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Chinese Salt And Pepper Seasoning Recipe

Make Chinese salt and pepper seasoning with this quick and easy homemade recipe. All you need is a few simple ingredients to make a spice mix that tastes amazing!

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If you want to add flavour to your dishes, then you’ve come to the right place! This Chinese style salt and pepper seasoning will turn any meal into a mouth-watering masterpiece.

It’s popular in many Chinese takeaway dishes, but guess what, I’m going to show you how to make it in the comfort of your own home! It’s so simple to make and the taste is so good too.

With this salt and pepper mix, you can use it to recreate your favourite Chinese takeaway recipes, such as these tasty salt and pepper chips. Or you can use it to marinate and season meats and seafoods.

What Is Salt And Pepper Seasoning?

Salt and pepper seasoning (also called salt and chilli seasoning) is a Chinese style spice mix used to add flavour to a variety of dishes. It’s used to make popular ‘salt and pepper’ Chinese takeaway dishes and has fast become a big hit throughout the UK.

Despite the name, it’s so much more than simply salt and pepper! It includes Asian inspired flavours such as Chinese 5 spice, ginger and garlic powder. This results in a complex yet delicious spice blend that tastes chilli, salty and slightly sweet.

The main flavour in this salt and pepper mix is Chinese 5 spice – it’s a must for making salt and pepper seasoning! However, if you don’t have it don’t worry, I’ve written a list of the best Chinese 5 spice Substitutes that you can use instead.

Watch How To Make It

What Ingredients Are In Salt And Pepper Seasoning?

Below are the 7 ingredients needed to make your own homemade salt and pepper seasoning from scratch. White pepper, Chinese 5 spice and salt are a must-have, whereas sugar and chilli flakes are optional additions:

White Pepper: I like to use white pepper, but you can swap it with black pepper.
Salt: I used standard table salt, but you can also use sea salt instead.
Chilli Flakes: If you don’t have chilli flakes then you can use chilli powder.
Chinese 5 Spice: One of the main ingredients: it’s made from Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise and cloves. The taste is a combination of warm spice and sweet liquorice.
Sugar (optional): I tend to add caster sugar, but granulated sugar is also fine to use. Sugar adds a slight sweetness to the spice mix, but this small addition is optional.
Garlic Powder: Added for extra flavour. If you can’t find garlic powder, you can use garlic granules instead.
Ginger Powder: Just like garlic powder, ginger powder is also added for extra flavour.

How To Make Salt And Pepper Seasoning

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make Chinese salt and pepper seasoning. Full recipe instructions are on the recipe card:

Step One:

Pour all the spices into a small mixing bowl.

Step Two:

With a spoon, thoroughly mix the ingredients together until evenly distributed. Use immediately or store in an airtight container.

My Top Tips

For fresh flavour and longer potency, you can grind whole spices from scratch! Now, this does take a bit of time, but the result is a vibrant and freshly tasting spice mix. You can grind whole white peppercorns to make white pepper or make the Chinese 5 spice mix from scratch.

Make sure to thoroughly mix the spices together to get an even and consistent flavour throughout.

The great thing about making spice blends from scratch, is that you can alter the ratio of ingredients to suit your own personal taste. Once you mix up the spice ingredients, have a quick taste and adjust the flavours to your own liking.

How To Use Chinese Salt And Pepper Seasoning

If you haven’t already, you need to try these Chinese salt and pepper chips!! Oh my it tastes SO GOOD. This salt and chilli seasoning mix is great to use as a marinade, for dry rubs, to sprinkle over crispy chicken or simply to enhance the flavours of any dish. How you use it is simply up to you!

I’ve also listed a few more ways to use this Chinese style salt and pepper seasoning below:

Make Salt And Pepper Chicken
Sprinkle it over vegetables before roasting
Enhance stir-fry dishes
Add it to dipping sauces (like this Chinese BBQ Sauce recipe)
Sprinkle it over spring rolls

How To Store

Store the spice mix in an airtight container, I usually use small glass jars with a screw-top lid. However, any type of container is fine as long as it’s airtight.

You can easily double or triple this recipe to create a larger batch to store in larger containers. Spice mixes can last months to one year, however, you may find that the flavour intensity will diminish overtime.

Recipe Variations

If you don’t like too much heat, then you can take out the chilli flakes from the recipe ingredients. If you love the heat, then you can add more!

I only add half a teaspoon of sugar for a slight touch of sweetness, but you can add more for a sweeter contrasting flavour.

Some recipes and restaurants add MSG to their salt and pepper seasoning mix; it’s a flavour enhancer. If you like MSG, then you can also add it to this spice mix.

More Chinese Takeaway Recipes

I created a post featuring the best Chinese takeaway recipes Ever! I’ve listed a few popular recipes from this post below: