12 Unexpected Ways To Use Blackened Seasoning

It's likely that you've tried blackened fish or chicken before and wondered what makes it taste so incredible. Or, like many home cooks, you may have asked how do I do this at home? Thankfully, it's not as complicated as it sounds, and most home cooks can manage to make blackened foods at home with no trouble. As a food business owner who has cooked in various countries around the world, I've witnessed people's reactions to blackened foods firsthand, from the hesitation that the food looks "burnt" to their pleased and fascinated faces once they've tasted it and understood what's behind it. We have New Orleans to thank for the world of blackened foods since this technique emerged out of the culinary scene there. However, the fact that it's become popular all over the country and beyond is a tribute to just how genius blackened food is.

While the term "blackening" in reality refers to the cooking technique, it wouldn't be what it is without the spices and seasonings used. Blackened seasoning is what brings all of the aromas and flavors that we love about blackened foods. This blend has everything from paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, dried thyme, dried basil, and more. It would be a shame to only use this magic spice mix when making blackened foods; however, there are a multitude of unique ways to use it and incorporate it into your everyday cooking. Here are some unexpected ways to use blackened seasoning.

Blackened seasoning is bursting with flavor and can turn anything from bland or boring into something truly exciting. Instead of making plain sweet corn, I like to coat them in blackened seasoning. The smoky savoriness of the seasonings pair beautifully with the earthy sweetness of the corn. These are delicious as is, straight off the cob, but throwing them in a sweetcorn salad can take them even further. Cut them up into little sweetcorn chunks and sprinkle them on any salad you like. My go-to is to mix them with some greens, red onion, and sliced avocados. This blackened sweetcorn salad has been a major crowd-pleaser at various lunches, potlucks, and barbecues I've served it at.

For the blackened seasoning, you can always buy a ready-made blend, but it's also really easy to make at home. Each blackened blend might be slightly different, and that's the best thing about it. If you don't like spicy foods, you could always leave out cayenne pepper, or if you love garlic, you could add a bit more garlic powder. It's crucial to taste your seasoning as you go, though, because you don't want one spice to overpower the rest. It's always a good idea to follow a recipe to get the right ratios of spices for a balanced flavor.

If you've read about or seen people blackening foods before, you probably know that it comes down to the combination of spices that are used to coat whatever you're cooking. Then, with a little butter and cooking on high heat, your spices turn black and create a delightful crust on the outside of your meat or fish. There is a difference between blackened and charred foods, and It's quite common to see blackened dishes that are meat or fish-based, but there's a way to recreate this technique for vegetarians, too. Blackened tofu steaks are not only a delicious way to use blackened seasonings, but you can also use the blackening cooking technique.

Tofu steaks work great with blackened seasoning because they are a blank canvas, ready to be coated in any kind of flavoring. They are also "meaty," and, especially if you use firm tofu or press your tofu before cooking, the texture will be chewy and mimic that of a blackened fish or chicken dish. Make sure to cover your tofu in butter as this is the key ingredient that separates blackened foods from charred." Then, liberally coat your tofu with your blackened seasoning and get cooking. In my experience, cooking in a pan on high heat, your tofu steaks will turn "blackened" in about three or four minutes on each side.

There are no rules that say you can't use blackened seasoning on foods you're not cooking at all. In fact, I like to throw it on various dried or raw snacks. One of those snacks is potato chips. I started spicing potato chips the way I liked them when I moved to another country and couldn't find the flavors I liked. To remedy the situation, I would buy plain or lightly salted potato chips, and shake on my own spice blends to make them the potato chips of my dreams.

This turned out to be a revelation. I started doing this with all kinds of seasonings. Blackened seasoning works great for this. By nature, blackened seasoning has a balance of herbaceousness, savory, and smoky flavors, which work really well with potato chips. In fact, I'd say it even competes with some of the big name-brand potato chip flavors that people find so crave-worthy. Plus, it couldn't be easier to make. Simply open a packet of chips and throw in a tablespoon or so of blackened seasoning. Then, roll the top closed with your hand and give it a gentle shake to allow the spices to travel all around and evenly coat your chips.

