Nutmeg substitutes
Nutmeg substitutes — 5 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called ground nutmeg, whole nutmeg, grated nutmeg, freshly grated nutmeg, nutmeg powder
Use Mace
1 tsp for every 1 tsp nutmeg
Mace is the one true swap: it is the lacy covering of the same seed, so use it teaspoon for teaspoon. After that it depends on the dish. In sweet baking, pumpkin pie spice teaspoon for teaspoon or allspice at three quarters works. In a savoury white sauce — béchamel, mac and cheese, quiche, creamed spinach — leave the nutmeg out and add a pinch of white pepper instead. Cinnamon at 1:1 there makes the sauce taste like dessert.
- Verdict —
- Works
- The tweak —
- Use the same amount. If you want it identical, add a little more — mace is very slightly gentler — but nothing in the recipe needs to change.
- Best for —
- savoury cream sauces, where no other swap is safe
- Pantry —
- Special trip
Checked 23 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the nutmeg doing?
Pick your caseIs the nutmeg going into something sweet, or into a savoury cream sauce?
Nutmeg here is background — it makes the dairy taste rounder and less flat, and most people could not name it if you asked. Mace is a straight swap. If you have no mace, leave it out and add a pinch of white pepper and a scrape of Dijon mustard instead. Do not use cinnamon, allspice or pumpkin pie spice: at nutmeg's amount they are still loud enough to make the sauce taste like dessert. More on this at for bechamel sauce.
Notes on mace
1 tsp per tsp
You have room here, because cinnamon and ginger are already in the bowl. Pumpkin pie spice works teaspoon for teaspoon and already contains nutmeg; allspice works at three quarters. See for pumpkin pie and for apple pie.
Notes on pumpkin pie spice or allspice
1 tsp per tsp
The dusting of nutmeg on top of an eggnog or a custard tart is the thing people are looking forward to. Mace is the only real stand-in. Otherwise serve it plain rather than dusted with cinnamon, which turns eggnog into something else entirely.
Grate it on the finest side of a box grater or a microplane; one whole nutmeg gives about 2 to 3 tsp. Freshly grated is noticeably stronger than a jar that has been open a year, so start with two thirds of the amount and smell it. See fresh vs ground nutmeg.
Answer one question first: sweet or savoury. In a savoury cream sauce use mace, or leave the nutmeg out and add white pepper — never cinnamon, allspice or pumpkin pie spice. In sweet baking, pumpkin pie spice teaspoon for teaspoon or allspice at three quarters both work, because cinnamon and ginger are already in the bowl. And whatever you use, keep the amount small: nutmeg is measured in scrapes of a grater, not spoonfuls, and it should never be doubled when a recipe is doubled.
Nutmeg is pure aroma in amounts too small to change anything else. In sweet baking it is one warm note among several; in a cream sauce it is what makes dairy taste round rather than flat.
Aroma & flavor identityprimary
Nutmeg's volatile oils are strong enough that an eighth of a teaspoon flavours a whole pan of béchamel, which is exactly why swapping in a louder spice at the same amount is so obvious on the plate.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 tsp nutmeg| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 tsp nutmeg | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macesavoury cream sauces, where no other swap is safe | 1 tsp ground maceWorks | Works |
| 2 | Pumpkin pie spicepumpkin pie, apple pie, spice cake and muffins | 1 tspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 3 | Allspicespiced cakes, fruit pies and mulled drinks | ¾ tsp ground allspiceYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Ground clovesdark, molasses-heavy bakes: gingerbread, fruit cake, mincemeat | ¼ tspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Ground cinnamonsweet bakes that contain no cinnamon yet | ½ tspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Mace
a touch lighter and more peppery, less sweet-woody
The lacy red covering of the very same seed, dried and ground: the same aroma compounds in slightly lighter proportions, which is why it is the only true nutmeg substitute.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Amount
- 1 tsp ground mace for 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Best for
- savoury cream sauces, where no other swap is safe, custards, eggnog and rice pudding, any recipe at all, sweet or savoury
- Taste
- a touch lighter and more peppery, less sweet-woody. In a béchamel nobody will be able to tell
- Texture
- identical, both are fine powders
- Look
- no brown flecks. Mace is pale orange-tan, so a white sauce stays whiter and a custard has no visible specks
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free
- Use the same amount. If you want it identical, add a little more — mace is very slightly gentler — but nothing in the recipe needs to change.
Nutmeg and mace come out of the same fruit: the seed is nutmeg and the lace around it is mace. If you own one and not the other you effectively own both.
