What Is Ras El Hanout? Uses, Substitutes and a Homemade Blend

Ras el hanout is a warm, aromatic North African spice blend, best known from Moroccan tagines and couscous. Its name is Arabic for “head of the shop”, a spice merchant’s finest mix, and recipes vary from shop to shop: many combine a dozen or more ground spices, such as cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon and turmeric, sometimes with dried rose buds. It is usually warming rather than fiery.

What is ras el hanout?

Ras el hanout is used in North African cooking: the Oxford Companion to Food says it is found in varying forms in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Britannica explains that the name, literally “head of the shop”, refers to the “top shelf” blend in a spice market; food writer Christine McFadden says it was historically the merchant’s signature creation.

There is no single recipe. Claudia Roden describes each North African grocer’s “house blend” as a matter of reputation: folklore credits it with up to a hundred aromatics, though in reality it holds around twelve. Britannica says recipes vary widely and can run to dozens of spices, balanced between earthy, bitter, spicy and sweet flavours.

What is in ras el hanout?

The Oxford Companion to Food names cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg as standard, with cinnamon, cayenne and rosebuds among the many others usually included. Britannica’s list of common ingredients adds anise, cloves, mace, paprika, allspice, caraway, fenugreek and fennel. Roughly, the spices fall into four groups:

• Base: earthy cumin and citrusy coriander.
• Sweetness and colour: cinnamon, allspice, cardamom and cloves; turmeric and paprika.
• Heat: black pepper, ginger and chilli; Britannica notes the choice and amount of chilli and pepper set the heat.
• Floral notes: dried rose buds, which Claudia Roden and Jane Grigson both list, and sometimes lavender.

Our ras el hanout blends compared

Our spices and herbs range has three ready-made blends, and they show how much ras el hanout varies: Abido’s lists seven spices, Greenfields’ fourteen.

Greenfields is a London-based herbs and spices brand, with more blends in our Greenfields spices range; Abido is a Lebanese brand of herbs, spices and spice blends. If you have an allergy, check the pack label, as recipes can change.

How to use ras el hanout

Most of the amounts below come from our product pages; adjust to taste, as blends vary in strength. Add salt separately unless your blend contains it: Greenfields’ has a little and Abido’s none; for Sara’s, check the pack.

• Tagines and stews: brown lamb or chicken with onion, then add 1–2 tablespoons with tomatoes, stock and chickpeas or dried fruit, and simmer slowly until tender. Abido suggests frying 1 tablespoon with the onion and garlic first, enough for four.
• Roast vegetables: toss a tray of squash, carrots, cauliflower or cooked chickpeas with olive oil and 2 teaspoons, then roast at 200°C, as Abido suggests (we suggest 180°C fan), until caramelised at the edges.
• Couscous and rice: stir 1 teaspoon into the hot stock or butter before adding the couscous, or into the stock for rice or a grain pilaf (see how to cook freekeh).
• Yoghurt marinade: for 500g chicken thighs or lamb, we suggest stirring 1 tablespoon into 150g plain yoghurt with a crushed garlic clove and a squeeze of lemon.
• Soups, chickpeas and lentils: we suggest frying 1–2 teaspoons with the onion for a lentil or chickpea soup or stew for four; Abido suggests it for harira.
• Rubs and kofta: rub it over lamb, chicken or fish with oil before grilling, or follow Abido: 1 tablespoon per 500g lamb mince, with garlic and harissa, for merguez-style kofta.

Cook chicken until it is steaming hot all the way through, with no pink meat, and the juices run clear, and cook minced meat thoroughly, until it steams at the surface and in the middle when cut, and has browned, as the Food Standards Agency advises. Its campylobacter advice adds: never wash raw chicken, and keep raw meat in secure, leak-proof containers at the bottom of the fridge, so marinate it there.

Homemade ras el hanout recipe (makes about 6 tablespoons)

This homemade ras el hanout mixes ten ground spices into a warm, gently spiced blend, with optional ginger and rose buds for a more traditional, floral version. It makes about 6 tablespoons, enough for three to six tagines for four, and takes about 10 minutes.