If you haven't yet discovered the deliciousness that is roasted chickpeas, you're in for a treat. These often mushy little legumes become little crunchy pearls that make for a tasty snack. The texture is one of the main draws because the exterior gets nice and crisp while the inside stays soft, but whatever you season them with will take them to the next level. A little blackened seasoning here makes perfect sense. The spices get to cook a little and deepen in flavor while the chickpeas are roasting, and the final product is incredibly moreish.

Blackened roasted chickpeas are so good eaten as a snack on their own or even mixed into other dishes. I love squeezing some lemon juice on them and adding them to salads, rice bowls, or even a lunch wrap. To make them, generously douse your chickpeas with some olive oil before sprinkling on the blackened seasoning. Then roast in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes or until they've turned golden brown. If you have an air fryer, your roasted chickpeas will take even less time!

At the heart of blackened seasoning are the spices and dried herbs that give it all that complex, full-bodiedness. This makes it a nifty blend to use in your cooking beyond being just a seasoning. One way to do this is by using it to develop deeper flavors in your soups. It can go with most soups, but one of my favorites is in chunky vegetable soup. I call it my "anti-food waste" meal since I make it whenever I have leftover bits of veggies in my fridge that need to be used before going off or wilting.

While veggies have a lot of their own flavor, they could always use some spices to highlight or bring out their natural sweetness and savoriness more. Blackened seasoning does just that. The soup doesn't taste like just seasoning; it tastes like all of the best versions of the ingredients used. To mix in your blackened seasoning, it's best to add it in at the stage you're sauteing onions or other alliums to start building your soup. The heat and oil will help bring out the deeper aromas in your spices.

Another mouthwatering blackened vegetarian dish is blackened mushroom skewers. Mushrooms themselves are packed with umami and one of the best veggies to grill. The grill browns them and brings out all their meaty flavor. Blackened seasoning, in this case, helps to enhance the mushrooms' umami notes while also seasoning them and adding a lot of interesting tastes to the mix.

You could use the blackened seasoning as a finishing spice, but I like to season the mushrooms with it before cooking. This is because the paprika and black pepper in the blackened seasoning will start to smoke and even bring about elements of the blackened cooking technique that we love so much, while the dried herbs will release their natural oils and perfume your mushrooms with even more earthiness. This is one of the most delicious ways to satisfy your vegetarian friends at a barbecue or outdoor grilling session. But even the meat eaters will be fighting for a taste, too. You can also make a basting liquid with your blackened seasoning by mixing it with some oil and brushing it over your mushrooms as they grill to keep reinforcing the blackened flavor.

A classic weeknight dinner in many households is spaghetti Bolognese. You don't have to be Italian to know and love this dish, and it's as much of a winner with kids as it is with grown-ups. It's usually on my weekly rotation, and although the traditional version is always good, it does sometimes get a little boring if you don't add a little twist here and there. I like to (literally) spice it up with some blackened seasoning. All the spices and herbs make sense with the ground meat sauce, and once you try it, you might never go back to the traditional way again (sorry, Italians!).

In my experience, the best time to add the blackened seasoning is when you're browning your ground meat. This is when the flavors start to develop in your meat, so I like to get in there early with the seasoning so that it seeps all the way through. This also helps to get rid of any unpleasant raw meat aromas while cooking. Then go in with your canned tomatoes or jar of passata and let your sauce simmer for at least 20 minutes so that all the spices infuse properly.

One of the easiest and perhaps most simple ways you can use blackened seasoning is by adding it to your roast veggies. Roast veggies are usually enhanced by the addition of spices, and blackened seasoning does just that. While this may be an obvious usage, you can take it one step further and make a blackened veggie bake. I love to use it on cauliflower because it's not a veggie I'm wild about the taste of, and blackened seasoning makes an otherwise lackluster vegetable (in my eyes) exciting.

