Your top five (or so) staple spices

Fat_Bottomed_Girl

-And what you use them for, if you are so inclined...

Farburnfred

Have at least 5 for curries....curry powder, Garam masala, turmeric, coriander and cumin.. I also use lots of cinnamon and ginger. But I have tons of herbs and spices on my shelves!

torrmairi

I must admit I don't season very much, but my top four are cinnamon, vanilla, cayenne and coriander. I put cinnamon onto apples and microwave or bake them (really good for a snack), vanilla in with my natural soy protein or anything I want a little sweeter, cayenne into anything tomato-based, and coriander is amazing in nearly everything savoury. I'm really keen on dill and cardamom, which are staples for basic Nordic cooking (think milky sauces and bread), but I haven't had them in recently.

Oh and I put sriracha on most things, but that's not really a spice.

TheRealParisLove

Garlic, ginger, dill, cinnamon, and hot pepper flakes.

I use garlic in just about every savory dish I make. Ginger and garlic together is pretty awesome for asian style cooking. Fresh ginger on fruit or in smoothies. Cinnamon in my coffee, daily. I add cinnamon bits to the grounds before brewing. Dill as a seasoning for salads and seafood. And hot pepper flakes in my dinner just about every day. I like it hot.

Andrea419

Cumin, cinnamon, chili powder, curry powder, and ginger.

wrbiii

Garlic, Onion, Cayenne, Lemon (instead of lemon pepper... I've also gotten good at cooking with lemon instead of any kind of oil), and whatever variety of Mrs. Dash sounds good

paintlisapurple

Whole fresh garlic, fresh ginger root, Hungarian paprika (spicy yum!), Parsley, and black pepper.
It would take too long to tell you all the ways to use them.
Paprika is a main staple in my twist of Hungarian Goulash.
Garlic, parsley and black pepper go into my chicken soup.
Everything except for the paprika goes into my stir fries along with whatever bit of Asian inspired sauce I am in the mood for at the moment, like Teriyaki (sp?), Hoisin, sweet & sour or what have you.
Lord I love to cook and experiment with different flavors!

pinuplove

Aside from salt and black pepper...

For dried spices, ancho chili powder, cumin, coriander, thyme, and (for my husband) cayenne.
I also cook with fresh basil, cilantro, onion, garlic, shallots, and ginger all the time!

zaph0d

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Thyme, Oregano, Cumin

Honorable mention: chili powder and cumin

tannyasawyer

- Black pepper. If it's savoury, it's going in...

- Salt. A little goes a looong way. Even in sweet foods (porridge, baked good, etc.) Takes away some of the sickly/bland flavour.

- Cinnamon. Awesome stuff. Great in porridge. Supposed to help with sugar levels too!

- Garlic. Looove garlic

- Chinese Fivespice. Love this stuff, although I haven't used it for quite a while. Is great in small amounts on with pork and chicken.

kiittenforever

Black pepper on everything

Minced garlic, basil, oregano - veggies, legumes, fish, pasta

chilli pepper, club house cajun seasoning - veggies, legumes, fish, soups

Debbe2

Lemon pepper, chili lime rub, southwest seasoning, Italian seasoning, garlic

amberaz

Garlic, onion, cumin, smoked paprika, basil

Garlic and onion-dried and powdered-go in everything I cooke except breakfast
Cumin I use for anything that need a very savory, rich flavor
Smoked paprika goes in most things, it adds a rich sweet smoky flavor that compliments most things
Basil is great because I grow in my garden and always have it fresh, it's a sweet herbal flavor that goes well with asian, italian and mexican dishes.

