When cooking, the substitutes would always come to your rescue whenever you run out of a particular ingredient. But, choosing suitable replacements is crucial since the wrong ones could ruin the taste of an entire dish. Therefore, we will be sharing the seven best allspice substitutes that you could easily find in your spice cabinet.
Allspice is a spice that comprises the flavor of several other flavorings. But that doesn’t imply you can go ahead and substitute any spice in place of that. The best allspice substitutes include:
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix
- Apple Pie Spice Blend
- Chinese Five-Spice Mix
- A blend of cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon
So, read till the end to learn how these allspice alternatives could help you when you don’t have the original ingredient at home.
7 Best Allspice Substitutes
Cooking substitutes should be versatile. In fact, they should have easy access and get along well with the other ingredients you use in your dish.
You might have seen and heard of allspice substitutes on the internet before, but we hope to share the best out of best in this article. As mentioned above, allspice is a flavoring that comprises flavors of three spices- cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Thus, when you choose a substitute for allspice, the taste should be similar even though it would not give the exact flavor. With regard to this particular spice, the game won’t be as challenging as you think it would be!
You can easily count on a few single spices and spice mixes that would provide a very similar taste to allspice.
Check out these allspice substitutes that will make your cooking process more comfortable. And read through to learn how and when to use them with quantities.
Whole Spice Substitutes
01- Cinnamon
Cinnamon is probably the best substitute that you could use in place of allspice. Since it is a staple in many kitchens, you can count on it anytime when you don’t have allspice in your spice cabinet.
Cinnamon, in fact, is very similar to the chemical elements of that of allspice. And you have the versatility in using it with many sweet and savory dishes.
Allspice is earthy, warm, and adds profoundness to the food it calls for. And cinnamon, on the other hand, does the same or more! You can use any type of cinnamon that you have with you at the moment.
However, allspice has a slight peppery tang, while cinnamon does not have it. Therefore, especially when you replace cinnamon with allspice in savory dishes, you will have to add a little bit of black pepper to counterbalance the flavor.
The measurements would be much easier when if you use this spice in ground form. So simply, if you are using half a teaspoon of ground allspice in a particular recipe, you can replace cinnamon with the same amount.
02- Cloves
Cloves are another spice you will hardly run out of in your spice rack. If you are keen on trying diverse types of meat dishes, then this spice could obviously be a staple in your kitchen.
Out of the three flavor notes that allspice has, cloves in another feature, making it already an allspice alternative. Just like cinnamon, you can use both whole cloves and ground cloves, depending on the recipes they call for.
For example, if a specific recipe calls for whole allspice berries, you can use whole cloves. And if a dish includes ground allspice, then you can use powdered cloves.
But, it would help if you bear in mind that the flavor of cloves is much more robust and distinctive. When compared with the taste of allspice, they have a more bitter and astringent bite.
If you would mind spending a minute or two to learn everything about allspice, we have a thoroughly researched article right here.
Accordingly, if you are using one teaspoon of ground allspice, you can use half a teaspoon of ground cloves. And, if a certain recipe calls for four allspice berries, you can include only two clove pods. So, when cloves are incorporated in a meal in place of allspice, remember to use a bit less. In this way, you can avoid cloves overpowering the overall taste of your dish.
And when it comes to sweet dishes or baked goods, you will have to be extra careful not to add too many cloves. But, on the plus side, cloves can give an intricate depth to the beverages like hot apple cider vinegar or mulled wine when used instead of allspice.
03- Nutmeg
This spice really deserves to have a third place on our list because the other featuring flavoring of allspice is nutmeg. Just like allspice, it is a warm spice that enhances the flavor of your dish with powerful flavor. This spice also can be used in many sweet and savory dishes, as you do with allspice.
Nutmeg is a readily available spice as whole or ground. But, unlike whole allspice berries, nutmeg is not usually as a whole in food. Therefore, ground nutmeg would be your best bet if you need to use it in place of allspice. In fact, ground nutmeg is a perfect addition, especially with baked goods, sweet dishes, and beverages.
However, this spice, too, contains the same ability to overpower the taste of an overall dish when added too much, just like cloves. So consequently, you will have to be careful with h the quantities when dealing with this spice too.
Moreover, it does not contain the peppery bite that allspice has since it is more nutty and woodsy. So, when substituting into the savory dishes, you will have to accompany nutmeg with a bit of black pepper. However, this will not be an issue in sweet dishes.
Accordingly, when you use nutmeg in place of allspice, you will have to do the same as we suggested you do with cloves. So, for instance, If a recipe calls for one teaspoon of ground allspice, you can go ahead and replace it with half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
Spice Mix Substitutes
Let us remind you if in case you have forgotten- allspice is amazing! We brought up this fact in this section because allspice could even be substituted with a few spice blends due to its complex flavor profile.
