Author: Yasmine Maggio

Labaneh was something my Palestinian mom has always eaten regularly with fervor, often serving it as a makeshift dinner alongside other simple dishes like sauteed tomatoes, hummus, and scrambled eggs when we didn’t really feel like cooking. But while I grew up eating labaneh, it took time for my own appreciation to grow because as a kid, I hated it. 

When I first wrote about labaneh, the opportunity to develop a recipe presented itself. My editors were enthusiastic, my parents were excited, and I, on the other hand, was a ball of nervousness. I consider myself a capable home cook, but turning milk into a completely different ingredient was intimidating to me. As a result, I put off developing this recipe for almost a year. 

Eventually I mustered up the courage and turned to Daniel’s homemade yogurt recipe, which would serve as the basis for this labaneh recipe—much of the initial labaneh process is the same as any other yogurt. Where labaneh differs is first that it’s strained, which removes whey from the yogurt and thickens it to a rich and creamy consistency, similar to cream cheese. Yogurt can be strained to make different types of strained yogurt like Greek yogurt, but labaneh should be strained even further to achieve a thick, spreadable consistency. Equally importantly, labaneh is seasoned with salt, which is another key characteristic that distinguishes it from Greek and other strained yogurts.

Daniel's yogurt instructions were simple enough, so I told myself I’d try making it once just to see what happened, and that if it didn’t work out, I’d give myself time to work out any kinks.

I grabbed a large pot, a half gallon of milk, and a thermometer and got to work. Scalding the milk, an essential first step when making yogurt, turned out to be quite therapeutic. The goal is to bring it up to between 180 and 190°F and hold it there for at least ten and up to 30 minutes. This not only drives off some water, concentrating the milk, but also alters the milk's proteins, resulting in a silkier final yogurt.

After cooling the milk to about 110°F, a low enough temperature to introduce the live cultures that will turn the milk into yogurt without killing them, I then stirred in a couple tablespoons of yogurt. Once I got to that point, the rest of the recipe was in the hands of fate, or biology, really. It was also a test of my patience: The now cultured milk needed to inoculate overnight. I put it in a jar, wrapped a towel around it, and left it in the oven with the light turned on, saying a silly little prayer in hopes that it would all go well.

The next morning, I ran to the kitchen to check in on my experiment. I opened the oven to find what I had been hoping and praying for: yogurt. I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was, given that I followed the directions, but the whole process felt like magic.

From there, I grew confidence. I let the yogurt sit out at room temperature for the rest of the day, then transferred it to the fridge overnight. The next morning, I began the day-long straining process to remove excess whey from the yogurt and thicken it to labaneh's proper consistency.

What I found the next morning was a thick, spreadable yogurt, drained of much of its whey, that was reminiscent of the labaneh I was familiar with. Once I added salt, it was everything my taste buds could have ever dreamed of. I was immediately brought back to those childhood dinners, now savoring every bite instead of detesting it. Making labaneh from start to finish was a practice in trust and a test of my patience, and I happily succeeded. 

The real mark of success though? My mom took one bite and told me my homemade labaneh was better than the store-bought version we’d been eating for years. That alone is enough to get me back in the kitchen, because not only is labaneh a part of my life, now homemade labaneh is too.

I started off with 56.5 ounces of yogurt and finished with 25.3 ounces of labaneh (which came out to 2 ⅔ cups), but the beginning and end weights can vary. For salting, I added ¾ teaspoon of salt, but it’s best to start off small and add more to your liking, otherwise you risk oversalting.

In a medium saucepan or saucier, heat milk gently over medium heat until it reaches 180°F (82°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Keep the milk between 180 and 190°F (82 to 88°C) for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes (how long you hold the milk at this temperature will change how much water steams off and how concentrated the milk proteins and fats end up, changing the final texture of the yogurt; there's no one right way to do it).

Allow the milk to cool to about 110°F (43°C). In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt with a few spoonfuls of the warm milk, then scrape the yogurt mixture into the pot of lukewarm milk. Stir well to distribute the yogurt culture.

