Seasonings · Profile
All-Purpose Seasoning: What the Label Means, What’s in the Jar, and How Much Salt It Carries
“All-purpose seasoning” is a marketing label, not a defined product. It is printed on salt-free herb-and-vegetable blends, on salt-led garlic blends such as Goya’s adobo, and, in everyday speech, applied to seasoned salt and to soy-based liquids. What these products share is a savory base of onion, garlic and pepper. What separates them is salt: per quarter teaspoon, the blends on this page range from none to 520 mg of sodium. This page compares what is actually in the jars, how to choose one, and how to use it.
At a glance
| What it is | Any savory blend sold for general use on meat, fish and vegetables12 |
| Official definition | None found. The USDA’s spice-blend purchasing specification has no “all-purpose” entry; its closest are two salt-free seasonings3 |
| Typical components | Onion, garlic, black pepper; often parsley, celery seed and other herbs; salt in some, none in others1425 |
| Sodium per 1/4 tsp | 0 mg (Dash Original) to 520 mg (Goya Adobo) in the blends below42 |
| Forms sold | Ground blends; liquid soy-based seasonings are sometimes grouped with them |
Measured values
3 figures, sourced| Measure | Value | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium Nutrient | 0 mg per 1/4 tsp | Dash Salt Free Original Seasoning Blend, retailer-listed label | giantfoodstores.com |
| Sodium Nutrient | 520 mg per 1/4 tsp | Goya Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper, manufacturer label | trade.goya.com |
| Sodium Nutrient | 380 mg per 1/4 tsp | Lawry's Seasoned Salt (not labeled all-purpose), retailer-listed label | giantfoodstores.com |
Each figure is quoted as its source states it, with the samples or standard it applies to. Where sources differ, both are shown; nothing is averaged. All measured values
What is in the jar
US labels list ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight, so the first ingredient is the largest.6
| Product | Ingredients, in order given | Sodium per 1/4 tsp | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simply Organic All Purpose Seasoning | Onion, black pepper, garlic, parsley, celery seed, tomato powder, basil, thyme, oregano, sage, coriander (all organic) | Not listed on the retailer page; no salt in the ingredients | 1 |
| Dash Salt Free Original Seasoning Blend | Dried onion; spices (black pepper, parsley, celery seed, basil, bay, marjoram, oregano, savory, thyme, mustard, cumin, rosemary, cayenne, coriander); dried garlic, carrots, orange peel, tomato; lemon juice powder, citric acid, oil of lemon | 0 mg | 4 |
| Goya Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper | Salt, garlic, tricalcium phosphate (anticaking agent), black pepper, oregano, turmeric | 520 mg (23% DV) | 2 |
| Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (not labeled all-purpose) | Salt, sugar, spices (including paprika, celery seed, turmeric), onion, corn starch, garlic, tricalcium phosphate, extractives of paprika, natural flavor | 380 mg (17% DV) | 5 |
Two patterns stand out. The salt-free blends lead with onion and carry long herb lists; the salted ones lead with salt and carry few herbs.1425 The federal purchasing specification’s “salt-free seasoning with herbs and citrus” lists onion, black pepper, parsley, celery seed, basil, bay leaves, marjoram, oregano, savory, thyme and more, along with garlic, carrot, citrus peel, tomato and citric acid,3 much like the Dash label above.4
Seasoned salt, adobo and liquid “aminos”
- Seasoned salt is salt with spices, sugar and onion; Lawry’s is labeled “Seasoned Salt,” not all-purpose.5 See seasoned salt.
- Adobo is sold by Goya under the name “All-Purpose Seasoning.”2 TASTE dates Goya’s adobo to 1966.7 See adobo seasoning.
- Bragg Liquid Aminos is made from soybeans and water, and Bragg sells it as a gluten-free soy sauce alternative.8 It is not salt-free: a teaspoon carries 310 mg of sodium (13% DV).8 Kikkoman soy sauce lists 960 mg per tablespoon, which works out to about 320 mg per teaspoon.9 Per teaspoon, the two are close.
Other blends often used the same way, such as Cajun seasoning, Creole seasoning, lemon pepper and Greek seasoning, have their own pages.
Flavor
Salted all-purpose blends taste mainly of salt, garlic and onion; salt-free ones taste of onion, garlic, celery seed and dried herbs, often with a citrus or tomato edge where lemon peel or tomato is on the label.14 That description is ours. For the compounds behind individual ingredients, see onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and celery salt.
How to use it
Goya suggests a shake of its blend before cooking meat, chicken, fish and vegetables.2 Beyond that, cooks use all-purpose blends in dry rubs, on vegetables before roasting, in burger and meatloaf mixes, on eggs and potatoes, and in soups. That list is common practice, not a sourced finding.
The practical rule follows from the label. With a salted blend, the blend is the salt: season with it first and taste before adding more. With a salt-free blend, add salt separately to taste.
Buying
- Find salt on the ingredient list. If it is first, the blend is mostly a salt product.625
- Compare sodium per serving. On the labels above it runs from 0 to 520 mg per quarter teaspoon.42
- Check for sugar and starch. Lawry’s lists sugar second and also contains corn starch.5
Storage
No regulator or standards body we found gives a shelf life for all-purpose seasonings. Keep jars closed, away from heat, light and stovetop steam; a blend that smells faint when rubbed between the fingers has faded. That is common practice, not a measured figure.
Salt and health
FDA’s Daily Value for sodium is less than 2,300 mg a day,10 and the World Health Organization recommends that adults consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium a day.11 At 520 mg per quarter teaspoon, a full teaspoon of Goya’s adobo (4 × 520 mg = 2,080 mg) is above the WHO figure on its own.211 Salt-free blends such as Dash Original list 0 mg per serving.4
Claims that all-purpose seasonings help prevent obesity, or that they are healthful because they are low in fat and carbohydrate, could not be traced to any study, and this page makes none.
Substitutes and comparisons
- All-purpose seasoning substitutes
- Seasoned salt and seasoned salt substitutes
- Adobo seasoning and sazón seasoning
- Italian seasoning, herbes de Provence and Old Bay seasoning
- MSG vs. salt and table salt
Footnotes
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Simply Organic All Purpose Seasoning, ingredients, via Giant Food Stores product listing. giantfoodstores.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Goya Foods, “Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper”, trade product page. trade.goya.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10
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Commercial Item Description A-A-20001C, Spices and Spice Blends, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, 2023. ams.usda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩2
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Dash Salt Free Original Seasoning Blend, ingredients and nutrition label, via Giant Food Stores product listing. giantfoodstores.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8
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Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, ingredients and nutrition label, via Giant Food Stores product listing. giantfoodstores.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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21 CFR 101.4, Food; designation of ingredients. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩2
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Alicia Kennedy, article on adobo seasoning, TASTE, 2018. tastecooking.com · Publication ↩
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Bragg, “Liquid Aminos”, product page. bragg.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2
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Kikkoman Soy Sauce, Nutrition Facts, via Giant Food Stores product listing. giantfoodstores.com · Merchant ↩
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“Sodium in Your Diet”, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. fda.gov · Regulator ↩
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“Sodium reduction”, World Health Organization fact sheet, 2026. who.int · Regulator ↩ ↩2