplified, pantry-friendly version of Ras el Hanout. Ras el Hanout is a traditional Moroccan spice blend.

What can I use if I don’t have Moroccan seasoning?

If you don’t have Moroccan seasoning, you can use a few teaspoons of any of the seasonings below mixed together.

  • garlic powder
  • turmeric powder
  • cayenne pepper
  • ginger powder
  • onion powder
  • ground cumin
  • chili powder

Which spices, herbs, and condiments are most commonly used in Moroccan cooking?

Moroccan cooking uses a variety of delicious dried herbs, fresh herbs, and condiments. Some commonly used fresh herbs are mint and thyme, and dried spices may consist of garlic, cumin, turmeric, cumin, and chili powder.

sautéed Moroccan chicken thighs

  • Place all ingredients into a small glass jar or container.

  • Mix until combined and seal tightly.

  • Use around 3 tablespoons of Moroccan spice blend per 1.5 lbs. of chicken breasts or thighs.
  • Yields: ~2 tablespoons

Calories: 19 kcal, Carbohydrates: 3 g, Protein: 1 g, Fat: 1 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 0 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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]]> http://livelaughlovedo.com/easy-homemade-moroccan-spice-blend/feed/ 0 Pappardelle with Spiced Butter http://livelaughlovedo.com/pappardelle-with-spiced-butter/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/pappardelle-with-spiced-butter/#respond Thu, 19 Jun 2025 03:41:12 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/06/19/pappardelle-with-spiced-butter/ [ad_1]

I spent the better part of the afternoon paging through Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Plenty. I’ve been a regular reader of his New Vegetarian column in the guardian.co.uk, and discovered the first Ottolenghi cookbook published by Ebury (2008) while traveling years ago. Like many of you, it has been a love affair with these recipes from the start.

Pappardelle with Spiced Butter

I decided to do a riff on Yotam’s Saffron Tagliatelle with Spiced Butter. It’s a pasta dish tossed with vibrant Moroccan-inspired spice butter made from a blend of eight spices – ginger, sweet paprika, cinnamon, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, and chile pepper two ways. I do a version here adding asparagus to the mix to work a seasonal vegetable onto the plate. Later in the year, broccoli, sautéed cabbage, and/or roasted winter squash could all be great alternatives. 

pappardelle with spiced butter in a serving bowl

Fresh vs. Dried Pasta

Yotam uses fresh, home-made saffron tagliatelle. Wanting to throw together something quick, I opted for a good-quality dried pappardelle I had on hand. You can go either way. Making this with homemade pappardelle would be an absolute treat.
tangles of dried pappardelle pasta
assortment of spices on a plate

Let’s talk spices…

On the spice front, you definitely get a good amount of heat from the cayenne pepper. If you tend to be sensitive scale back a bit, and then add more to your liking as you get on with the recipe. Pro-tip: double up on the spice blend. I’ve been using the extra in all sorts of things – from eggs to vinaigrettes. This recipe makes quite a good amount of the spiced butter. Use as much or as little of it as you like. You can always reserve any leftover for drizzling on potatoes, crepes, vegetables, etc. later in the week.

pappardelle with spiced butter in a serving bowl

Pappardelle with Spiced Butter: Variations

A good number of you have enjoyed this recipe and left notes for future cooks suggesting successful variations. Here are a few that caught my attention.

  • Rosalind noted, “my boyfriend and I just made this with green peas instead of asparagus and toasted sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts and it WORKED. Wonderful!”
  • Francoise cooked it on Friday evening. “It was beautiful, very satisfying and something different! I adopted it a little and it worked very well: used broccoli instead of asparagus, fresh ginger instead of powder, did not have turmeric and instead of buying the powder stuff simply omitted it. Found some beautiful fresh pappardelle from a good shop. Used a little cream cheese instead of cream, and somehow the combination of flavors were spot on.”
  • And for anytime you’re feeling cost-conscious, Kristina mentions, “I made an inexpensive version of this dish tonight. Pine nuts were $8, asparagus expensive and woody-so I subbed in slivered almonds toasted and 10 oz. baby spinach wilted in. Everything else kept the same. I ended up using almost all of the spiced butter to get the dish as spicy as I prefer so next time I’d use 1/2 stick of butter with the current amounts of spice and use it all! The saffron salt and the mint and parsley added just the right touch!”

pappardelle with spiced butter served on a wood table

More Pasta Recipes

Continue reading Pappardelle with Spiced Butter on 101 Cookbooks

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