Transfer the cultured milk to glass jars, the vessels of a yogurt maker, an Indian clay yogurt pot, or whatever incubating device you may have, such as a slow cooker or Instant Pot.

Cover the jars and keep warm; how you do this depends on what you have at home. You can submerge the jars up to their necks in the temperature-controlled water of an immersion circulator (set to 110°F or the incubation temperature of your choosing); place them in a turned-off oven with the light switched on; wrap them in kitchen towels and hold them in a warm place; submerge them in 110°F water held in a cooler; use a yogurt maker, etc.

How long it takes the yogurt to set will depend on the temperature at which it is held. This can be as short as 3 or 4 hours and as long as 18 hours. Once the yogurt has set, allow it to sit out at room temperature for up to an additional 12 hours to ensure a strong culture; if you're working with a culture you know well, you may not need to let it sit out for so long, especially if you don't want it to grow too sour. There's no one good rule here except to give the yogurt the time it needs to sour and thicken properly.

Line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth or a large coffee filter and set it over a large bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the prepared strainer, transfer to the refrigerator, and allow the whey to drip out until the yogurt has thickened to your desired level, about 24 hours (labaneh should be thicker than Greek yogurt). You should have about 2 1/2 to 3 cups strained yogurt at this point (you can drink the drained whey or use it in some baked goods or other preparations.)

Transfer strained yogurt to a mixing bowl and stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt until evenly distributed, then taste and add additional salt, if desired (labaneh should be noticeably seasoned but not taste strongly salted). Transfer the labaneh to an airtight container and keep refrigerated.

Notes

You can use milk of any fat percentage, though whole milk will yield the richest results; you can also use homogenized or creamline milk; pasteurized milk will work, but try to avoid ultra-pasteurized products, which can have trouble setting properly.

You can use any store-bought plain yogurt or labaneh with active live cultures, or spoon some of your homemade labaneh into a future batch; all will work beautifully. If you use a freeze-dried yogurt culture, follow the manufacturer's instructions. (It's worth mentioning that different types of yogurt can have different microbial profiles, so using store-bought labaneh may get you a little closer to the real deal than other yogurts, though in my tests I didn't notice much of a difference; they all worked well.) Just make sure to pick out a yogurt that doesn’t contain stabilizers, as they can affect draining. 

Special Equipment

3-quart saucepan or saucier, instant-read thermometer, fine-mesh strainer, cheesecloth or large coffee filter

Make-Ahead and Storage

The labaneh can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.

Here’s the thing about boxed cake mixes: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them, and they exist for a reason. While we’ve got plenty of homemade cake recipes to choose from when you’re in the mood for a baking project, sometimes you need to whip up something sweet and satisfying, stat—whether for an impromptu get-together or because you forgot a loved one’s birthday (oops!). 

That doesn't mean cake mix can't be improved, though. There are plenty of add-ins you can use to deepen the flavor and/or texture of the cake, like nuts, spices, freeze-dried fruit, and flavorful fats like brown butter. While there are many options for customizing cake batter, you can’t just fold in whatever you want. Cake mixes are carefully designed food products that are engineered to work just right if you follow the package directions. They make the process incredibly easy, often not even requiring essential cake-batter steps like creaming butter and sugar. But that also means that alterations to the basic formula can sometimes have unintended and undesirable effects.

In doing research for this piece, we came across dozens of articles on this same topic that offered a variety of suggestions we were more than a little skeptical of. There's a good chance many of those articles never tested the tips they were sharing (because, LOL, that's the internet these days, don't you love it?). But we're a different kind of food brand, one that stands by its recommendations and roots them in real testing, so that's what we did here, cooking up round after round of boxed cake mix with different ingredients added, all so we could tell you which ideas are good and which…aren't. 