Nothing to limit. This is the one row on the page that needs no correction.
Pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon-led rather than nutmeg-led, and sweeter overall
A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and usually cloves or allspice, so it already contains what you are replacing — behind a lot of cinnamon.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Amount
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice for 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Best for
- pumpkin pie, apple pie, spice cake and muffins, when the recipe already lists cinnamon and ginger, autumn baking where more warm spice is welcome
- Texture
- identical, both are fine powders
- Look
- a slightly darker, browner crumb from the extra cinnamon
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Match it teaspoon for teaspoon in a spiced bake.
- Cut the recipe's cinnamon by half, or the result will be cinnamon-forward rather than balanced.
- If the recipe also lists ginger and cloves, drop them; the blend has both.
Apple pie spice behaves the same way and can be used interchangeably with pumpkin pie spice here; both are cinnamon-dominant.
Sweet baking only. Never in béchamel, mac and cheese, quiche or creamed spinach, where the cinnamon is immediately obvious.
Allspice
more clove and more pepper, and less of the sweet woody note nutmeg has
A single berry that tastes of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg at once, so it covers nutmeg and brings a strong clove note along with it.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Amount
- ¾ tsp ground allspice for 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Best for
- spiced cakes, fruit pies and mulled drinks, meat dishes and jerk-style rubs, when the recipe is already dark and molasses-heavy
- Texture
- identical, both are fine powders
- Look
- slightly darker; visible as brown flecks in a pale batter
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use three quarters of the amount. Allspice's clove note is stronger than anything in nutmeg.
- If the recipe also lists cloves, cut them in half.
Allspice and nutmeg are commonly paired in the same recipes, so using one for the other narrows the flavour rather than changing direction — the dish tastes less complex rather than wrong.
Three quarters of the amount, and not in a delicate custard or a white sauce, where clove reads as medicinal.
Ground cloves
sharp and medicinal rather than warm and sweet; noticeably more aggressive
Far stronger than nutmeg and in a different direction — sharp, medicinal, almost numbing — so it only works at a quarter of the amount and only in something sweet.
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- ¼ tsp ground cloves for 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Then
- mix it into the sugar or flour first so it disperses; clove clumps and one clumped spot tastes medicinal
- Best for
- dark, molasses-heavy bakes: gingerbread, fruit cake, mincemeat, mulled wine and cider, when cloves are the only warm spice in the house
- Texture
- identical as a powder, but clove clumps if you tip it straight into liquid
- Look
- darker specks than nutmeg leaves
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use a quarter of the amount, never more. Cloves are strong enough to dominate a whole cake at ½ tsp.
- Add ¼ tsp cinnamon alongside if you have it, to soften the edge.
Cloves and nutmeg are both in most warm-spice blends, but cloves are the loudest thing in any of them, which is why the amount here is a quarter rather than a match.
A quarter of the amount, sweet dishes only, and never in a cream sauce or custard.
Ground cinnamon
unmistakably of cinnamon, and sweeter
The spice everyone reaches for and the one that changes the dish most, because cinnamon announces itself where nutmeg sits in the background.
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon for 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Then
- only in something sweet, and only if there is no cinnamon in the recipe already
- Best for
- sweet bakes that contain no cinnamon yet, oatmeal, baked apples, milky puddings, when the alternative is nothing at all
- Taste
- unmistakably of cinnamon, and sweeter. Nutmeg's woody, faintly resinous note is gone
- Texture
- identical as a powder
- Look
- visibly browner in a pale batter or a white sauce
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use half the amount. Cinnamon is far more assertive than nutmeg at the same volume.
- If the recipe already lists cinnamon, do not add more — leave the nutmeg out instead and the bake will be closer to right.
An earlier version of this page offered cinnamon at 1:1 for all uses. In a cream sauce that is a wrecked sauce, which is why this row is ranked last and fenced with a limit.
Sweet dishes only, at half the amount. Cinnamon in a béchamel, a mac and cheese, a quiche or creamed spinach makes the dish taste like a dessert by mistake, and there is no way to take it back out.
Don’t swap it here
3 cases- A savoury white sauce — béchamel, mac and cheese, lasagne, quiche, potato gratin, creamed spinach — and you only have cinnamon, allspice, cloves or pumpkin pie spice.Leave the nutmeg out and add a pinch of white pepper and ¼ tsp Dijon mustard instead. A béchamel without nutmeg is a good béchamel; a cinnamon one is not.
