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This Old Bay seasoning recipe is a homemade blend with the classic celery-forward, savory flavor that works especially well on seafood. It’s easy to mix at home and lets you adjust the salt, heat, and spice level to fit the way you cook.
One of the best reasons to make your own blend is the flexibility. You can make it milder, smokier, or a little more savory depending on what you like. It’s especially good to keep on hand for recipes like Old Bay Shrimp, Air Fryer Old Bay Chicken Wings, Air Fryer Lobster Tails, Shrimp Foil Packets, or Oven Baked Shrimp.
This is one of those small recipes that can make everyday cooking easier once you have it mixed up. It adds classic seafood flavor to shrimp, salmon, crab, fries, corn, and potatoes, and it gives you a different option from my Cajun Seasoning Recipe when you want something less peppery and more seafood-house style.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to customize: You can adjust the salt, heat, and smokiness to fit your taste.
- Great to keep on hand: Once it’s mixed, you have a ready seasoning for seafood, chicken, and simple sides.
- Especially good for seafood: This blend has that familiar flavor people love on shrimp, lobster, salmon, and Crab Cakes, plus simple sides like corn and potatoes.
What Makes Old Bay Different From Cajun Seasoning
If you already have my Cajun Seasoning on hand, this blend fills a different role in your kitchen. Cajun Seasoning is usually spicier and more pepper-forward, while Old Bay has that classic seafood flavor from celery seed, mustard, bay, and warm spices. Both work well on seafood, but this is the better choice when you want that familiar seafood-boil style flavor on shrimp, crab, lobster, salmon, corn, or potatoes.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This homemade Old Bay seasoning uses a mix of spices to build that classic flavor. Grab the exact measurements in the recipe card below.
- Celery seed: This is one of the key flavors in the blend and helps give it that classic Old Bay taste.
- Fine sea salt: Salt helps the seasoning blend taste balanced and season food evenly.
- Smoked paprika: Adds color and a light smoky flavor.
- Garlic powder and onion powder: These add savory depth and round out the blend.
- Mustard powder: Gives the seasoning its sharp, familiar edge.
- Black pepper: Adds bite and balance.
- Red pepper flakes: Brings a little heat. Use less if you want a milder blend.
- Ground bay leaf: Adds the earthy flavor people expect from this kind of seasoning. If you’re grinding your own, make sure it gets very fine.
- Allspice, ginger, and cloves: These warm spices help create the signature flavor that works so well with seafood.
- Ground cinnamon: Optional, but a small amount helps round everything out.
How to Make Old Bay Seasoning
This recipe is simple and only takes a few minutes.
Mix the spices
Add all of the spices to a small bowl or airtight jar. Stir or shake until evenly combined.
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Store it
Keep the seasoning in an airtight spice jar or container in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to use it.
How Much Old Bay Seasoning to Use
A good starting point is 1 to 1½ tablespoons per pound of shrimp, fish, chicken, or potatoes. For corn, fries, or roasted vegetables, start lighter, toss, taste, and add more if needed. Since homemade blends can vary depending on how salty or spicy you make them, it’s best to start with less the first time and adjust from there.
Tips for the Best Homemade Old Bay Seasoning
- Use fresh spices: Since this recipe is all about the spice blend, fresher spices will give you the best flavor.
- Grind whole spices well: If you are grinding bay leaves or cloves, pulse them until very fine so the seasoning mixes evenly. You can also buy them ground from the store.
- Adjust it to your taste: Use less red pepper flakes for a milder blend, more smoked paprika for extra smoky flavor, or slightly less salt if you want more control later.
- Store it well: Keep it in an airtight container so the flavor stays fresh longer.
How to Use Old Bay Seasoning
This seasoning is especially good on seafood, and that is where it really shines. Surprisingly, it also adds great flavor to chicken and vegetable side dishes. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it.
- Shrimp: Use it in Old Bay Shrimp or sprinkle it on shrimp before roasting for Oven Baked Shrimp.
- Lobster tails: It pairs really well with butter, which makes it a great fit for Air Fryer Lobster Tails.
- Crab cakes: This seasoning is a natural fit in Crab Cakes when you want that classic seafood flavor people expect.
- Chicken wings: You can also try it in Old Bay Chicken Wings. It doesn’t make the chicken taste like seafood. Instead, it gives it some southern fried chicken flavor.
- Salmon and fish: Sprinkle it on salmon fillets or white fish before baking, air frying, or cooking in a skillet.
- Corn, fries, and potatoes: This is an easy way to bring that classic seafood-boil flavor to simple sides.
Swaps and Variations
- Make it milder: Reduce the red pepper flakes for a less spicy blend.
- Make it smokier: Add a little more smoked paprika if you want a deeper smoky flavor.
- Use what you have: If you do not have whole bay leaves or whole cloves to grind, pre-ground versions work too.
- Lower the salt: Reduce the salt a little if you want more control when using it in different recipes.
FAQs
Old Bay seasoning is usually made with celery seed, salt, paprika, mustard, pepper, bay leaf, and warm spices. This homemade version uses those same flavor notes to make an easy pantry blend.
It is very similar in flavor, but making it at home gives you more control over the salt, spice, and freshness.
It is most commonly used on shrimp, crab, lobster, fish, fries, potatoes, and corn. It also works well on chicken and roasted vegetables.
Yes. This recipe works well as a homemade substitute when you want that same style of seasoning at home.
Storage
- Store: Keep the seasoning in an airtight jar or container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months.
- Freeze: Not needed.
- Reheat: Not applicable for a spice blend.
Old Bay Seasoning Recipe
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Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp celery seeds, grinding is optional since these are quite small
- 1 tbsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt
- 1 tbsp Onion Powder
- 1 tbsp Ground Dry Mustard
- 2 tsp Black Pepper, ground
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
- ½ tsp Ground Bay Leaf, I used 5 whole leaves in a spice grinder and pulsed
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves, I used 10 whole cloves in a spice grinder and pulsed well
- ⅛ tsp Ground Cinnamon, optional
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to an airtight container
- Mix the spices until incorporated
- Store for up to 6 months
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Recipe Notes
- Start light & adjust: 1 to 1½ tablespoons per pound of shrimp, fish, chicken, or potatoes. For corn, fries, or roasted vegetables, start lighter, toss, taste, and add more if needed.
- Use fresh spices: Since this recipe is all about the spice blend, fresher spices will give you the best flavor.
- Grind whole spices well: If you are grinding bay leaves or cloves, pulse them until very fine so the seasoning mixes evenly. You can also buy them ground from the store.
- Adjust it to your taste: Use less red pepper flakes for a milder blend, more smoked paprika for extra smoky flavor, or slightly less salt if you want more control later.
- Store it well: Keep it in an airtight container so the flavor stays fresh longer.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used.
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