Old Bay seasoning is a blend of herbs and spices, most often used to season seafood. Buying pre-made spice blends is the convenient and easy way to prepare meals in our hectic schedules. I totally agree! I would just buy them too, especially if the seasoning has ingredients that are not normally in my pantry. Old Bay seasoning is easily available in the US, Canada and some other countries. However, it may not be so everywhere. This recipe for homemade Old Bay Seasoning is useful if you can’t get hold of the seasoning at your local market, or need to alter the proportions to suit your taste or dietary requirements (like salt intake, for example), or just simply run out of it in the middle of cooking and cannot drive to the store right away.
Origin of Old Bay Seasoning
If you have noticed, most of of my recipe posts have a story – either from history, or sometimes from my own life. I love to hear and talk about stories behind food. If I taste something new, I read up on its background! So now, it’s old bay seasoning story time peeps! Read on 🙂
Long ago in Germany, there was a Jewish man named Gustav Brunn, who had a wholesale spice and seasoning business. When Germany came under the Nazi rule, he was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. His family managed to get him out of there by paying a hefty amount of money. Brunn and his family escaped to the US as quickly as they could.
When they moved to Baltimore in Maryland, the family didn’t have very many things to call their own – they had to leave behind most of their belongings. However, Brunn had held onto a small spice grinder – his prized possession from home. After a short stint of work at McCormick & Company, he started his own spice business. He used the spice grinder he brought with him from Germany to make a blend of spices that he named ‘Delicious Brand Shrimp and Crab seasoning’. The spice blend was later renamed ‘Old Bay’ after the passenger ship line ‘Old Bay Line’. The seasoning went on to become one of the most popular spice blends of the region!
Interestingly, in 1990, McCormick & Co purchased the rights to the brand. They continue to use the original recipe and have added more products under the Old Bay banner.
How to make Old Bay Seasoning
The original recipe of the seasoning is a secret well guarded by the makers. However, many copycats have attempted to recreate it in their kitchens and there are different versions of the recipe you can see online. They are not the same as the original, but taste pretty similar. The recipe in this post is the result of my attempts at making the seasoning with spices that were already in my pantry, and jotting down the measurements that worked for me. All you have to do is measure the ingredients, dump, mix and store! Easy peasy!
Some of the spices used in this seasoning, namely bay leaves, green cardamom, cloves and black peppercorns – I mostly don’t buy in ground form from stores. Since I make food from different cuisines, having whole spices gives me the freedom to mix and match to create blends from global cuisine as well as when the recipe calls for whole spices, like in Indian cuisine. To grind whole spices, I toast them on low heat to remove any moisture, then cool and grind.
What can you use Old Bay Seasoning for?
As the producers of the seasoning proudly say:
“There are two things you need to know about Old Bay seasoning: 1) It’s great on seafood. 2) It’s great on everything else!”
Old Bay seasoning is most often used to season seafood. Here are some other great ideas to use the seasoning:
- Sprinkle on tacos, pizza and bread sticks.
- Sprinkle on pita chips, potato chips, pop corn, tortilla chips, nachos, crackers, french fries, and corn on the cob.
- Blend with sour cream for a veggie dip.
- Blend with cream cheese for a spicy sandwich spread.
- Season roasted, baked or grilled vegetables.
- Sprinkle on fried chicken.
- Mix with lemon juice or vinegar and a bit of oil to make a marinade for meat, seafood, or portobello mushrooms.
- Add to baked beans and serve with jacket potato.
- Use as a substitute for Seafood Boil Mixture like I did in my Louisiana Seafood Boil.
What’s your favourite way to use Old Bay seasoning? Share them with us by commenting below!
Homemade Old Bay Seasoning Recipe
Ingredients
- 24 Bay leaves
- 60 Cloves
- 10 pods Green Cardamom
- 6 tsp Black peppercorns
- 6 tbsp Celery salt
- 4 tsp Ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp Ground Dry ginger
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 2 tsp Dry Red Chilli flakes
- 6 tsp Dry mustard
Instructions
- Place the whole spices (bay leaves, cloves, green cardamom and black peppercorns) in a coffee or spice grinder, and grind till they turn into a smooth powder.
- Then add the remaining spices and blend / grind once more till they are all mixed well. Or, simply dump all the ground spices together in a bowl and mix well using a spoon.
- Transfer the spice blend to an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place.
Notes
- If you don’t have celery salt or would like less salt, you can substitute 2 tsp of celery salt with 1 tsp of one of the following and add salt to your preference:
- Celery seeds
- Dill seeds
- Caraway seeds / shahi jeera
- Nigella sativa / black cumin / kalonji (found in Indian grocery stores)
- If in a humid country, dry roast the whole spices for a minute on low flame to remove any moisture, and cool them before grinding for longer shelf life.
Wow, I didn’t know that’s what was in Old Bay seasoning. I much prefer mixing my own spice blends at home by grinding whole spices too. Will give this mixture a try!
Do try! I hope you like it as much as we do! 🙂
I love making my own seasoning blends. This is fantastic!
Glad you liked this blend, Vanessa! Cheers!
I had no idea where Old Bay seasoning originally came from! Glad you shared the story – and glad you shared your recipe! It’s a great blend, and while it might be impossible to learn the original secret recipe, I’m a firm believer in homemade spice blends. Cheers!
A seasoning blend with a touching history, right..I’m glad you liked reading about it. Oh yes, homemade spice blends are awesome 🙂
We love Old Bay seasoning and I have always wondered about making my own. I can’t wait to give this a try! Thanks for sharing the history, too.
Please do try! I love how we can adjust the salt content to suit our health choices and taste preferences – that’s what I like most about homemade seasonings! Hope you like it too 🙂
ahh i love mixing my own seasoning cuz I know exactly what goes into it vs store bought! Thanks for the recipe! this will come in handy fo crab pot
Yes, it’s perfect for crab pot! Enjoy! 🙂