We Tried 10 Spices From Dollar Tree — Are They Worth The Affordable Price?

If you've ever been tempted to buy some of Dollar Tree's spices, but wondered if the affordable price hinted at low quality, you're not alone. As a big spice nerd with multiple cabinets full of spices, my usual preference is to buy high-quality seasonings in bulk. So, I have a good idea of what good spices should taste and smell like. But how would Dollar Tree's compare?

There are quite a lot of spices and seasonings on the shelves of my local Dollar Tree, but I focused on its Supreme Tradition brand that you can't find elsewhere so that I wasn't simply doing a price comparison. I also skipped ordinary options like salt and pepper, herbs like parsley, and two-ingredient blends like garlic pepper. That left me with 10 spices to test.

I tried Dollar Tree's spices several ways. First, I smelled and tasted them straight from the bottle. Then, I compared them to my usual spices. Finally, I tried them on several dishes so that I could see how they paired with different foods, and because the heat and fat can help them release their flavors. Do Dollar Tree's spices live up to my high standards? Let's taste them and find out. 

Dollar Tree's chili powder is delightfully flavorful, and it also packs quite a punch of heat. Chili powder is always an unpredictable spice because it's can be made with multiple types of chile peppers. Plus, some brands add other spices, like cumin, as well. I personally prefer ones that are flavorful and slightly sweet, where the chili peppers are the stars — rather than other spices. This seasoning was an instant favorite for me, delivering everything I wanted and more.

Supreme Tradition's chili powder contains chili pepper, as expected, along with spices like ground cumin, ground oregano, garlic powder, and salt. It has a nice, vibrant red color, and I immediately picked up on the chile peppers when I smelled it. I appreciate that the cumin isn't overwhelming; the chili leads and packs a ton of heat. The flavor is also extremely bright, suggesting it's made with an interesting blend of chili peppers.

It already has 25 milligrams of salt per teaspoon, so I was careful not to add too much extra salt to my chicken tenderloin. The chili peppers provided a great flavor and medium heat. I like that the chili peppers are the star, rather than the additional ingredients. Honestly, I'm impressed. This chili powder is going to have a spot right next to Kashmiri chili powder in my spice cabinet.

Dollar Tree's garlic powder may make you rethink the potential of this essential spice. I sometimes add garlic powder, along with fresh garlic, to a dish because the dried spice can offer a sharper and more complex flavor. However, not all garlic powder is the same, and Supreme Tradition's version will prove that to you.

While I couldn't smell anything special, tasting it was an entirely different story. It seems like it's not just dehydrated and ground, but toasted. It is a slightly darker shade of white than usual. It was a strikingly strong flavor with a pleasant nutty quality, which I wasn't expecting. When I added it to the tenderloin, I found it made the meat pleasantly garlicky and offered a bit of a kick. Ultimately, my favorite garlic powder is still Aldi's because of its bright flavor and pungency. However, Supreme Tradition's garlic is a close second place, and well worth trying if you cook with garlic powder. 

Dollar Tree's Supreme Tradition Italian seasoning exceeded my expectations. There's no one recipe for Italian seasoning, meaning every brand approaches it differently. Some are simply a mix of dried herbs commonly used in Italian cuisine, like oregano and basil, whereas others also include aromatics like dried garlic that bloom nicely in olive oil for dipping. Since Dollar Tree's Italian seasoning is more like the former, I was worried it would just taste like sad, dried leaves — something I know all too well. However, it's a far more complex, robust, and fresh blend than I expected. 

When I smelled this seasoning, I got a whole symphony of herbal notes from it. It's not just dusty, musty old leaves; there's life here. The ingredients include staples like basil and oregano, along with thyme, marjoram, rosemary, and sage. No one herb dominates, and they blend together extremely well. This has not been my experience with most herb-only Italian seasoning blends, which tend to end up in the trash can eventually.

It enhanced the flavor of the cheese pizza I sprinkled it on and made it taste better. So, it's nice to know that this seasoning doesn't necessarily need to be cooked to be enjoyable. 

