ARE MRS. DASH SEASONING BLENDS PALEO

mrs dash ingredients

Cooking all your meals from scratch can seem like a daunting task, and turning to helpful shortcuts – like pre-mixed seasoning blends – can seem like a lifesaver. We’ll take a look at one popular brand, Mrs. Dash Seasonings, and answer the question: is it Paleo?

What Are Mrs. Dash Seasonings?

Mrs. Dash Seasonings is a line of seasoning blends to make cooking easier. Many of us grew up with a few varieties of seasoning blends in the kitchen, and Mrs. Dash was probably among them. These blends contain a variety of herbs, spices, and flavor enhancers to help home cooks add more flavor. They also contain things like basil extractive, dried herbs, concentrated tomato flavor, and lemon juice solids.

According to their website, they have 15 different seasoning blends available, all with varying ingredients. You can hop over to their website to take a look. They’re all salt-free these days, relying instead on citric acid and citrus solids to boost flavors. So, a blend of herbs and spices sounds pretty Paleo, right?

Are Mrs. Dash Seasonings Paleo?

Well…not really! Most of them contain citric acid, which is generally sourced from GMOs, and others contain sugar, fructose, rice concentrate, vegetable oil, modified food starch, and even maltodextrin! These are NOT necessary ingredients when seasoning your food. Many people are okay with using citric acid, and if you’re among them, then you can enjoy the following seasoning blends: Extra Spicy, Table Blend, Lemon Pepper, and Original Blend.

There is just one blend, Garlic & Herb, that is 100% Paleo, and we’d gladly use it as an emergency flavor enhancer in our kitchen. All 14 others contain something less than desirable. We’ve included a list of all the Mrs. Dash Seasoning Blends with the “non-Paleo” ingredients so you can quickly decide for yourself! The links will take you to the Mrs. Dash website with full ingredient and nutritional information. (All information comes from the Mrs. Dash Seasonings website.)

Extra-Spicy (citric acid)
Onion & Herb (“natural flavor”)
Table Blend (citric acid)
Caribbean Citrus (sugar, citric acid, rice concentrate)
Italian Medley (natural flavors, citric acid)
Southwest Chipotle (sugar, citric acid, modified food starch, rice concentrate)
Steak Grilling Blend (natural grill flavor from vegetable oil)
Hamburger Grilling Blend (sugar, modified food starch, “natural flavors,” vegetable oil)
Chicken Grilling Blend (citric acid, “natural” lemon flavor)
Tomato Basil Garlic (fructose, “natural” tomato flavor, “natural flavors,” citric acid)
Fiesta Lime (citric acid, rice concentrate)
Lemon Pepper (citric acid)
Garlic & Herb 100% Paleo
Dash Original Blend (citric acid)
Spicy Jalapeño (maltodextrin, sugar, rice concentrate, “natural” flavor)

It’s so easy to replicate many of the seasoning blends, and if you spend a little time on a Sunday afternoon mixing these together, you can store them in your own little spice jars for easy use! We highly recommend taking the time to create your own seasoning blends rather than relying on the highly processed options. Shop at stores like Costco and Sam’s to get large quantities of individual ingredients, or look for bulk spices at places like Sprout’s to get tiny amounts of spice ingredients!

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