While all of these ideas are for modifying the mix itself, one of the better roads to making a boxed cake mix taste more homemade and special is to make a frosting from scratch. Whether you prefer American or German buttercream, whipped cream, or ganache, whipping up a homemade frosting usually takes no more than 10 minutes, making it an easy option for a more personal touch. Once you frost your cake, you can decorate it with sprinkles, cookie crumbs, broken pretzels or potato chips, fresh or candied fruit, or anything else that’s calling to you. 

What follows is a list of additions—some recommended, some acceptable, and some we most definitely advise against using—all scaled for a 15.25 ounce package (which is fairly standard) to make your next box of cake mix taste a little less out-of-the-box. 

How We Tested

In order to get started, we identified the boxed-mix “upgrades” we were most doubtful of or just curious about. We wanted to see in what ways each add-in altered the flavor and the texture of the cake, whether negatively or positively. Did the additions affect how the cake rose, how it browned, or how it domed? Was there a change in the crumb? Did the ingredients add to the experience of eating the cake or take away from it? We then bought multiple boxes of the same cake mix, followed the package directions exactly as written, and mixed each sample for the same amount of time with whatever modification we were making. 

The results are as follows: "recommended" modifications are ones we're confident will not harm most boxed cake batters, and in many cases stand to improve them, or, at the very least, alter them in pleasing ways; "acceptable" modifications are ones we didn't think were particularly good, but also didn't do anything outright objectionable to the cake—we probably wouldn't do any of them, but one could; "not recommended" additions are ones we found to be unappealing or downright disgusting, and don't think they should be on any list of cake-batter mods.

Recommended 

Spices

Perhaps the simplest way to add a subtle boost of flavor is incorporating spices into your cake mix. Cinnamon and nutmeg are obvious choices, but other good options include cardamom, allspice, and star anise. You’ll want to be mindful of pairings: Try saffron (which is best bloomed in fat or liquid before adding to the mix), cardamom, or lavender with white chocolate frosting, or a variety of peppercorns with berries and stone fruit for topping your cake. It’s best to start off with small amounts, like 1/2 a teaspoon. Use your sense of smell to gauge whether or not you should add more, and take notes so you can refine your spice levels on future batches. 

Malted Milk Powder

Former Serious Eats editor and baker extraordinaire Stella Parks has called malted milk powder the "umami bomb" of baking. The ingredient adds a depth of toasty, savory flavor similar to butterscotch or toffee, as well as a bit of creamy richness. You can add anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon to enhance your cake. 

Nut and Seed Butters

Adding nut and seed butters—whether you opt for almond butter, peanut butter, tahini, or pistachio paste—can significantly change the flavor of your cake for the better, giving it a nutty richness. We tested these additions both as swirls, in which we only slightly thinned the nut butter with some batter, then swooshed it into the mix without fully incorporating it, and also as a fully-incorporated flavoring. Swirling was not great—it created a gummy texture in the pasty swirled portions—but whisking half a cup of cake batter with half a cup of nut butter before fully mixing it with the rest of the batter resulted in a cake with a more even distribution of flavor and enjoyable texture. 

Browned Butter

Replacing the butter or oil called for on the box with browned butter is a great way to add nutty, toasted notes to your cake. Just be careful not to burn it, and make sure it cools to room temperature before you incorporate it into your batter.  

Freeze-Dried Fruit

Stella has raved about the power of freeze-dried fruit in desserts before. When ground into a powder, the fruit can easily be incorporated into cake batter or frosting for an intense fruitiness and vivid color. Though some recipes (including Stella’s double-strawberry cake) call for up to 3 cups of freeze-dried fruit, we recommend starting with half a cup. Just be wary of adding too much, as it can throw off the flavor and texture of your cake.

Sprinkles and Chocolate Chips

Forgot to pick up the funfetti cake mix? Just add sprinkles to your batter (and your frosting) instead. If you opt for chocolate chips, you may want to dust them in a bit of flour to ensure they’re evenly distributed and don’t sink to the bottom of the cake when baking. 

