Mace vs. Nutmeg: Differences and How to Substitute

Mace and nutmeg come from the same fruit of the same tree, Myristica fragrans.¹² Nutmeg is the dried seed kernel;³ mace is the dried aril, the bright red, net-like covering wrapped partly around the seed.⁴⁵ They taste related, and they can stand in for each other, but the sources that have tested or advised on the swap disagree about which one is stronger. America’s Test Kitchen found mace much stronger and uses half as much;⁶ McCormick says nutmeg is slightly more intense.⁷

Side by side

	Mace	Nutmeg
Part of the fruit	The aril around the seed⁴	The dried seed kernel³
Tree	Myristica fragrans, Myristicaceae, native to the Banda Islands in Maluku¹	Same
Color and forms	Red when fresh, turning orange-yellow as it cures in the dark (the red pigment is lycopene);⁸ sold as whole “blades” or ground, and ground is more common⁹	Sold whole for grating or pre-ground⁹
Essential oil, share of the spice	4 to 17 percent¹⁰	5 to 15 percent¹⁰
Essential oil, per 100 g	About 10 g⁸	About 5 g⁸
Fixed oil (fat)	Virtually absent, per FAO’s text¹⁰	Substantial; its main component is trimyristin¹⁰
Aromatic ethers	Always a higher share of the oil than in nutmeg oil from the same tree (Grenadian samples)¹⁰	Lower share¹⁰
World production	About 3,000 tonnes a year⁸	About 17,000 tonnes a year⁸
Price, one retailer, 14 Oct 2026	The Spice House ground mace: $18.29 for 2.3 oz, about $7.95/oz¹¹	The Spice House ground nutmeg: $9.79 for 2.4 oz, about $4.08/oz¹²

The oil ranges come from compiled samples and should not be merged. The production figures are PROSEA’s undated estimates, and the price row is a single merchant on a single day; the per-ounce figures are our arithmetic. The mace page’s own metadata showed a lower price, $16.49, than the one displayed, so treat the gap as roughly double rather than exact.

Where the flavor difference comes from

Britannica describes nutmeg as having a distinctive pungent fragrance and a warm, slightly sweet taste.⁵ The FAO’s summary of a Grenadian study gives the best evidence that mace really is different, not just a paler nutmeg: mace oil always carried a higher share of aromatic ethers than nutmeg oil from the same trees, elemicin was the main aromatic ether in both, and taste panels could tell the two oils apart.¹⁰ The authors linked the taste difference to those ethers, which is a suggestion rather than a finding.¹⁰

Mace also has almost no fat. FAO’s text says fixed oils are virtually absent from mace, while nutmeg’s fixed oil is mostly trimyristin.¹⁰ (One FAO table lists a fat figure for mace that contradicts its own text; we follow the text.)

Which is stronger? The sources disagree

Source	What it says
America’s Test Kitchen, substitution test	Mace is much stronger than nutmeg⁶
America’s Test Kitchen, baking-spice guide	Ground mace tastes like “a more pungent nutmeg”⁹
The Spice House, blog	Mace is more piquant and somewhat less sweet; “a touch sharper”¹³
The Spice House, ground-mace product page	Mace has a subtler, mellower flavor than nutmeg¹¹
McCormick	Nutmeg has a slightly more intense flavor and fragrance than mace⁷

Only America’s Test Kitchen reports a test. The Spice House says opposite things on two of its own pages. We have not picked a side, and no source measures the difference.

Can one stand in for the other?

Yes. They are the closest substitutes either has. The amount is the disputed part.

Mace in place of nutmeg

Ratio (Disputed):

Source	Mace per 1 teaspoon nutmeg
America’s Test Kitchen (tested in a Bundt cake; held in a béchamel)	½ teaspoon⁶
The Spice House	1 teaspoon, but start with a bit less¹³
McCormick	1 teaspoon (its example: ¼ teaspoon for ¼ teaspoon)⁷
Healthline	1 teaspoon¹⁴

America’s Test Kitchen also noted that the mace amounts recommended by the brands it checked ranged from ¼ teaspoon to nearly ⅞ teaspoon per teaspoon of nutmeg.⁶ Method starting point: start with half as much mace, taste, and work up toward an equal amount.

