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    Home » Tasty Recipes » Puerto Rican Recipes

    April 25, 2020 Featured

    Homemade Sazon Seasoning

    Sazon seasoning is the secret behind the beautiful golden orange hue color you find in most Puerto Rican food.

    This sazon Goya copycat is a must use ingredient for Spanish rice and baked chicken so it can get that vibrant color we all love!

    a pile of sazon seasoning

    Sazon de Puerto Rico, also known as Goya sazon seasoning has always been a pantry staple ingredient in my life, my mom's life, and possibly my abuela's life.

    We love the vibrant color el sazon adds to our foods, especially rice, beans, and stewed dishes.

    Unfortunately, store bought sazon Goya contains MSG - and many readers want an alternative to sazon with MSG. It's time to share how to make MSG free sazon seasoning.

    What is MSG? MSG is a taste enhancing food additive, known as monosodium glutamate. Learn more by reading this article by Healthline.

    Jump to:
    • 📋 Ingredients
    • 📝 Instructions
    • ✏Substitute
    • 📖 Recipe
    • ❓ FAQ
    • 💬 Comments
    White plate filled with various seasoning spices.

    📋 Ingredients

    The sazon ingredients can be altered to your liking! We decided to make this a salt-free sazon recipe so you can adjust the salt to your liking when cooking.

    • garlic powder
    • ground cumin
    • turmeric powder (this gives that distinct orange hue)
    • ground coriander
    • ground annato seed (or sweet Spanish paprika -this adds that deep red)
    • ground oregano

    Some optional add-in ingredients for sazon:

    • onion powder
    • saffron (finely chopped and very little)
    • salt
    • ground white pepper (very little)

    📝 Instructions

    It's easy to make sazon seasoning! Add all of your dried ingredients to a bowl and mix it very well, then just store in an air tight container up to a year!

    ✏Substitute

    What is a good substitute for sazon seasoning?

    A good substitute for sazon seasoning mix would be annato oil, if you're only looking to add the color aspect to your dish.

    Achiote oil only uses two ingredients, oil and achiote (annato) seeds. You can find the recipe here on how to make achiote oil.

    📖 Recipe

    a pile of seasoning mix on a white plate with a wooden spoon

    Homemade Sazon Seasoning

    Sazon seasoning that is MSG free is what is added to Latin dishes such as rice, beans, and stews to enhance the color to create a beautiful orange hue!
    4.44 from 39 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Dish
    Cuisine: Latin, Puerto Rican
    Keyword: herbs, Puerto Rican spice rub, sazon, seasonings, spices
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Total Time: 5 minutes
    Servings: 1 cup
    Calories: 120kcal
    Author: Neyssa
    Cost: 3

    Equipment

    • bowl

    Ingredients

    • 2 Tablespoons garlic powder
    • 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
    • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
    • 2 Tablespoons ground coriander powder
    • 3 Tablespoons ground annatto
    • 1 Tablespoon ground oregano

    Instructions

    • Store in a glass container with a tight fitting lid, and store in a dry cool shelf where this sazon seasoning mix will last for 1-2 months.
    • * It can last longer, but be aware that ground herbs/spices lose their strong aroma quicker than if using fresh whole herbs/spices.

    Notes

    Store in a glass container with a tight fitting lid, and store in a dry cool shelf where this sazon seasoning mix will last for 1-2 months.
    * It can last longer, but be aware that ground herbs/spices lose their strong aroma quicker than if using fresh whole herbs/spices.
    If you only want color, not added flavor, feel free to use annato oil. Find recipe on site or just heat oil with annato seeds over medium low, and remove seeds once the oil has turned a beautiful deep amber color.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1teaspoon | Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 251mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 76mg

    ❓ FAQ

    What does Sazon taste like?

    Sazon tastes earthy, cool, and holds a subtle hint of citrus.

    What do you use Sazon for?

    Use Sazon seasoning for any dishes you want to enhance with coloring and flavors

    Does it have MSG?

    This homemade sazon recipe does not have MSG, unlike Goya Sazon.

    What do you use Sazon for?

    Use Sazon seasoning for any dishes you want to enhance with coloring and flavors, such as rice, beans, and poultry dishes.

    Dishes that use sazon are:

    • The masa (dough) used for-
      • pasteles
      • alcapurrias
      • empanada discs
    • Yellow rice dishes such as-
      • Spanish rice
      • paella (rice with seafood)
      • arroz con pollo (rice with chicken)
      • arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas)
    • Meat and seafood based stews and soups such as-
      • pollo guisado (chicken stew)
      • sopa de salchichon (salami soup)
      • asopoa de camarones (rice stew with shrimp)
    • Fried fritters that you want to add a little color to such as-
      • bacalaitos (fried fish fritters with herbs)
      • potato balls

    More Recipes To Try!

    • Steak and Onions Sandwich
    • Easy Puerto Rican Rice
    • Asopao de Camarones (Shrimp Stew)
    • empanadas in the air fryer basket
      Air Fryer Pastellios

    More Puerto Rican Recipes

    • Frituras de Malanga | Malanga Fritters
    • Coffee Flan
    • Camarones Enchilados | Shrimp Stew
    • Spaghetti with Pork Chops

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. KAREN BROWN-HALEY says

      January 03, 2021 at 12:42 pm

      5 stars
      I truly appreciate your recipe without MSG! My favorite Sazon Seasoning is the Con Cilantro Y Tomate. Do you have a recipe for that one? I would love it!

      Reply

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    Guided by taste, not measurements, I strive to recreate classic Puerto Rican and Cuban recipes treasured by those that have come before us. Read more about me!

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