High-Quality Extracts

Even if you’re making cake from the box, it never hurts to spike it with a quality extract. With extracts—anything from lemon and almond extract to rose or orange flower water, not to mention high-quality vanilla—a little bit goes a long way. Just about 1/2 of a teaspoon should do the trick, though it will depend on the extract. Some are potent enough to pack plenty of flavor with just a few drops, while others can be measured in as described. When in doubt, it's best to start with less and use your sense of smell to gauge whether or not you want to add more. 

Orange or Lemon Zests

Freshly grated lemon or orange zest will add freshness and give the cake a bit of zing. The zest of one lemon or orange should be enough for a box of batter. 

Food Coloring

Food coloring is a fun way and easy way to (literally) brighten up your cake, especially if you’re making it for a kid’s birthday party. If you’re making a layer cake, you can divide the batter and add a few drops to each cake layer to create different colors before baking and stacking. This is an addition that works best on a white or yellow cake, since colors won't show up as well on darker mixes like chocolate. 

Instant Espresso Powder

Instant espresso powder pairs especially well with chocolate and enhances its cocoa flavor, but you can also use it in a yellow or white cake batter. Adding about one teaspoon should be enough. 

Sour Cream

For a cake with some extra tang that fluffs up nicely, adding sour cream is the way to go. You’ll want to add about 1/4 cup per box of cake mix. The only thing to note about this technique is that in our testing, it created some tunnels and tubes throughout the cake that may affect how the inside crumb looks to those with a more detailed eye. We think the flaw is a small price to pay for a decent boost of flavor, but consider yourself warned! 

Acceptable

Replacing Butter With Olive Oil

Many websites recommend swapping out the recommended amount of butter or oil on the box with olive oil, presumably in an effort to recreate the flavor of an olive oil cake. We found that, while the olive oil flavor came through in the final cake, it doesn't match quite well enough with the flavor of the boxed mix to really taste like a proper olive oil cake. The effect is more like a kiddie birthday party cake that just happens to taste faintly of olive oil. It's not a total fail, but it's not the best either.

Nuts and Candied/Dried Fruit

The addition of nuts and dried or candied fruit (such as citron, citrus peel, or even ginger) can add both flavor and texture to a boxed mix, but they did seem a little odd and out of place in a light and fluffy cake—this trick tends to work better in a denser, more rustic dessert like banana bread or carrot cake. If you decide to go this route (which is a bit unexpected and not quite a natural fit), you’ll want to cut the nuts or fruit into small pieces, then dust them in a bit of flour before adding them to the batter; this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom and instead will allow the ingredient to be evenly distributed. 

Liquor

When we thought about adding liquor to the cake batter mix, we wanted to be intentional about the flavor of the liquor we were adding—not all of them would work. We went with a Frangelico, which has a hazelnut flavor we thought would play well in the context of a cake, but it ended up yielding too boozy of a cake. Other liquors like Grand Marnier or allspice dram might work better here, but make sure to use a small amount when adding it to your batter—substituting no more than a quarter of the water or milk called for on the box with the liquor—so as to not create an overpowering flavor. 

Replacing Water With Buttermilk

When we tried replacing the water in the cake batter with the same amount of buttermilk, we were expecting it to have a similar effect as sour cream. Instead, buttermilk created a denser cake, and it barely altered its flavor, with less browning than that of the baseline cake. If you prefer a denser cake—which we think isn’t a common texture for this type of cake—this is the way to go, but other than that, buttermilk didn’t add anything of note to the cake. 

Adding an Extra Egg

When we used one more egg than the box called for in our tests, the resulting cake was particularly light and fluffy, though it did create more doming on top. The addition of an extra egg was good as far as texture was concerned, but it also added a discernibly eggy flavor, which we would rather do without. 

Not Recommended

Replacing Water With Coffee

This was one of the tests we thought might yield great results, but the cake tasted like two-day old drip coffee had been infused into it. If you want to add a coffee flavor to your cake, you’re better off sticking with espresso powder. 

