10 best food spices that will make your food taste better

With the perfect blend of spices, you can become a good cook.

Apart from the regular Onions, Maggi, and Pepper we use in our homes.

What other spices do you know?

We have compiled a list of 10 best food spices that will make your food taste better.

This is usually the secret recipe for professional cooks, so don’t tell anyone we told you.

10 best food spices that will make your food taste better

Ginger

Ginger products are made from dried or fresh ginger root (a rhizome, actually) and the mildly hot, bitingly sweet spice can be used in many ways, both in sweet and savory dishes.

It’s a good spice for steaming meat, preparing stew, and jollof rice.

Basil

Basil plants bear leaves that have a strong aroma that might remind you of mint and cloves.

While the leaves’ fragrance is powerful, the taste is more subtle.

Basil is rich, spicy, and slightly peppery— a lovely culmination of flavors making it delightful to use fresh, dried, or frozen.

Basil is wonderfully versatile because the leaves can be eaten fresh or cooked.

It greatly enhances the taste of chicken, fish, or meat.

Bay Leaf

These aromatic, woodsy-tasting leaves are typically sold dried but if you have an opportunity to buy fresh or frozen, go for it. 

Always choose leaves with a rich green color.

Add whole bay leaves to soups, stews.

Your jollof rice isn’t complete without this spice.

Bay leaf is often used to season long-cooking dishes like soups, and stews, but it can also enhance the flavor of quicker-cooking dishes like rice, or pasta.

The key is to have at least a little liquid for the bay to infuse and heat to get the process going.

Turmeric

Turmeric is a spice native to Southeast India that comes from the rhizome of a plant in the ginger family.

It is sometimes available fresh but is usually sold dried and ground in powder form.

Turmeric has a lot of health benefits. Turmeric adds flavor to food, which explains its presence in curry powder.

Interestingly, turmeric can also play an important role in digesting that food.

The spice can contribute to healthy digestion as a result of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Thyme

Thyme is woodsy, lemony, and mild. It is most often used as a flavor for meats and stews, but it can add some zing to vegetables as well.

Rosemary

It is earthy, woodsy, and piney. Rosemary can be an acquired taste for some, but it does give your dishes a one-of-a-kind flavor that helps them stand out from the crowd.

Cameroon Pepper

Another form of pepper, Cameroon pepper has a definite kick. This spice is a great way to add heat to any dish.

It has numerous health advantages, and they include: It helps to relieve pain, it reduces indigestion, etc.

Cumin

Cumin has a smoky, earthy taste.

A gentle touch of cumin can add spice and flavor to unexpected dishes like eggs or grilled meats too.

Nutmeg

Nutmeg works well in both sweet and savory dishes. It’s commonly known for being added to baked goods.

However, there are plenty of uses for nutmeg that expand beyond that.

Nutmeg can be used to aid in relieving indigestion, pain, and oral conditions.

Its uses also extend to helping to strengthen your immune system, improving circulation, detoxing your body, and more.

Onions

Onions vary in size, shape, color, and flavor.
The most common types are red, yellow, and white onions.

The taste of these vegetables can range from sweet and juicy to sharp, spicy, and pungent, often depending on the season in which people grow and consume them.

They can be used in steaming meats, cooking jollof rice, and every other dish you can think of.