Homemade Sazon Seasoning Recipe: Latin Spice Blend

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Sazon seasoning is at the heart of Latin cooking. With just 7 ingredients, you'll love the orange-red color that homemade sazon seasoning adds to rice, beans, meats, and french fries.

Wooden bowl with orange seasoning powder inside.

What is sazon?

The English translation of Sazon is "seasoning". However, contrary to what it sounds like, sazon isn't necessarily used for seasoning, it is used more for adding color to food.

In Puerto Rico (and honestly within Latin America, Caribbean, and African cultures) you'll find that sazon is a key ingredient to add a vibrant color pop of red, orange, or yellow.

Why make your own Spanish seasoning?

My mom ripping open a sazon seasoning envelope and pouring it into a caldero to make yellow rice is a sound that will forever be engraved in my mind.

When you think of sazon, you may be like me—familiar with the little packet of Goya Sazon. However, there are some hidden ingredients found in the yellow packets that I do not use.

But do you know what's in that small spice blend packet? The ingredients included in Goya Sazon are MSG, salt, cumin, garlic, yellow 5, tricalcium phosphate, coriander, annatto, and red 40.

Making your own seasoning will ensure you always have pure flavor, without unwanted ingredients.

Ingredients

This homemade sazon recipe comes together with 7 ingredients you can find online or at your local grocery store in the international aisle (or check to see if you have a local Hispanic market). All of the ingredients in sazon will add a warm, earthy taste to your dish, but the main reason you use sazon is to give your dish a pop of orange color!

A white plate filled with 7 different spices.

Ground Organic Annatto Powder:
- Flavor Profile: (Also known as achiote seeds.) Annatto seeds contribute a mild, earthy, and slightly peppery flavor. This is also the secret ingredient behind what gives sazon that orange color.
- Be careful when using annatto as it can stain your hands, clothing, or porous cookware. (Wipe up any powder right away!)
- A good substitute would be smoked paprika, but in my opinion, you can't beat the annatto.
Ground Organic Coriander Powder:
- Flavor Profile: Coriander has a citrusy and slightly sweet taste with a hint of warm, earthy undertones.
Ground Organic Garlic Powder:
- Flavor Profile: Garlic powder provides a concentrated and mellow garlic flavor. It is less pungent than fresh garlic but adds a savory and aromatic element to dishes.
Ground Organic Cumin Powder:
- Flavor Profile: Cumin has a warm, nutty, and slightly peppery flavor. It adds depth and richness to dishes and is a key ingredient in many spice blends, including Sazon.
Ground Organic Oregano Powder:
- Flavor Profile: Oregano has a robust, earthy flavor with hints of mint and citrus. It is commonly used in Mediterranean and Latin American cuisines, adding a savory and aromatic quality to dishes.
Organic Turmeric Powder:
- Flavor Profile: Turmeric has a warm, bitter taste with a slightly peppery and mustard-like aroma. It is known for its vibrant yellow color and is a common ingredient in curry blends.

Note: If you can't find organic seasonings at your local grocery store, that's okay, you can either order it online or use regular seasonings.

Tip: Always smell your seasonings; your nose knows if they're fresh!

Instructions

The easiest way to make homemade sazon seasoning is by taking the above ingredients and whisking it all together in a bowl... that is if you found ground ingredients for each.

If you have coarse ingredients (like annatto seeds), my suggestion would be to first make the coarse ingredients fine by either using a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder. You want the consistency of your sazon to be like taco seasoning.

Once your ingredients are all ground into a fine powder, whisk them all together, and using a funnel, pour the sazon blend into an airtight container.

Note: Store your sazon in a cool, dark area, away from the stove's heat. Homemade sazon seasoning lasts 3-6 months if kept in an airtight container.

Mortar and pestle filled with a 7 spice blend. — *This is a mortar and pestle, also known as a pilon. (It's filled with adobo seasoning here.)*

Annatto: The Secret Behind Sazon

Annatto, known as "achiote" in the Latin community is the secret ingredient that brings out the beautiful orange-red color in classic dishes like arroz con pollo. Did you know that annatto is also a common ingredient found in everyday foods like cheddar cheese, ice cream, and breakfast cereals?

Annatto seeds are found in achiote trees (Bixa Orellana), and the achiote seeds are tiny, hard, and have a reddish wax coating. The coating is what gives off such vibrant colors to dishes.

In Puerto Rican cooking, we use annatto in two ways. One is making an achiote oil and the other is making sazon.

Achiote oil is made with whole annatto seeds and simmered with a neutral oil. It is used instead of regular oil when making pasteles, alcapurrias, or even yellow rice.

When making sazon, ensuring the annatto seeds are ground is essential.

Pro Tip: Annatto can stain surfaces. It is best to use gloves when seasoning with sazon and wipe up any spills immediately.

Where do I find ground annatto?

Finding annatto seeds or ground annatto seeds in local stores can be challenging. Thankfully, there are brands like Badia that have ground annatto available in bigger grocery stores.

Additionally, explore local Hispanic markets or check the International aisle in your grocery store for a section featuring Mexican seasonings typically packaged in bags.

When doing my own Google search for ground annatto seeds, I came across Instacart offering it (I am not sure which stores, but some mom-and-pop shops may carry it). You can always order ground annatto seeds on Amazon or an online whole spice website.

North Market Spices sells them with free delivery, too.

Note: In the book Puerto Rican Cookery, it is also noted that you can substitute paprika or saffron in place of annatto. (I personally would prefer saffron. She mentions using the same amount, but if it's just for color, I would add the saffron or paprika to the specific dish, not make a sizeable seasoning batch.)

A large pile of orange seasoning on a white background with a wooden spoon.

FAQ

Is sazon a food coloring?

Yes, sazon can add color to rice, beans, stews, and meats. This is due to the natural dyes in ingredients such as annatto and turmeric.

Does sazon taste like anything?

Not really. It does have warm and earthy ingredients, but sazon is mainly used to add color to dishes.

What's the difference between adobo and sazon?

Adobo seasoning is like an all-purpose seasoning with a bold flavor profile thanks to salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and herbs. It's used to add flavor to dishes.
Sazon seasoning is a simple seasoning made up of just a blend of spices, mainly used for adding color to rice dishes or a pound of meat.

Latin cooking is full of recipes that use both adobo and sazon within the same dish.

Make it your own way.

Puerto Rican cooking is known for its bold flavors. Go the extra mile and create an entirely different spice blend and make an adobo combo by mixing in some adobo seasoning with your homemade sazon.

Best Ways To Use It

The best way to use sazon seasoning is by adding it for color. Traditionally, in Puerto Rican recipes, we add sazon to most rice dishes, red beans, and dough for empanadas, or we add it to a dry rub for meats.

The serving size is small, a ¼ teaspoon will replace an envelope of the store-bought sazon packet.

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