Mayonnaise

Almost every article we saw online on this topic mentioned adding a few tablespoons of mayonnaise to boxed cake batter for a moister cake. We can only conclude most of those writers never tried it,  because we found the vinegary flavor it added completely repulsive. It's really not a shocker, folks—the savory, vinegary flavor profile of mayo doesn't belong anywhere near a cake.

Jam

We tested the addition of jam in boxed cake batter in two ways: as a swirl in the pan right before baking, as well as fully incorporating it into the batter. The former created a greasy, oily cake that felt under-baked due to the jam's extra moisture, while the latter route wasn't flavorful enough. It would be better to add freeze-dried fruit powder to the cake mix itself for a fruity effect, or spread the jam between the layers of cake and leave it out of the cake itself.

“You haven't really cooked if you’ve never cooked with curry leaves,” says Barkha Cardoz, founder of Cardoz Legacy, an organization where she engages in culinary-centered projects in honor of her late husband, Floyd Cardoz. And no, she’s not referring to those curry powders made up of different spices that foreigners tend to associate with Indian cuisine. 

Curry leaves are a beauty unto themselves, full of oils that add a citrusy flavor when used in cooking. The ingredient is most notably a South Asian one, and is found especially in South Indian, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani dishes. It’s quite unique in flavor, and it can be used fresh or dry, ground or whole, often bloomed in oil to release its aroma and flavorful oils. 

To find out more about curry leaves, including its origins, how to shop for them, and how they’re used, we spoke to Cardoz and Anand Prasad, founder of Prasad’s Curry Leaf, a curry leaf farm in Los Angeles that Prasad started with seeds he and his family carried from India, for some guidance. 

What Are Curry Leaves?

Curry leaves come from the Murraya koenigii plant, which is native to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. Belonging to the same family as citrus and rue, the tree grows in tropical climates to about 20 feet tall. Literature dating back to the 1st century A.D. references the use of curry leaves to flavor vegetables. They’ve also been used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries to aid symptoms of everything from diabetes to high cholesterol.

Aside from its citrusy notes, the flavor of curry leaves is hard to pinpoint. It’s often described as having the flavor of the spice asafoetida, and can be slightly bitter and pungent. It contains the compounds pinene, which is present as an aroma molecule in eucalyptus and orange, plus marijuana; sabinene, which is found in marjoram, black pepper, nutmeg; and caryophyllene, found in black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, all of which give it a complex flavor with herbal, floral, woodsy, and citrusy notes.

How to Buy and Store Curry Leaves

There is nothing quite like the flavor and aroma you’ll get from fresh curry leaves, but they can be harder to come by than dried ones. You can usually find fresh ones at South Asian grocery stores like Patel Brothers, as well as online from places like Kalustyan’s.

When shopping for fresh leaves, Cardoz recommends looking for small leaves, which are younger and more tender. She preps them by first removing them from the base of their tough central stem, which doesn’t hold much flavor, and wiping—not washing—them clean, then puts them in a zipper-lock bag before storing in the fridge for at least two weeks or the freezer for up to two months.

Dried curry leaves are hardly a concession, however. “Nothing can be beat by fresh curry leaves,” says Prasad. Their flavor and aroma is much stronger than the dried leaves. Even when seeking dried, though, Cardoz recommends starting with fresh if at all possible and drying them yourself, which will give you more flavor mileage than buying dried leaves of an unknown age. You dry the leaves in the sun or in a dehydrator, then transfer them to zipper-lock bags with a silica gel desiccant packet to ensure they don't grow moldy.

Ground curry leaves are also fairly popular on the market. Prasad has a version in collaboration with Burlap & Barrel, but you can also find ground curry leaves at most international spice markets. 

How to Cook With Curry Leaves

“I can’t remember anything I make without curry leaves,” says Cardoz. It’s commonly used in tadka, a process in which spices are bloomed in hot oil or ghee and then used as a finisher on top of dishes like dal. Prasad echoes the same statement about the importance of curry leaves in Indian cuisine, noting, “If I go into the kitchen and there are no curry leaves, how is there going to be a tadka?”