Dollar Tree's lemon pepper especially shines when it's cooked into food rather than simply sprinkled on top. Lemon pepper can do a lot to brighten and spice up a dish, combining zesty lemon flavors with heat from pepper. A really good lemon pepper is an easy grab while cooking, making it a kitchen staple. Dollar Tree's version is a good choice if you want straight-up lemon pepper that's heavy on the lemon.

The first thing I noticed when I opened Dollar Tree's lemon pepper was that the lemon peel aroma almost veers into pine tree territory. In addition to lemon oil and black pepper, this version also includes garlic, onion, citric acid, salt, and tricalcium phosphate to keep it from caking. It seems saltier than other brands I've tried — boasting 220 milligrams of salt per ¼ teaspoon serving. So I was sure not to use extra salt when I tried adding it to a chicken tenderloin. While the seasoning alone was just okay, it was especially impressive on chicken, albeit salty. It reminded me a lot of cafeteria lemon chicken, made with real lemons, and it would be really good on a roasted chicken. So, I'm definitely declaring this one a keeper.

The onion powder at Dollar Tree isn't the best I've ever tried, but it has its place. While I don't use onion powder a lot, it always comes in handy as a substitute for fresh onions, especially when I start a dish and realize I'm all out. It's also useful for adding a little kick of onion flavor without the work of chopping fresh onions — or the tears. Some onion powders are a little more potent, probably from being toasted instead of simply made with ground and dehydrated onion. Dollar Tree's onion powder is more on the mild side.

I wasn't expecting this onion powder to be somewhere between fine powder and dried onions, but that's exactly what I found. It appears to be fresher and moister than other onion powders I've tried. The profile is sweet and not very oniony. However, cooking helps rehydrate it and allows the flavor to bloom a little. Still, its flavor was still faint on the chicken tenderloin. It could be useful if you want to add a little onion flavor without overwhelming a dish, as onion powder often tends to do.

Dollar Tree's salt-free seasoning can help you add flavor to your food without the extra sodium. It's a tricky ingredient because it often doesn't taste good straight out of the container and needs to infuse with food so that you can appreciate its flavor. It can also be helpful if you're following a low-salt diet. While Dollar Tree's version isn't an outstanding choice, it's still a well-rounded one.

First of all, I like its consistency. It's flaky rather than powdery or chunky, making it a good choice either for during or after cooking. The granulated garlic, minced onion, and parsley give it a nice flavor, while the black pepper and crushed red pepper add quite a bit of heat. Plus, it gets a zesty lift from citrus ingredients like orange peel, lemon oil, and citric acid. While it works fine dry, I liked it better cooked on chicken tenderloin. I tried it first without salt, which wasn't terribly exciting, but it still gave the chicken a decent flavor — mainly garlicky with a bit of heat. As you can imagine, adding a smidgen of salt improved the flavor. It's not anything to write home about, but it can be a good way to add flavor without salt.

I went most of my life thinking that paprika was just a way to add color, rather than flavor, to dishes. However, once you've tasted good paprika, you don't want to go back to the bitter, near-tasteless type that's been sitting on a shelf for 10 years, waiting to color the tops of deviled eggs. A good Hungarian paprika is flavorful enough to actually be the star of a chicken paprikash recipe or goulash. While I was mainly hoping Dollar Tree's ground paprika would at least be sweet and not bitter, I wasn't expecting to be wowed by it like I was.

I first compared it to the paprika I bought in bulk from my local co-op. The Supreme Tradition version is a brighter red and smells far more interesting, with notes of actual peppers. The flavor is slightly bitter (as is to be expected), but also surprisingly sweet. It's far more complex than the co-op paprika. It was very impressive on a chicken tenderloin, adding depths of flavor you don't always get from straight paprika. Plus, it does so without adding heat.

I would have been the first person to overlook Dollar Tree's paprika, but it's honestly better than what I was buying in bulk locally. That said, I have to admit I'm still impartial to real Hungarian paprika. 