Nutmeg in place of mace

Ratio (Disputed):

Source	Nutmeg in place of mace
America’s Test Kitchen	Use double the amount⁶⁹
McCormick	Nutmeg is more potent: reduce the amount considerably and add more if needed⁷

Method starting point: start with an equal amount of nutmeg and add up to double, tasting as you go. If the recipe uses whole blades steeped in a liquid, a few gratings or a small chip of whole nutmeg can stand in; that is our suggestion. Full detail is on mace substitutes and nutmeg substitutes.

How each is used

Mace’s paler color makes it handy in light sauces where flecks of nutmeg would show; that is our judgment. The sourced uses:

	Mace	Nutmeg
Savory	Sauces, pickles, and meat and fish dishes (Britannica);¹⁵ savory dishes, pickles and ketchups (PROSEA);⁸ seafood (FAO)¹⁶	Dairy-based savory dishes such as quiche and creamed spinach (America’s Test Kitchen)⁹
Sweet	Cakes, doughnuts and fruit pies (FAO)¹⁶	Spice cake (America’s Test Kitchen);⁹ eggnog, ice cream and milk pudding (FAO)¹⁶
Drinks		Obligatory in Grenadian rum punch (FAO)¹⁶
Blends	Among the spices commonly used in garam masala, which varies widely by region¹⁷	Included in some garam masala recipes (garam masala)

Storage

The two keep differently. FAO says ground mace keeps better than ground nutmeg because of its negligible fixed oil.¹⁶ For nutmeg, buying whole helps: a 2025 Milk Street test found ground nutmeg faded within months of opening, while even a year-old whole nutmeg performed well.¹⁸ General extension guidance gives whole spices 2 years and ground spices 1 year;¹⁹ none of these figures was measured on mace. More on how to store nutmeg.

Safety

Mace oil carries a higher share of aromatic ethers than nutmeg oil.¹⁰ One of them, myristicin, is metabolized in the body to MMDA, a compound with hallucinogenic properties, according to the Tennessee Poison Center.²⁰ The National Capital Poison Center says these spices are not dangerous used as recommended, and advises keeping nutmeg and mace out of children’s reach.²¹ We found no poison-center dose figure for mace itself; the nutmeg figures are on too much nutmeg.

What isn’t known

No study measures the relative flavor strength of mace and nutmeg; America’s Test Kitchen’s kitchen test is the only tested ratio, and it covered mace replacing nutmeg, not the reverse.
No published shelf-life figure for mace.
The price comparison is one merchant on one day; no dated market price series was found.
Mace is often said to lose flavor faster than nutmeg. The only source that addresses it, FAO, says ground mace keeps better than ground nutmeg.

Myristica fragrans Houtt., Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. powo.science.kew.org · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Production, handling and processing of nutmeg and mace, Introduction, FAO. fao.org · Reference work ↩
Production, handling and processing of nutmeg and mace, Section III: Post harvest handling, FAO. fao.org · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Marcelle, Production, handling and processing of nutmeg and mace, Section I: The plant and the environment, FAO, 1995. fao.org · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Nutmeg, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Substitutions for Mace, America’s Test Kitchen. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
What is Mace: Uses, Substitutes and Recipes, McCormick, 2025. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Flach and Tjeenk Willink, Myristica fragrans, PROSEA, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Getting to Know: Baking Spices, America’s Test Kitchen. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Production, handling and processing of nutmeg and mace, Section VI: Composition and constituents, FAO. fao.org · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰
Mace, Ground, product page, The Spice House. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩ ↩²
Ground Nutmeg, product page, The Spice House. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩
Mace Spice Explained, The Spice House, 2024. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩ ↩²
Katey Davidson, “8 Great Substitutes for Nutmeg”, Healthline, 2019. healthline.com · Publication ↩
Mace, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Production, handling and processing of nutmeg and mace, Section VII: Utilization of products, FAO. fao.org · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
How to make garam masala, Great British Chefs. greatbritishchefs.com · Publication ↩
“Kitchen Insider: Great Grated Nutmeg”, Milk Street, 2025. 177milkstreet.com · Publication ↩
Anna Martin, “Add a Little Spice to Your Life! Part II”, University of California Cooperative Extension, 2002. ucanr.edu · Reference work ↩
Nena Bowman, “Nutmeg, a Potentially Uninvited Holiday Guest?”, Tennessee Poison Center, 2020. vumc.org · Reference work ↩
Rose Ann Gould Soloway, “Kitchen surprises and cautions”, National Capital Poison Center. poison.org · Reference work ↩

Mace vs. Nutmeg: One Fruit, Two Spices, and a Dispute Over Which Is Stronger