“It's something that you put in for the aroma, for texture, for crunch,” says Cardoz. “It just adds so much flavor.” While some prefer to take the curry leaves out of a dish before serving, similar to when cooking with bay leaves, Cardoz is among the folks who look forward to eating it. 

“My kids will pull it out,” she says. “I say ‘give it to me, I’ll eat it.’” She also likes to fry the leaves separately until crispy to add a crunchy topping to whatever she’s serving. 

While curry leaves are often used in tadka as a finishing flavor and aroma addition to dishes, they can also be cooked into a recipe as a base aromatic ingredient. Even then, they’re best bloomed in oil first. Ground curry leaves can also be used in the same way. Cardoz mentioned that when she makes a dish like peas and potatoes in a tomato sauce, for example, she’ll start by blooming one or two leaves in the oil before adding her onions, garlic, ginger, and any other aromatic ingredients. She lets the curry leaves sit in the sauce as it simmers so they can further release their flavors. 

“They're 99 cents at an Indian grocery store,” says Cardoz. “Just add them to whatever you're cooking to try it out and see—you'll be amazed.” For 99 cents, it’s hard to argue with that logic.

While brownies made from scratch are delicious in their own right, for me, boxed brownies will always reign supreme. They’re easy and reliable, and—contrary to other quick alternatives, like canned soup, that are chosen more for convenience than flavor—are actually pretty equal to their homemade counterparts. Sometimes there’s a craving for a fudgy brownie with a glossy top that only a box of Duncan Hines or Ghirardelli can fulfill.

But while I’m loyal to boxed brownies, there are plenty of times that call for taking the batter to the next level. Whether you want to bring them over to a friend’s house, or just make movie night a little more special, sprucing up a box of brownie batter is an incredibly simple task. I have my own tricks for doing this, and I also know my colleagues do, too. Here are our favorite tips for elevating the boxed brownies you already love to a level you didn’t even think was possible.

Fruits and Nuts

Fruits and nuts are great for introducing more flavor and texture to your brownies. When it comes to nuts, you can reach for whatever you have in your pantry—salted, candied, or otherwise. “When I make brownies or blondies, I like to add toasted nuts for extra crunch and flavor,” says culinary editor Genevieve Yam. “Any nut will do, but my favorites are pecans and walnuts.” Feel free to chop them up and mix them into the batter, or add them on top for even more visual appeal. 

Candied fruit like orange peel, ginger, or pineapple are great for extra sweetness and chew. When mixing in preserved or fresh fruits, Genevieve recommends tossing them in a bit of flour before incorporating into the batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom. Some stem ginger in syrup would also be a wonderful addition.  

Spices and Salts

Spices and salts can really transform the overall flavor of a brownie. Chile powder is famous for pairing well with chocolate, so you can start by adding a small amount—about 1/2 teaspoon—and adjusting to your liking. Cinnamon and cardamom are also excellent pairings (and known friends of chocolate!). If using a flaky sea salt like Maldon, pour your brownie batter into the pan first and then finish it off with an even sprinkling over the top of the batter for extra crunch and textural contrast.

Sweet, Savory, and Boozy

Swirling in new ingredients doesn’t just add flavor, it can also give your brownies a beautifully marbled appearance. It’s also easy to find new and inventive flavor combinations just by looking in your pantry. Try pastes like pistachio or nut butters, tahini, or even jams. Caramel is another great option, including cajeta or dulce de leche. “Brownies are always better with caramel, and a quick caramel sauce swirled into the batter with a sprinkle of salt adds extreme decadence to the ordinary,” says commerce writer Jesse Raub.

Sprinkles are an easy swap-in (and ones that kids will especially love), which you can either incorporate into the batter or sprinkle on top before baking. If you’re a fan of brittle, you can easily crush or chop it up and mix it into the batter. And if you want something savory, ingredients like crushed up potato chips or pretzels also work well flavor-wise while simultaneously adding an element of texture. 