So, just check your spice cabinet to see if you have these spice blends at home. And if you do, you win!
04- Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix
You already know that pumpkin pie spice mix does not contain pumpkin as the name suggests. It is a flavorful blend of warming spices that basically include:
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Ginger
Whether you buy it from the store or make it at home, the chances are high that allspice is included in the pumpkin pie spice recipe.
Therefore, it makes a good reason why this spice blend could be a suitable allspice substitute. And, even if it doesn’t contain allspice, still other spices can do the trick! This could actually be even better than using allspice alone in certain dishes since it has many other warm and pungent spices.
In short, the pumpkin pie spice mix will closely resemble the flavor profile of allspice, and you are free to employ it with any sweet or savory recipe. But, you will not get the peppery bite in this mix that you would get in allspice. Therefore, when you substitute allspice with this spice blend in savory dishes, it would be best if you could add a bit of black pepper to get the taste.
As mentioned before, pumpkin pie spice mix can be easily purchased from the store, or simply you can get the requested spiced put together!
You would have not known that pumpkin pie spice is also can be used as a Garam Masala substitute. If you need to learn more replacements, just tap here and refer to our comprehensive Garam Masala substitute article.
05- Apple Pie Spice Mix
Apple pie spice mix is another popular baking spice blend that could be replaced in place Allspice in your baking recipes. And just like pumpkin spice mix, the apple pie spice mix, too, does not contain any apples!
This blend is very similar to the pumpkin spice mix and contains almost all the ingredients that go into it. But, most apple pie spice recipes call for cardamom. However, in this spice mix, you could also find allspice as an ingredient, making it a good replacement just as much as pumpkin spice mix would do.
If substituted in savory dishes, you will have to add black pepper to counterbalance the peppery bite that allspice has. Nevertheless, apple pie spice mix is best to replace with sweet dishes or baked goods as it contains a sound amount of cardamom, which can add a great taste to your sweet treats.
06- Chinese Five-Spice Blend
Chinese five-spice blend features in many dishes in Chinese and Taiwanese cuisines. It is basically a blend of five flavorful spices that are often added to savory dishes like meat and seafood.
The authentic spice blend includes ingredients such as:
- Star Anise
- Cloves
- Cinnamon
- Fennel Seeds
- Sichuan peppercorns
So, when it comes to replacing Allspice with this spice blend, it would be best to use with savory dishes. Since the spice mix itself contain many warming spices, including cloves, Sichuan peppercorns, and cinnamon, the flavor could give similar hints.
Even though it does not align as much as closer with apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice mixes, the Chinese five-spice combination still can be a good enough alternative. This could be used in the position of allspice in many types of meat or seafood dishes.
However, since it has many other warming spices, be cautious with the quantities. And you’d better be using them in a pinch until you get the desired taste.
07- The Ultimate Trio- The Blend of Cinnamon, Cloves, and Nutmeg
This is like taking you back to the beginning of our article! The reason is that we are going to repeat about the great flavor trio- cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg but in a different way.
If you do not have allspice at home or any other spice mixes that could be used instead of allspice, a container made with these spices will always come to your rescue. In fact, instead of using cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg separately, mixing the three will give you an incredibly similar taste to the authentic flavor of allspice.
Al you have to do is to ground whole spices or buy ground spices from the store which are readily available. If you take one tablespoon of ground cinnamon, half a tablespoon from nutmeg, and half a tablespoon from cloves are good to go.
Mix all the three ground spices well together and store the mixture in an air-tight container. Scoop down using a dry spoon whenever you need to add this spice mix into your dishes. You can use this with sweet and savory dishes just as you do with allspice.
Above all, this ultimate allspice substitute is so good that you will never worry if you ever run out of allspice at your spice cabinet again!
If you would like to discover more facts about this allspice seasoning, click here for a complete article.
Going Down With Allspice Substitutes
Substitution is actually an art that is as much as important as matching ingredients in your recipes. If you use the wrong substitute, you will simply ruin the taste of an entire dish.
And, when it comes to a spice like allspice which has an intricate flavor profile, substitution could not be as easy as with other spice replacements. But that does not call for an alarm since the ingredients in our list will forever save you from worrying.
The only thing that you should be careful of is the quantities that go in your recipes. When using more powerfully flavored spices than allspice, you will have to use a lesser amount. Moreover, if you use any flavoring that does not have a peppery bite, we suggest adding a bit of black pepper to counterbalance the flavor.
