Seasoned Salt Substitutes, With the Salt Worked Out From the Labels

Seasoned salt is salt first and spice second. Lawry’s The Original Seasoned Salt lists salt, sugar, spices (including paprika, celery seed and turmeric), onion, corn starch and garlic, in that order,¹ and Morton’s Season-All also lists salt first.² US labels list ingredients in descending order of weight,³ so the main job of any substitute is to put back the right amount of salt. The paprika, onion and garlic come second.

The labels make that measurable. Lawry’s Original carries 380 mg of sodium per 1/4 teaspoon,¹ and Morton’s iodized table salt carries 590 mg in the same 1/4 teaspoon.⁴ Every Computed figure below starts from those two numbers.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship, with the source named.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. We show each one and do not average them.
• Method: we found no published ratio. We give a direction and a cautious starting point, and say so.

Every Computed figure here covers salt only. It comes from dividing the sodium on one product’s Nutrition Facts label by another’s, for the named products. It says nothing about flavor, and other brands will differ. We found no credible published ratio for swapping one blend for another.

The salt in each option

The percentages are our arithmetic from the labels: each product’s sodium divided by Lawry’s 380 mg.

If it is seasoning beef, burgers, fries or potatoes

Lawry’s own timeline says Lawrence Frank developed the blend in 1938, after three months of nightly experiments, to complement the flavor of prime rib at Lawry’s The Prime Rib.¹¹ Morton suggests Season-All for ribs, beef and pork.² This is the job most recipes mean.

1. Make your own

Salt (Computed): A teaspoon of Lawry’s Original carries about 1,520 mg of sodium (4 × 380 mg).¹ At 590 mg per 1/4 teaspoon,⁴ about 5/8 teaspoon of table salt carries the same. For Morton Season-All (1,400 mg per teaspoon), it is a little over 1/2 teaspoon.²⁴

Spices (Method): Make up the rest of the teaspoon, about 3/8 teaspoon, from paprika, onion powder and garlic powder, with a pinch of sugar and celery seed if you have them. Those are the flavorings on the Lawry’s label,¹ but no maker publishes its proportions, so this is a starting point, not a copy. Mix a batch, taste a pinch on a potato or a bit of cooked meat, and adjust.

A homemade mix lets you choose the salt level. If you want less sodium, keep the spices and cut the salt; Lawry’s own reduced-sodium version lists 270 mg per 1/4 teaspoon, partly by adding potassium chloride.⁶

2. Another seasoned salt or a Creole blend

Ratio (Computed, salt only): Morton Season-All gives about 92 percent of Lawry’s sodium in a straight swap, and Tony Chachere’s Original Creole about 89 percent.²⁵¹ Both are close enough to use 1:1. The flavors differ: Season-All lists chili pepper and black pepper and no sugar,² and Tony Chachere’s lists red pepper second,⁵ so expect more heat than Lawry’s sugar-and-paprika profile.

If it is on seafood, chicken or fries

Old Bay

Gustav Brunn created Old Bay in Baltimore in 1939,¹² the year after Lawry’s dates its seasoned salt.¹¹ McCormick describes it as celery salt, 18 herbs and spices, and paprika,¹³ and suggests it for chicken, fries and vegetables, among other uses.¹³ The celery salt is listed first,⁹ so it tastes of celery and pepper more than of onion and garlic.

Ratio (Computed, salt only): Old Bay lists 125 mg of sodium per 1/4 teaspoon,⁹ about a third of Lawry’s. A teaspoon of Old Bay plus a scant 1/2 teaspoon of table salt comes close to a teaspoon of Lawry’s in sodium.¹⁴ Add the salt separately rather than adding more Old Bay, or the pepper climbs with it.

If you want a garlic-forward shake-on

Goya adobo

Goya’s adobo with pepper lists salt, garlic, an anticaking agent, black pepper, oregano and turmeric.¹⁰ It has no onion and no paprika, and leans on garlic and oregano.

Ratio (Computed, salt only): At 520 mg per 1/4 teaspoon,¹⁰ adobo is saltier than Lawry’s. Use about 3/4 as much (380 ÷ 520 = 0.73) to match the sodium.¹

If it is in rice, beans or stews

Goya sazón

Goya suggests its sazón for meats, stews, soups, poultry, pasta, rice, beans and vegetables.⁸ Its label lists monosodium glutamate first, then salt, dehydrated garlic and cumin, with coriander, annatto (for color), Yellow 5 and Red 40.⁷ So it brings savory depth and a strong orange-red color as well as salt, and cumin that seasoned salt does not have.

Ratio (Computed, salt only): Goya’s Coriander and Annatto sazón lists 170 mg of sodium per 1/4 teaspoon,⁸ 45 percent of Lawry’s. Use it 1:1 and add about 3/8 teaspoon of table salt per teaspoon.¹⁴ Goya sells low-sodium versions too,⁷ which would need more added salt; check the box.

What isn’t known

• No maker publishes the proportions of the spices in its seasoned salt, so no homemade mix can be shown to match Lawry’s or Morton’s.
• All the Computed figures are for the specific products and labels named. Store brands and other versions will differ; read the sodium on your own jar.
• Nutrition Facts list sodium, not flavor strength. No source measures how strong each blend’s spices taste against another’s.
• Two claims often repeated about seasoned salt, that Lawry’s was the first product of its kind and that it is especially associated with soul food, could not be traced to a source.

Related

• Seasoned salt, table salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder
• Garlic salt and garlic salt substitutes, onion salt and onion salt substitutes, celery salt and celery salt substitutes
• Old Bay seasoning, Old Bay vs. Creole seasoning, Creole seasoning and Creole seasoning substitutes
• Adobo seasoning and adobo seasoning substitutes, sazón seasoning and sazón substitutes
• MSG vs. salt, spices for hamburgers, best spices for steak, seasonings for fries
• Too much salt