Spices vs Seasonings vs Condiments: Types and How to Use Them

Spices vs herbs vs seasonings vs condiments

These words overlap, but here is how they are usually separated.

• Spice: a dried aromatic plant part used for flavor rather than nutrition. Spices come from almost every part of a plant except the leaves: seeds, fruits and berries, bark, roots and rhizomes, flower buds and even the stigma of a flower (saffron).
• Herb: the leaves (and sometimes soft stems or flowering tops) of aromatic plants, fresh or dried. Merriam-Webster defines an herb in the kitchen sense as a plant or plant part valued for savory, aromatic or medicinal qualities. Basil, oregano, thyme, bay and cilantro leaves are herbs.
• Seasoning: anything added to a dish to enhance its flavor, alone or as a mix. Salt is a seasoning but not a spice, since it is a mineral. Spice blends like adobo or curry powder are seasonings too.
• Condiment: in American English, something usually added after the food is prepared, such as a sauce, topping or table seasoning (Merriam-Webster). Ketchup, salsa, mustard and hot sauce are condiments.

U.S. food law draws the line its own way. FDA labeling rules define a spice as any aromatic plant substance, whole, broken or ground, whose job in food is seasoning rather than nutrition, as long as none of its volatile oil has been removed. That legal list includes leafy herbs like basil, oregano, sage and bay leaves, so on an ingredient label "spices" can mean herbs too. It specifically leaves out onions, garlic and celery, because those have always been treated as foods (21 CFR 101.22). The rule also notes that paprika, turmeric and saffron work as both spices and colors.

Especias y condimentos: how the words work in Spanish

If you grew up cooking in Spanish, the categories feel different. The Real Academia Española defines condimento as anything that serves to season food and give it good flavor, and lists aderezo, aliño, adobo, especia and salsa as related words. An especia is an aromatic plant substance used as a condiment, such as clove, pepper or saffron.

So in Spanish, every especia is a condimento, but not every condimento is an especia. Salt, garlic, an adobo paste and a jar of salsa can all be condimentos. When someone searches for "especias y condimentos" or "tipos de condimentos y especias," they usually mean the whole seasoning shelf: single spices, dried herbs, chiles and ready-made blends. This guide covers all of them.

Types of spices by plant part

Sorting spices by plant part is the easiest way to understand them. The plant parts below follow the FDA's guide to spice definitions.

• Seeds and seed-like fruits: cumin, coriander, fennel, mustard, fenugreek, celery seed. Small, oily and strongly aromatic; toasting brings out their flavor.
• Bark: cinnamon. Ceylon, Chinese (cassia) and Saigon cinnamon all come from the dried bark of related trees.
• Roots and rhizomes: ginger, which the FDA describes as a rhizome, and turmeric, which it lists as a root. Earthy and pungent, and turmeric is strongly colored.
• Fruits and berries: black and white pepper (berries of the same plant, black picked unripe and white ripe with the skin removed), allspice, star anise, and all chiles and paprika, which are dried fruits of Capsicum peppers.
• Flower parts: cloves (unopened flower buds) and saffron (the dried stigma of a crocus).
• Seed coverings: mace, the lacy outer membrane around the nutmeg seed.
• Leaves (herbs): oregano, bay, basil, thyme, sage, rosemary and marjoram.
• Blends: mixtures such as adobo, garam masala, curry powder and chili powder.

Common spices and herbs: part, flavor and uses

Staples of Mexican and Latin American kitchens sit alongside spices used worldwide. Flavor notes follow the FDA's spice descriptions where available.

Two notes on the Latin American staples. Chipotle is a ripe red jalapeño that has been dried over wood smoke; the smoking changes its chemistry as well as its flavor (Moreno-Escamilla et al., Food Research International, 2015). Ancho is a chile that farmers in Aguascalientes, Mexico, have traditionally picked green for the fresh market or left on the plant to ripen and then dried (Kraft et al., Economic Botany, 2010). Achiote seeds are also the source of annatto, a color additive the FDA permits in foods (21 CFR 73.30).

Spice blends and seasoning mixes

Blends save time, but recipes vary by maker, so read the label. Using the ones we stock as examples:

• Adobo seasoning: a savory all-purpose mix. Ours combines sea salt, garlic, onion, black pepper, coriander, cumin, oregano, turmeric, chipotle, lemon peel and cayenne. Note that it contains salt.
• Curry powder: an earthy, golden blend built on coriander and turmeric, with cumin, fenugreek, chili, mustard and warm spices.
• Garam masala: a warm, aromatic Indian finishing blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, pepper and coriander. See our garam masala guide.
• Chili powder: can mean pure ground chile, like our chipotle powder, or a blend that adds other spices and sometimes salt. Check the ingredients.

Whole vs ground spices, and why to toast

Much of a spice's flavor sits in its volatile oil, and the FDA's spice guide judges the quality of many spices partly by how much of that oil they contain. Whole spices protect it. Grinding breaks the spice open, and some aroma is lost right then: in one study, cumin milled while frozen with liquid nitrogen kept about a third or more extra volatile oil compared with ordinary grinding (Sharma et al., Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2016). Losses continue afterward. Ground black pepper stored for six months, even in the refrigerator, had less essential oil at the end no matter how it had been ground (Liu et al., Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2018).

What that means in your kitchen:

• Buy whole when you can for seeds you use often, such as cumin, coriander and peppercorns, and grind small amounts as needed.
• Toast whole seeds in a dry pan over medium-low heat for a few minutes until fragrant, then cool and grind. Toasting changes flavor through browning (Maillard) reactions. It is a flavor step, not a health one: roasted cumin, coriander and fennel showed lower antioxidant activity than raw (Serag et al., RSC Advances, 2019).
• Bloom ground spices in oil for 20 to 30 seconds at the start of a sauce, and add delicate blends like garam masala near the end.

Storage, shelf life and buying tips

The USDA counts spices among shelf-stable foods and advises storing those somewhere cool and dry. For spices, also think dark and airtight: a sealed jar in a cupboard away from the stove. Ground spices and blends lose aroma over months; whole seeds, bark and berries keep their flavor longer. The best freshness test is your nose. If a spice smells faint when you rub a pinch between your fingers, use more or replace it.

Source matters too. Investigators in North Carolina who tested products from the homes of children with high blood lead levels found lead in many spice samples, with categories such as turmeric, chili powder, coriander, cumin and curry powder averaging at least 1 mg/kg, and noted that lead can enter spices from polluted soil or from grinding equipment (Angelon-Gaetz et al., CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2018). Buy spices from sellers who can tell you where their products come from, and be cautious with unlabeled spices brought home from abroad.

Find it at William's

Our bulk spice section sells by weight, so you can try something new without committing to a full jar. A few staples for Latin American and everyday cooking:

• Organic adobo seasoning, sold by weight: garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, chipotle and citrus peel with sea salt, for meats, beans, rice and guacamole.
• Organic ground cumin (comino molido), sold by weight: earthy and warm, for chili, beans, tacos and curries.
• Organic chipotle chili powder, sold by weight: smoky with mild to medium heat, rated at about 10,000 heat units.
• Cinnamon powder (canela molida), sold by weight: for baking, drinks and stews. We don't currently list which cinnamon species it is online; call the store if that matters for your recipe.

We also carry organic garam masala, curry powder and coriander. Learn more in our guides to coriander powder, Kerala spices and bulk herbs. We don't currently list achiote, whole ancho chiles or Mexican oregano online; call the store to check what's on the shelf.

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