What Is Allspice and How Can I Use It?

If allspice has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 904 recipes to try it in.

What is allspice?

Allspice is a small scrubby tree, very similar to the Bay Laurel in size and form. It can be grown outdoors in the tropics and subtropics with normal garden soil and watering. Smaller plants can be destroyed by frost, although larger plants are more tolerant.

It adapts well to container culture and can be kept as a houseplant or in a greenhouse. The plant is dioecious, meaning plants are either male or female and hence male and female plants must be kept in proximity in order to allow fruits to develop.

Nutrition

Where found

Allspice is usually found in the spices section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group

Allspice is a member of the Spices and Herbs US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

How much does allspice weigh?

Related

Spices and Herbs

Recipes using allspice

There are 904 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Adam's Chai Latte Ice Cream

My brother Adam loves this ice cream so much that I asked him for the recipe. It's a Chai Latte with chunks of gingerbread cookies hidden within.

Opal Deneke's Fig Jam

Opal Deneke's fig jam with ripe figs, pineapple, lemon juice, and warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Old-Southern hand-me-down preserve perfect for biscuits, cheese boards, or holiday gifting.

Spiced Baba Gannouj

Spiced baba ghanoush with broiled eggplant, lemon, olive oil, and a warming hit of allspice and cinnamon. A Middle Eastern dip with unexpected spice depth, served with pita and fresh herbs.

Pork Hock with Pickled Sweet Red Pepper

I like this sour flavor. The best over buckwheat, but all is fine when over rice, potatoes, noodles, or just with lettuce mix. You may use pickled grilled red pepper.

Easy Creamy Pumpkin Pie

Easy creamy pumpkin pie made with brown sugar, evaporated milk, and a simple cinnamon-allspice-ginger spice blend. A no-fuss Thanksgiving classic that mixes in one bowl.

Delicious Pumpkin Waffles

Fluffy pumpkin spice waffles with warm cinnamon, allspice, and ginger folded into a tender batter. Top with toasted pecans and maple syrup for an autumn breakfast worth waking up for.

Cucumber Soup with Spring Vegetables

All veggies are young, fresh and full of spring garden aroma. Is there anything more lovely?

Pleasure's Pumpkin Pie

Pleasure's Pumpkin Pie: a lighter Thanksgiving pie made with whipped egg whites and skim evaporated milk, packed with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice for classic fall warmth.

Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies

Grandma's oatmeal cookies plump raisins in baking-soda water, then fold them into a buttermilk-spiced oat dough with walnuts. Five-plus dozen warm-spiced cookies for the cookie jar.

Favorite Chewy Spice Cookies

Chewy spice cookies are low-fat molasses cookies sweetened with applesauce, scented with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, then drizzled with lemon icing. Holiday spice cookies without butter or eggs.

Grilled Jerk Pork Chops

A seasoning mix that originated in Jamaica, jerk is popular throughout the Caribbean in the preparation of meats such as pork and chicken for grilling. Jerk seasoning typically includes chilies, onion, allspice, and thyme.

Favourite Apple Spice Muffins

Apple spice muffins use grated fresh apple, apple juice concentrate, and warm cinnamon-allspice for natural sweetness. A lower-fat breakfast muffin with raisins and tender crumb.

Silky Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Vegan pumpkin pie made with silken tofu instead of eggs and cream, sweetened with date sugar and molasses. Silky custard texture with classic Thanksgiving spice.

Amazing Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati's iconic chili simmers with warm spices like cinnamon, allspice, and cocoa powder, creating a Greek-influenced meat sauce perfect for ladling over spaghetti.

Cakey Gingerbread Squares

Cakey gingerbread squares with molasses, fresh orange zest, and warm holiday spices. Tender old-fashioned gingerbread, dusted with powdered sugar for a snowy finish.

Rich Apple Butter

Slow cooker apple butter simmers unpeeled apples and cider for 10 hours, then adds sugar and warm spices for the last hour. Yields ten 6-ounce jars of deep, spiced spread for toast or biscuits.

Decorated Spice Cookies

Spice cookies with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and clove rolled and cut into festive shapes. The perfect Christmas cookie for decorating with royal icing.

Pecan Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Chock full of pecans and well spiced, perfect snack for a cooler Autumn day.

Pumpkin Pie with Short Pastry Crust

Pumpkin pie sweetened with honey and molasses, lightened with whipped cream folded into the custard, in a buttery short pastry crust. A holiday classic with a silkier-than-usual filling.

Whole Wheat Gingerbread People Cookies

Whole wheat gingerbread people cookies sweetened with honey and molasses, spiced with ginger and allspice. A wholesome roll-and-cut Christmas cookie with a deep, earthy flavor and snappy edges.

Breakfast Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

Cranberry pumpkin muffins fold tart fresh cranberries into a spiced pumpkin batter for a tender breakfast muffin balanced between sweet and tangy. The autumn pairing in muffin form.

Joan's Pear Chutney

Pear chutney with white raisins, sweet peppers and warm spices. Homemade fruit condiment canned in half-pint jars, ready in 60 minutes.

Spicy Pumpkin Butter

Microwave pumpkin butter cooks in 8 minutes with brown sugar and a 5-spice warm blend of allspice, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. A fall spread for toast, biscuits, or pancakes.

Favourite Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Pumpkin chiffon pie layers warm-spiced pumpkin custard with stiff egg whites and whipped cream, then chills into an airy, mousse-like filling inside a graham cracker crust. A lighter no-bake alternative to traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

Pork Shoulder in Chanterelle Sauce over Buckwheat

Pork shoulder in chanterelle sauce over buckwheat: tender pressure-cooked pork in a fragrant wild-mushroom sauce with herbs, spooned over nutty buckwheat. A rustic, comforting Eastern European plate.

All 904 recipes