seasoning salt
Also known as: Lawry's seasoning salt
A pre-mixed blend of salt with other seasonings -- commonly paprika, garlic, onion, and dried herbs -- that adds a more complex flavor than plain salt in a single shake. Because it's already salted, it functions as both the salt and part of the spice blend in a dish.
Buying guidance
Check the ingredient list, since blends vary widely in what else is mixed in beyond salt -- some lean heavily on garlic or onion powder, others on paprika or pepper. Because it's already salted, hold back on separately added salt until tasting.
Substitutions
- Plain salt plus a pinch each of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika -- close to a homemade version and lets you control the ratio.
- Another branded seasoning blend, such as a steak seasoning -- works similarly but shifts the flavor toward whichever spices dominate that blend.
Tips & common mistakes
Because it contains garlic powder, onion powder, or paprika along with the salt, seasoning salt can scorch and turn bitter at high heat in a way plain salt never would -- if a recipe calls for browning meat or vegetables first, hold off on a heavy dose right at the start, or the ground spices in the blend can burn before the food does.
Storage
Salt itself doesn't spoil, but the ground garlic, onion, and other seasonings blended into it fade in aroma well before the salt does -- store the blend airtight away from heat like any other spice, and replace it once it smells mostly like plain salt rather than like the mix it's supposed to be.