Prep: 10 minutes, with no cooking. You need measuring spoons, a small bowl, a clean, dry jar and, for the rose buds, a pestle and mortar.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼–½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
• 5–6 dried rose buds sold for food or tea (optional)

Method

1. Measure. Level each spoonful and tip the ground spices, and the ginger if using, into a small, dry bowl. Unsure about heat? Start with ¼ teaspoon of cayenne.
2. Crush the rose buds. If using them, pull the petals from the green bases, discard the bases and grind the petals to a coarse powder with a pestle and mortar, then add them to the bowl.
3. Mix. Stir with a dry spoon until the colour is even, with no streaks of turmeric or paprika. For a finer blend, push it through a sieve.
4. Taste. Smell it and taste a tiny pinch, then adjust: more cayenne for heat, cinnamon or cardamom for sweetness, paprika for colour.
5. Store. Spoon it into a clean, dry, airtight jar, label it with the date and keep it in a cool, dark cupboard.

Allergens: our product pages list none of the 14 major allergens for the ten required spices, but the Abido allspice pack states it may contain traces of wheat (gluten), sesame and mustard, and Greenfields says some of its blends are made in a facility that also handles sesame, mustard and celery. If you are cooking for someone with an allergy, check every pack label.

How to store ras el hanout

Keep ras el hanout in an airtight jar in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight, as our spice pages advise, and reseal packs once opened. Keep it away from the hob, as McCormick warns that repeated heat shortens the life of spices. Spices don’t go off like fresh food, it explains, but they slowly lose their aroma. The Spice House suggests keeping a homemade blend in an airtight container for up to six months; for packs, go by the best-before date.

Ras el hanout substitutes

A homemade blend is the closest match. Otherwise, start with a little less than your recipe asks for and adjust to taste:

• A quick mix: spice guides suggest a shortcut built on cumin, with coriander, ginger and paprika or cayenne. Our version: for each tablespoon of ras el hanout, mix 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon each of ground coriander, sweet paprika and ground cinnamon or ginger, and a pinch of cayenne.
• Garam masala: it shares warm spices such as cumin, coriander, cinnamon and cloves, but tends to be less spicy, so add a pinch of cayenne, plus paprika and turmeric for colour. See what garam masala is.
• Lebanese 7 spice (baharat): often led by allspice, with black pepper, cinnamon and cloves, it gives a related warmth, though the dish will taste different. See our guide to Lebanese 7 spice.
• Curry powder: sometimes suggested, but most curry powders are built on turmeric, so expect a more curry-like flavour; see our guide to Indian spice blends.

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Frequently asked questions

Is ras el hanout spicy?

Usually only gently. Our product pages describe ras el hanout as warm and aromatic rather than fiery, but the heat depends on how much chilli and pepper a blend contains. Greenfields calls its blend, which includes cayenne, a gentle warmth; Abido’s red blend contains chilli and is mildly hot. In our homemade recipe, the cayenne sets the heat.

Is ras el hanout the same as garam masala?

No, though Britannica notes they are sometimes compared. Both are warm blends with no fixed recipe, but ras el hanout is North African and often includes paprika, turmeric and ginger, while garam masala is South Asian and usually built around cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper. Ras el hanout tends to go in early, with the onion; garam masala is usually stirred in near the end of cooking.

How do you pronounce ras el hanout?

Roughly “rahs el huh-NOOT”, with the stress on the last syllable: Merriam-Webster gives ˌräs-ˌel-hə-ˈnüt. The name comes from the Arabic raʼs al-ḥānūt, literally “head of the shop”, which the dictionary explains as a mix of a shop’s choicest spices. You may also see it written with hyphens, as ras-el-hanout.

How long does homemade ras el hanout last?

It won’t go off like fresh food, but it slowly loses its aroma. The Spice House suggests keeping a homemade blend in an airtight container for up to six months, so mix small batches, label the jar with the date and store it in a cool, dark cupboard, away from the hob.