These are my ‘secret weapon’ ingredients for making my simple recipes taste AMAZING with only a handful of ingredients.
At the risk of giving away all my secrets you’ll notice that all my recipes include at least one (or more) of these.
ROAST NUTS
Walnuts
Almonds
Peanuts
Cashews
Pine Nuts
Pecans
Pistachios
Macadamias
Hazelnuts
SEEDS
Sesame Seeds
Pepitas
Sunflower Seeds
Linseeds (Flax Seeds)
SPRINKLES
Chilli Flakes
Sea Salt Flakes
Dukkah
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese spice blend)
Furakake (Another Japanese sprinkle)
Magic Crunchy Smoky Sprinkle
Za’atar (Middle Eastern Spice Blend)
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Gremolata
Toasted Coconut Flakes or Shredded
CITRUS
Lemon Zest
Lemon Juice
Lime Juice
Lime Zest
Preserved Lemon
SAUCES
Worcestershire Sauce
Pesto
Hummus
Tabasco
Mayonnaise
Soy Sauce
Miso Paste
Dijon Mustard
See my A-Z of Sauces for the complete list.
CHEESE
Parmesan
Feta
Goats Cheese
Blue Cheese
LEAFY HERBS
Flat Leaf Parsley
Mint
Basil
Coriander (Cilantro)
Chives
Tarragon
CURED MEAT
Bacon
Proscuitto
Ham
Salami
Chorizo
DELI
Olives
Capers
Anchovies
Sun Dried Tomato
Artichoke Hearts
FRUIT
Dried Cranberries
Dried Apricot
Prunes
Dates
Raisins / Sultanas
Sliced Apple
Sliced Pear
Figs (fresh or dried)
Raspberries
Blueberries
Sliced Peach
UMAMI / SAVOURY FLAVOUR
Nutritional Yeast
Tomato Powder
Mushroom Powder
Onion Powder
Granulated Garlic
Umami Powder
MSG
Anchovies
Parmesan Cheese
What about you?
Have any flavour-exploding ingredients you love? Share below – I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.
This is a super cool list! Great to have on hand.
Maybe it seems obvious, but having kosher salt and freshly ground pepper on hand always improves nearly any dish and I feel like it also elevates the perceived “level” of the dish – as in a higher level of restaurant than it would be with “plain” salt-and-peppa. Paprika, too, can improve many meals in my book at least, as can rosemary.
The other day I also made a recipe with dill and that just exploded my taste buds. I’m an Israeli who is allergic to tahini/sesame and therefore to most commercially available hummus, but I love me my middle eastern Tzaziki – which is really just dill and cucumbers in yogurt…!
Tapenade (olive paste) is another good one and can go with sun dried tomatoes a la Megan’s suggestion.
I would also add jalapeño to the list – I’m not a big fan of spicy and can’t tolerate anything above mild spice, but I’m finding that a small bit of jalapeño to enrich otherwise boring sauces is a really great to elevate many dishes without burning my mouth.
Thanks for your additions Shiri!
I’ve been getting into dill lately too – so good!
And if you ever wanted a more hummus vibe – mixing some almond butter (or other nut butter that you aren’t allergic to) into the taziki would be really delicious
Ooh thanks, interesting!!
Good evening, I love to combine softened butter with anchovies and sun dried tomatoes. A little of this on veggies or favourite meat is really yummy ?
ooh yum – thanks for sharing Megan 🙂
Hey Jules ? when you use roast nuts, do you roast them yourself or do you buy them roasted. I am having trouble finding roast nuts (I am in Australia). If you roast them yourself, how do you do it? I just put them in the pan on high heat, but not sure whether that’s the best way? If you buy them, could you please point me in the right direction where to get them? Thank you!
I generally roast my own apart from cashews which I get roasted from Aldi. Actually Aldi are amazing for nuts – worth a trip.
I roast them in the oven: https://simplemealplans.mystagingwebsite.com/2020/09/go-to-roast-nuts/
So fun!
Great – thank you Jules! As a German, I buy most of my groceries at Aldi anyhow (in addition to my local veggie box), so will check out the nuts too. Thanks also for the link on how to roast the nuts ?
Aldi nuts are amazing – and brilliant value. I actually costed out getting aldi nuts v’s buying in 10kg boxes from a bulk place and the Aldi was better value.
And they have special runs of 1kg packs occasionally which are even cheaper. So fun!