I find that the natural sweetness and creaminess of cauliflower are brought to the surface more with blackened seasoning, and this creaminess even adds the perfect mellowing balance to the potent seasoning. Then, I cover these beautifully browned and seasoned cauliflower with a creamy sauce and grated cheese to make a comforting cauliflower bake. As it cooks in the oven, the cheese melts and browns on top, creating that gooey cheesy topping we all crave. But the surprise element is that once you dig into the cauliflower bake, you've got tons of complex flavors from the blackened seasoning. This doesn't need to stop with cauliflower though, and you can use blackened seasoning in the same way in whatever vegetable bake you're making.

Eggs are one of the first things people learn how to cook as children, and there's no denying they make for a nutritious and filling meal when you're in a pinch. Most people who eat eggs have had them cooked in just about every way possible. We don't often think of spice blends and eggs going together, and instead, we reach for all sorts of other foods to add to our egg scramble or omelet. Many people have probably filled their omelets with things like cheese, ham, bacon, mushrooms, onion, peppers, etc. But did you know that omelets can be even tastier with an addition of spices like blackened seasoning? They do exactly what you'd expect: pack your eggs for flavor. It's a wonder why people don't season their eggs with spice blends!

Blackened seasoning can be added to your omelet after it's cooked, but I prefer to mix it in with the eggs before I make it. When you're whisking your eggs, add a teaspoon of blackened seasoning and whisk until evenly spread throughout the egg mixture. You can still add other toppings of your choice, but be prepared to be blown away by how tasty your omelet is.

Another dish that makes for the perfect canvas to spice up is home fries. These tasty fried potatoes are comforting and make for a delicious side dish or even a main dish if you make a loaded version. Potatoes are already so beloved, and for good reason: They taste good with basically any cooking method and any seasonings added to them. So you can be sure that applying some blackened seasoning to your home fries is going to be a sure winner. The toasty notes of paprika are a no-brainer for potatoes, and along with some pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried herbs, you've got yourself an elevated potato dish.

Your blackened seasoning is basically all you need for jazzing up some simple home fries. If you're a "more is more" person like me, you probably don't want to stop there. Luckily, blackened seasoning can go with so many flavors that you can throw on all sorts of toppings for your fries, from corn to green and red peppers to olives and even some feta. Plus some dollops of guacamole or ranch bring everything together. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Ever since I learned how to make a zesty, spicy vinaigrette, salads have gone from an obligation to pure pleasure. A tangy vinaigrette can breathe life into anything — even a couple of lettuce leaves — and often makes me look forward to my fresh green salad next to my main. This is where blackened seasoning can shine in your vinaigrette.

People are more familiar with adding dried herbs, mustard, or shallots to their vinaigrettes or even liquids like soy sauce and honey. But many seem to think it's weird to add a spice mix, too. Well, I'm here to tell you that whatever the rules are, you should be adding spices to your vinaigrette. The spicy kick from the blackened seasoning, along with the pepperiness and herbaceousness, makes perfect sense to me from a taste perspective.

For an easy vinaigrette, use the classic method of putting all your ingredients in a glass jar and shaking to mix well. I like mixing some blackened seasoning with some olive oil, white wine vinegar, and salt (if your seasoning mix doesn't already have it). It couldn't be simpler and tastier.

Another easy way to use blackened seasoning is to shake some into your savory popcorn. Move over butter; there's a new popcorn seasoning in town! It instantly turns something so ordinary, like popcorn, into something unique. The seasoning will enhance your popcorn with a lovely savory flavor and likely turn your at-home movie night into a culinary experience. It won't take much convincing once you think about it.

Your seasoning blend can be added as is into your warm popcorn, but to give it an extra depth of flavor, why not toast your spice mix before adding it? I toast my spices in under two minutes in a dry pan. Turn the heat up to medium heat and wait for them to start smoking slightly. You'll want to keep your eyes on your spices as they can burn pretty quickly. Taste some before and after toasting, and you'll notice the difference. Your spices will have a more robust flavor and will instantly elevate your popcorn.