Another easy (if perhaps less common) option is incorporating sweetened cheeses like cream cheese or mascarpone. When going this route, Genevieve notes the importance of straining the cheese if it’s on the wet side (i.e. ricotta), or you’ll end up introducing unwanted moisture.

Some of our team's favorite ways to spruce up brownie batter involve using flavor enhancers like malted milk powder, browned butter, and high-quality vanilla (either extract or from the bean). 

“I'll never forget when Stella told me that malted milk powder is basically the umami bomb of the baking world—a flavor enhancer that maximizes sweet foods in deliciously butterscotchy ways,” says senior culinary director Daniel Gritzer. “To that end, spiking a brownie mix with some malted milk powder sounds like a pro move for a subtle boost. According to Stella, you can add it to most desserts without throwing off the rest of the recipe, making it an easy add-in.” 

Updates editor Jake Dean loves to go the browned butter route. “My wife Andrea is the baker in our house, and our friends often request she make brown butter blondies,” he says. “I think using browned butter in place of regular melted butter adds an intriguing quality to easy baked goods, and would be a great way to add nuance and depth to store-bought brownie mix.” Genevieve notes that since water evaporates when you brown butter, you may need to add a little more browned butter than what the box calls for with regular butter. 

One final tip that shouldn’t be missed? A splash of a dark liquor like bourbon or rum is a simple and boozy way to round out the rich chocolate flavor of a boxed brownie. Perhaps the biggest question left to answer is which trick you'll try first!

I grew up eating sumac, though for most of my life I had no idea what the burgundy powder was called or just how powerful it can be. If there was a Middle Eastern dish on the table (which most nights, there was), it was almost always finished with sumac. My mom sprinkled it on everything from hummus to babaganoush, and it served as a colorful ingredient in a number of meat-based dishes. I ate it with gusto while simultaneously being oblivious to how essential the flavor was to whatever I was eating. 

While sumac used to be an ingredient mostly unknown to a majority of Americans, it has since grown significantly in popularity. Its bright, tart flavor is an essential component of many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, but it's a versatile spice that can be used in a range of dishes and cooking styles. 

The use of sumac goes back thousands of years, with foundations in both Levantine and Native American cuisines. To help us learn more about sumac—including what it is, where it comes from, and how to use it—we talked to Alyse Baca, culinary director at Spicewalla, Reem Assil, chef and founder of Reem’s California in San Francisco, Manal Nasan, founder of the spice company Re7het Falasteen, and author and agroecologist Gary Nabhan.

What is Sumac?

Sumac is a small, fuzzy berry that grows in clusters on trees in the genus Rhus, which comes from the Anacardiaceae family—the same family as pistachios, cashews, mangoes, and mastic (a resin used in Greek, Turkish, and other Mediterranean foods). Sumac trees grow in the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia, and all over North America (there are even sumac trees in places like Central Park in New York City). However, sumac plants that yield white berries, or have red stems and shorter leaves are considered poisonous. 

The name comes from the Arabic word “summaq,” which translates to “red.” Because various species of sumac are native to more than one continent, its exact origins are difficult to establish. Sources claim origins in Sicily, Turkey, and Iran, for example, and that's without acknowledging the separate story of North American species. “It's not really uncommon for a set of plants to rib the Mediterranean in the mountainous areas and then extend into the mountains further east,” says Nabhan, whose work focuses on links between biodiversity and cultural diversity. 

The berry was used in both ancient and medieval Europe and around the Mediterranean not only as a spice, but as a dye and for medicinal purposes. The Romans also relied on sumac as a source of tanginess before lemons found their way into Europe. “There weren't lemons very early on in Europe, so sumac was a primary way to season most meats, fish, and vegetables with a sweet, sour, and tangy flavor,” says Nabhan. 

Indigenous peoples in North America also used sumac to treat ailments, as well as to make a refreshing sumac “lemonade.” “In English, [it’s known as] the lemonade berry,” notes Nabhan of some species of the plant. He explains that sumac plants have been growing in North America for thousands of years, and although they are a different species from those found in the Mediterranean, their profiles are similar. Today, however, most commercially sold sumac has been imported from the Middle East. 