EricInArlington

Tabasco
Slap Yo Mama
Srriracha " red ****"
cumin
garlic salt

LorinaLynn

Ground cumin. A giant jar of assorted "Italian Seasoning." Red pepper flakes. Black pepper. Chili powder.

taunto

Most of the spices I keep in my place whole and I grind them after roasting the "seeds" as needed. More flavor. Anyways, since I'm Indian and my main culinary experience is in south eat asia and mid-eastern cuisine heres my list

Turmeric powder
Garam Masala
Dried Chilli pepper. Or cayenne peppers
cumin
coriander seeds
summac (try it on salads or put it on top of a cooked burger)
chaat masala
cardimom
fennul
yellow mustard seeds
black mustard seeds
chaat masala

My list can go on and on. I use alot of spices >.<

The main thing to remember is to know your spices and that spices should be used to compliment each other. Once you learn the nature of different spices, you can do amazing things with food!

TiffanySuscheck

I only need 2: cayenne and cinnamon.

I carry both in my purse and put them on anything and everything.

shoshi68

Ginger, garlic, chili pepper, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, turmeric, thyme.

reneelee

cumin
garlic
cayenne

curry
garlic
ginger

salt
pepper

adobo

MyaPapaya75

curry for chicken
adobo for everything
garlic for everything
pepper for everything
salt for everything
onion powder for everything
sazon for everything

californiagirl2012

Have at least 5 for curries....curry powder, Garam masala, turmeric, coriander and cumin.. I also use lots of cinnamon and ginger. But I have tons of herbs and spices on my shelves!

YUM where is the LIKE button. I have a ton of spices and I use them for everything. I prepare all my food at home and it's funny when people see my diary they must think it is pretty boring with all the fruits and veggies, but the truth is that it's all yummy and it is because of SPICE.

gracieabem

Oooh, tough one. I use a lot!
I love cinnamon in my oats.
I love tarragon with chicken.
I use a lot of cumin
Garlic in nearly everything
Chill flakes

I love the freshness of ginger, but don't use it nearly as much as I would like.

I use others, but not on a regular basis. It's one thing I would like to experiment a bit more with, trying to work out what flavours go well etc. Same for fresh herbs.

rmkramer003

Garlic, Marjoram, Pepper, Ground mustard, Cinnamon, Basil, Thyme

Aside from the ground mustard, I put them on anything I think they'll taste good in. Ground mustard I put into cheese sauce to bring out the flavor.

DoxieMama70

Garlic (salt and powder) - anything I can put it on
Onion powder
Chili powder
Dill - love this on potatoes and salmon
Black pepper - on pretty much anything
Curry
Oregano (also Italian blend)
Cayenne Pepper - love some heat

I have tons of spices in my cabinet, I am always experimenting.

linz1125

Coriander, siriacha, and a local pork seasoning that I put on pork and chicken (it's called Shoups country seasoning). I just got a basil plant so hopefully I will be using that a lot too ( I can never find it fresh so when I found the plant I had to have it!). And I put garlic on everything!

aallegri

Cinnamon in my coffee, on apples, on coconut manna, etc...

Rosemary, basil, thyme and sage are the other four...I use them on meats and fish and veggies

IslandDreamer64

Garlic, cayenne, onion, cinnamon, vanilla.

Temporalia

Basil for anything, coriander, cinnamon, smoked paprika and ginger

AlphamaleBAMF

I'll just say Cajun and Cinnamon. Cajun is like 5 anyway.

small_ninja

I can't get enough of cumin (with a bit of oregano and paprika) for spicy dishes.

Cinnamon + vanilla is a must for baked fruit.

kmbrooks15

Garlic pepper is a favorite for veggies and pasta. Old Bay is my go-to for fish. My other favorite is Everglades seasoning. It's only available in stores in Florida or online. It was developed in WWII; a guy from Florida went to Europe as a cook for the American troops. Their food was so bland that they were throwing it in the ocean! So he developed a seasoning that everyone loved so much they were putting it on everything, even scrambled eggs! When he returned home from the war, he further refined it and began selling it. It's good stuff, and you don't need a lot of it for flavor. It's good on pork, chicken, steak, veggies, eggs...it's a little strong for fish, though, in my opinion.

I've never been a big veggie eater, but I've found that seasoning can go a long way toward making them palatable!