Lebanese Seven Spice Recipe | Seven Spice Blend

A fragrant mix of seven spices makes our aromatic Lebanese Seven Spice powder irresistible. Enliven your soups, veggies, shawarmas, meats, and almost any preparation using this Lebanese seven spice powder recipe or even use it as a dry rub or as a marinade. Our seven-ingredient, five-minute recipe for seven spice powder can easily be made at home. So, the next time you are cooking Middle Eastern food, you will have easy access to this perfumed spice mix with our Yummefy-ed Lebanese seven spice recipe instead of trying to find it in the supermarket.

What goes into the Lebanese seven spice powder?

Aromatic Lebanese seven spice powder can be prepared at home with just a few easily available spices. These include black pepper powder, allspice powder or kebabchini, fenugreek powder or kasuri methi powder, ground nutmeg or jaiphal, cinnamon powder, dried ginger powder or sonth, and clove or laung powder.
 

▲ Gather the whole spices and make your seven spice powder in just a few minutes
 

While the ingredients remain the same, various seven spice powder recipes have different proportions and quantity of ingredients. But this is the tried, tested, favourite blend from my travels in Lebanon and makes the best Lebanese seven spice available. I reach out for it every time I make shawarmas, wraps, to sprinkle on hummus or labneh, as a variation of garam masala, and a lot more.

What is Lebanese cuisine comprised of?

This sliver of a country on the eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea punches much above its weight as far as cuisine goes. Lebanese fare is made and savoured across the world. The food of Lebanon comprises fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and whole grains. The Lebanese enjoy their lamb and poultry. The cuisine also consists of copious amounts of chickpeas, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs like za’atar (wild thyme).
 

▲ Grind spices individually then add them to a glass bowl one by one - fenugreek powder - kasuri methi and nutmeg powder - jaiphal
 

Some popular Lebanese foods include Manaeesh (man’oushe) and khubz (breads eaten every day); kibbeh; falafel or deep-fried chickpea and herb patties, and dips such as baba ganoush, and hummus eaten with local flatbreads (khubz). They also consume cheeses such as feta, halloum, and Baladi and an array of desserts such as baklava and kunafa (knafeh).
 

▲ Add remaining spices including dried ginger powder and mix well.

Why must you make the Lebanese seven spice recipe at home?

• Our seven spice powder recipe can be prepared in five minutes from start to finish and will have a shelf life of one to three months, depending upon how it is stored.
• Homemade Lebanese 7 spice powder will ensure that only the best spices go into its making as you have complete control over the quality of spices you will be using. No adulteration. We suggest making all spice blends at home.
• The next time you want to make a recipe which calls for this spice blend, you don't need to make a trip to the supermarket but will have it at hand at home.

▲ Use your seven spice powder as soon as you make it of store it in an airtight container
 

Or look at all our Spices and Masalas Recipes right here!

How to make Lebanese seven spice well?

To make this aromatic spice blend well and if you’re willing to put in the work, make it in a mortar and pestle. However, if you don’t need to be a purist, then a spice grinder or even a small coffee grinder works perfectly. We suggest that you don not try to grind coffee in that grinder ever again! Grind the spices individually and then mix them all together. You can use already powdered spices too, as our recipe suggests, but make sure you use fresh spices and not old spices that have been sitting on the shelf for a while.

I would recommend using only the best quality spices for our 7 spice powder recipe.
 

▲ This fragrant spice blend will take your cooking to the next level 
 

First, make the recipe using the exact measurements we have listed in our recipe. Once you know what it tastes like, you can tinker with the quantities and make a spice mix which highlights individual spices that you enjoy…even though I would argue that this is the perfect Lebanese seven spice powder recipe blend.

Lebanese seven spice powder, like most others powdered spices, must be stored in an air-tight container (preferably glass). Its shelf life is three months – though I personally prefer not to store powdered spices longer than 30 to 60 days. It will not expire or go bad after that; however, the flavours will start to fade. I recommend you make it in small batches and use it often.
 

▲ Use your seven spice powder in our chicken shawarma or use it in place of garam masala

Serving suggestions for Lebanese Seven Spice Powder

I use the Lebanese seven spice mix to marinade the chicken in our shawarma preparation. You can also sprinkle it on fries or add it to soups and stews. Or use it as a general garam masala – it brings great flavour to most recipes calling for garam masala.

Follow our Lebanese Seven Spice recipe to learn how to make this easy spice blend at home.  See our step-by-step photos or look at the detailed video recipe. Find the easiest way to make seven spice powder, its simple ingredients, and top tricks to make it right here.