If you've only eaten crushed red pepper flakes from the shakers at pizzerias or the packets that come with your delivery order, you won't expect the quality of red pepper flakes you get from Dollar Tree. While most of us don't anticipate crushed red pepper flakes to knock our socks off, we can expect them to add some heat to pizza or other food. I can confidently say Supreme Tradition crushed red pepper flakes knocked my socks off.

My first hint that these red pepper flakes were going to be beyond the ordinary was their brightness and moistness. The flakes are generously sized and look like they were just dried yesterday. The smell further confirmed my suspicions of how good these were going to be, as they smelled fresher than any flakes I've smelled before. But it's the flavor that really blew me away. I literally said an exaggerated "wow" when I tasted them. They're so flavorful and taste like high-quality peppers. Plus, they pack a lot of heat, and a little sprinkle will go a long way. I found them super enjoyable sprinkled on cheese pizza, especially when mixed with Supreme Tradition's Italian seasoning.

Every brand of steakhouse seasoning is different, but if you like Chicago-style steak seasonings, Supreme Tradition steakhouse seasoning is definitely worth a try. Some of the best steak rubs can also be used on other foods, like hamburgers and chicken — and that's true for this one, too. 

The smell of Dollar Tree's steakhouse seasoning didn't reveal much, although I picked up on the dill, which hinted that it was indeed a Chicago-style seasoning. Other than dill, it also contains chunky pieces of garlic, black pepper, crushed red pepper, caraway seeds, and extractive of paprika. It contains both salt and MSG for a total of 250 milligrams of sodium per ¼-teaspoon serving. It really shines when you add it to steak. All the moisture from the steak rehydrates the dried seasonings, making them even tastier. It's a well-rounded blend with a burst of garlicky flavor. While the dill sometimes comes to the forefront, it's not too dill-forward. 

The first time I encountered Chicago-style steak seasoning was when I tried some of Aldi's seasonings. Although I liked Aldi's version, I like this one better. Dollar Tree's version has more comforting umami flavors, probably at least partially because of the MSG. It's still not my favorite steak seasoning ever, but it's still pretty good.

Dollar Tree's cayenne pepper is one of the best brands I've tried. Cayenne pepper is an excellent choice for adding a bit of sharp heat to a dish. In my experience, it seems to hit differently on the tongue than some other peppers, making it both a sensory and flavor upgrade for your food. On the Scoville scale, it ranks in the mild-hot range. So, cayenne peppers are in the same category as Tabasco and jalapeño peppers. But cayenne is about more than just heat. A good cayenne pepper also adds flavor, and this one definitely does.

My first hint that this was going to be a good cayenne is the smell of peppers that emanates from the bottle when I removed the flavor seal. If you're looking for cayenne that brings both flavor and heat, this one will serve you well. It's got that nice delayed-reaction heat that you expect. I especially enjoyed it on chicken tenderloin, as it added a decent amount of heat and excellent pepperiness. It's surprisingly good on chicken with just salt. While I still like the bulk cayenne I get from my local co-op better, this one takes second place. 

I admit to being a little bit of a spice snob, and I honestly didn't think I'd like Dollar Tree spices. However, this little tasting adventure proved me wrong. The pepper-based spices were especially impressive, as they boasted both freshness and sweetness. The lemon pepper was a true surprise, making me nostalgic for cafeteria-style lemon chicken. I probably won't reach for the salt-free blend, the steakhouse seasoning, or the onion powder all that often, but the others are likely to be repeat purchases. My only hesitation is that none of them are organic or have any type of sourcing guarantee, but none of the spices contained any unwanted fillers. 

The price of these spices is also excellent; the 2.5- to 3-ounce containers were only $1.25. While I pay even less for bulk spices at my local co-op, Dollar Tree's seasonings are still a better deal compared to brand names that may be twice as expensive. Honestly, you really are often paying for a bottle and brand when it comes to many spices. But I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the spices at Dollar Tree. The store offers a lot of great grocery products, and its spices are among them.