Sumac is harvested, sun-dried, and can be purchased whole, but is more often sold ground as a seasoning. Ground sumac is made by grinding the berry—either using a machine or the more traditional method of stone-grinding—to a coarse, deep red powder. 

Manal Nasan, who is familiar with sumac harvesting in Palestine, notes that some farmers mix their ground sumac with just a little bit of wheat flour to tame the sourness. In Palestine, they have a type of sumac called ballady, which is ground sumac in its purest form. “Ballady means authentic,” says Nasan. She notes that while they do sell both types in Palestine, the ballady version tends to be more expensive.

How to Buy and Store Sumac

While it used to be that you could only find sumac in specialty and Middle Eastern markets, in recent years, it’s more readily available at your everyday grocery store. However, you may still want to head to those specialty markets to make sure you’re getting the best quality product. 

Whole sumac can be hard to come by, but you can purchase it online. When shopping for the ground spice, Alyse Baca advises looking for “that signature bright crimson color”—which indicates the berries were harvested at peak ripeness and ground relatively recently—and tasting it, if possible. “It should taste tangy and bright, with a strong floral aroma,” she says. Sumac is typically ground on the coarser side, which she prefers. "I think the coarseness creates a nice texture," she says, with the larger pieces releasing more flavor as you chew it.

Reem Assil echoes Baca’s notes about color. “That crimson, almost red to purple, eggplanty sumac is the best,” she says. “I don't want my chicken to look brown, I want it to look bright purple. People eat with their eyes, right?”

Like most spices, sumac should be kept in a cool, dark, and dry place like a cabinet or drawer. Good quality sumac will last up to a year before losing its flavor. 

How to Cook With Sumac

In addition to its Native American uses, sumac is often used across the Middle East and the Mediterranean, in places like Turkey and Greece, to season meat and vegetables. It’s a key ingredient in the Palestinian dish of msakhan, giving the onions their color, and is also an important component of za’atar. “It pairs well with anything that could use a little kick of acidity,” says Baca, making it incredibly versatile. 

The spice is incredibly useful for adding tang and tartness to dishes without having to also add additional liquid like lemon juice to a dish, which makes it a great option as a flavoring in wetness-prone salads—many containing juicy ingredients like cucumbers and tomatoes—such as fattoush. “Not only does it add this beautiful color to things, but it adds an acidity without having to put a liquid in something,” says Assil. 

Along similar lines, it's an ideal spice to be used as a garnish or finisher—a last little sprinkle for pops of flavor and visual impact. Whenever my mom makes hummus, she serves it in a shallow bowl and garnishes it with a decorative pattern of sumac, pickled cucumber, and olive oil.

Beyond its role as a flavoring agent, there is both anecdotal evidence and some research indicating sumac can be employed as a meat tenderizer, thanks to active enzymes that help break down tough connective tissue like collagen. 

While there are plenty of traditional uses for sumac, it never hurts to get creative in the kitchen. Of course you can use it on everything from eggs and French fries to chips and popcorn, but its applications can go even further. “I love using sumac in baking,” says Baca. “The citrusy flavor works beautifully with berries.” 

Assil has found yet another unconventional use for sumac by tossing candied pomelo rind in a mix of sumac and sugar to make a sweet-and-sour candied fruit.“I have a love for sour candy,” she says. “It almost takes the place of citric acid in the candied things. And it’s pretty, that hue of red.” Assil notes that sumac is also an excellent accompaniment to pomegranate seeds when tossed with them as a snack or a topping for salads and other dishes. 

I can’t think of sumac without thinking about my mom’s home cooking, and that may be why it has so easily found a place in my spice cabinet. But now that I’m cooking in my own kitchen, I’ve learned just how far a sprinkle of sumac can go in almost anything that could use a bright, tart kick—the possibilities are endless.