Montreal steak seasoning substitutes

The real formula, and genuinely quick if you have whole peppercorns and a heavy pan to crush them under.

Best for

grilled steak, burgers, roast beef and prime rib, grilled portobello mushrooms, chicken thighs and pork chops

Two details separate a good version from a mediocre one. First, crush rather than grind: pulse the peppercorns and coriander in a spice grinder two or three times only, or bash them under a heavy skillet, so you end up with cracked fragments instead of dust. Fine pepper tastes hotter and dustier and gives you no crust. Second, dill seed is the note most people cannot place and the one that makes the blend taste specifically Montreal, so include it if you possibly can. This keeps for months in a jar.

The three-ingredient version, which is most of what the blend is by weight anyway.

Best for

any grilled or pan-seared steak, burgers, a last-minute cook with a bare cupboard

Honestly close, because salt and pepper make up the majority of Montreal spice. What is missing is the coriander and dill, so the crust tastes straightforwardly peppery instead of having that faintly citrusy, pickle-like aroma in the background. Nobody at the table will complain. If you have whole coriander seed, crushing a pinch into this takes ten seconds and gets you noticeably closer than adding anything else.

A clever shortcut, because pickling spice already contains coriander, dill and mustard seed, which are exactly the aromatics in Montreal spice.

Best for

steak and roast beef, smoked brisket, when you have a jar of pickling spice and no separate coriander or dill seed

This works better than it sounds and the family resemblance is real, since Montreal steak spice grew out of the pickling and deli-curing spices used for smoked meat. Crush the pickling spice coarsely and pick out any large bay leaf or cinnamon fragments first, because those will taste out of place on a steak and can turn bitter over the flame. Expect a slightly sweeter, more clove-and-allspice edge than the original depending on your blend.

A ready-made savoury rub that will season beef properly, just in a different accent.

Best for

burgers, steak when you want heat, chicken and shrimp, grilled vegetables

It gets the salting job done and the crust job partly done, but the flavour lands somewhere else: cayenne heat up front, dried oregano and thyme behind it, and usually a much finer texture, so the coarse crackly crust does not form. A ribeye rubbed with Cajun seasoning is very good, it just does not taste like Montreal steak spice. Salt levels vary widely between brands, so taste the blend before you decide how heavily to season.

A different route to the same destination when you have no whole spices at all but do have a bottle in the fridge door.

Best for

pan-seared steak, burgers, broiled or oven-cooked beef

Be clear that this changes the cooking, not just the flavour. A wet coating will not char the way a dry rub does, it browns and can burn because of the sugar in the sauce, and the meat will not develop a dry crust. Pat the steak dry, salt it, brush thinly, and cook a touch cooler. The flavour goes tangy and slightly sweet rather than peppery-savoury. Use this when the alternative is unseasoned steak, not as a first choice.

The answer plenty of steakhouse cooks would give you, which deserves stating rather than dressing up.

Best for

high-quality steak, dry-brining a roast overnight, anyone who wants the beef to taste like beef

The technique carries this more than the ingredients do. Salt the meat at least 40 minutes ahead, or overnight in the fridge uncovered, so the surface dries and the salt penetrates, then add the cracked pepper just before it hits the heat so it does not scorch. You lose the garlic-onion savour and the coriander aroma, so the result tastes cleaner and more purely beefy. On a good steak that is arguably better. On a cheap thin cut, the missing aromatics are more of a loss.