Someone had recently asked me what spices were important to have in my pantry. They were ready to restock theirs and wondered what my favorites were. Below I have added a few staples and a few splurges as well as the best places I have found to buy them to save you money. I used to buy all my spices at my local grocery store. I always hated the sticker shock of having to spend $4.00 to $6.00 on one spice. What if I was out and needed like 3 or 4 different things, that could be upwards of half my weekly budget for groceries. So in an effort to stretch my budget while not sacrificing what spices I need and want I started looking around and exploring my options. I hope this information helps you get some more flavor in your pantry and save you money on the things you already buy. All of the spices I use most often have an asterisk next to them. These are the 4 main places I buy my herbs now.
First is the local grocery store in the regular spices area. I find this is great for the basics, I admit I buy from the one dollar rack on a few of these.
- Onion and Garlic Powder *
- Onion and Garlic Salt*
- Basic Chili Powder*
- Parsley*
- Thyme*
- Celery Seed
- Dill*
Second is the local grocery again but in a “secret” area. Go to the international food isle, hopefully you are lucky enough you have a Mexican/Latin American section. This are where I find some steals, for some reason the spices are cheaper here then in the classified “spice” area of the store I’m talking like everything is under $3.00.
- Oregeno*
- Cayenne*
- Whole Dried Chiles such as Arbol and Ancho
- Cinnamon Sticks
- Cumin*
- Corriander*
- Specialty Chile Powder such as Chipotle or Ancho
Third is World Market. This is where I buy all my spices that are just to expensive in the grocery. I will make a special trip here to stock up on spices, well and everything else they have to look at. I always end up leaving with more than what I planned on. Most of these have at minimum a 50% savings from the grocery. Also if you grocer doesn’t have the Mexican spices listed above they have them here at World Market for a great price.
- Curry Powder*
- Garam Masala
- Whole Nutmeg*
- Cardamom
- Tumeric
- Allspice
- Hungarian Paprika*
Fourth and final places are specialty stores that sell in bulk like Whole Foods or Fresh Thyme. Depending on what you like to cook sometimes you may not need a whole jar of spices, lucky for you you can buy spices by weight here. Here you can get only what you need instead of a whole jar that you may end up throwing out. What exactly you buy depends on what you cook but if you only need a little for a recipe you want to try I recommend coming here to get it.
I hope this information helps you get some more flavor in your pantry and save you money on the things you already buy. Do you have any tips on where to buy or how to save money on spices? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to know!