- SafetyScaling nutmeg up — using a tablespoon, or a whole grated nutmeg, in one dish.Keep nutmeg to a few scrapes of a grater per dish. If a recipe seems to call for a tablespoon, check whether it means a whole nutmeg to be grated over many servings.
- Eggnog, custard tart, rice pudding or anything served with nutmeg grated over the top.Use mace, or serve it plain. Cinnamon dusted over eggnog makes a different drink.
Safety
1 note- Dose
Do not scale nutmeg up. Culinary amounts — a fraction of a teaspoon per dish — are fine, but large doses of nutmeg cause a documented and unpleasant toxic reaction, and reports involve amounts on the order of a tablespoon or more of ground nutmeg taken at once. Never treat nutmeg as an ingredient to be doubled with the rest of a recipe.
Source — National Capital Poison Center (opens in a new tab)
If it went wrong
3 fixes- The cheese sauce or béchamel tastes like a dessert.Cinnamon, allspice or pumpkin pie spice went in where nutmeg belonged. Dairy carries those flavours straight to the front.Make a second batch of plain sauce and combine the two, which halves the spice. Then add salt, white pepper, ¼ tsp Dijon and a little extra cheese, all of which push the sauce back towards savoury. You cannot remove the cinnamon.
- Everything tastes strongly of nutmeg, soapy and slightly medicinal.Too much. Nutmeg's ceiling in a dish for four is about ½ tsp and its effective amount is nearer 1/8 tsp.Dilute: more milk and roux in a sauce, more custard base in a pudding, more batter in a cake if it is not yet baked. Salt and acid help slightly. Next time measure it rather than grating over the pan.
- You cannot taste the nutmeg at all.The jar is old. Ground nutmeg loses its aroma within a few months.Grate a whole nutmeg instead — a couple of scrapes will do more than a teaspoon of the old jar. If you only have the jar, add half again as much, and no more than that.
Measure it
6 measures- 1 whole nutmegabout 2 to 3 tsp grated, roughly 5 gWhich means one nutmeg is enough for many dishes. This is the number that stops anyone grating a whole one into a single sauce.
- 1 tsp ground nutmegabout 2.2 gFreshly grated is noticeably stronger than a jar opened a year ago, so start at two thirds of the recipe amount when you grate your own.
- Béchamel for fourabout 1/8 tsp, or 3 to 4 scrapes of a graterNutmeg is a background spice in savoury cooking. If you can clearly taste it in a white sauce, there is too much.
- Culinary ceilingabout ½ tsp in a dish serving fourPast this it tastes soapy and medicinal, and large doses are genuinely unsafe. Do not scale nutmeg up with the rest of a doubled recipe.
- Mace and nutmegsame fruit, 1:1 swapThe seed is nutmeg, the lacy covering around it is mace. Mace is paler, so it leaves no brown flecks in a white sauce.
- How fast it fadesa few months once groundNutmeg's aroma is unusually volatile. A whole nutmeg keeps for years; the ground jar is the reason people think they dislike it.
Questions
7 questionsCan I use mace instead of nutmeg?
Yes, and it is the only genuine like-for-like swap. Mace is the lacy covering of the same seed, so use it teaspoon for teaspoon in anything, sweet or savoury. It is very slightly lighter and more peppery, and because it is pale orange-tan rather than brown it leaves no visible specks in a white sauce or a custard.
What is the best nutmeg substitute for béchamel, mac and cheese or lasagne?
Mace, at the same amount. If you have no mace, leave the nutmeg out and add a pinch of white pepper and ¼ tsp of Dijon mustard instead. Do not use cinnamon, allspice, cloves or pumpkin pie spice in a savoury cream sauce: nutmeg is a background note there, those spices are not, and dairy carries them straight to the front of the flavour.
Can I use cinnamon instead of nutmeg?
Only in sweet dishes, at half the amount, and only if the recipe does not already contain cinnamon. Cinnamon is far more assertive than nutmeg and it takes over. In a cheese sauce, quiche or gratin the result tastes like a dessert made by mistake, and there is no way to reverse it — leaving the nutmeg out is a better decision than swapping cinnamon in.
What is the difference between nutmeg and mace?
They come from the same fruit. Nutmeg is the hard inner seed; mace is the red lacy layer wrapped around it, dried and ground. Their aroma compounds are largely the same, which is why they swap 1:1. Mace is a little lighter and more peppery and much paler in colour.
How much nutmeg is too much?
For flavour, more than about ½ tsp in a dish for four tastes soapy and medicinal. For safety, nutmeg is one of the few kitchen spices with a real ceiling: large doses — reports involve amounts on the order of a tablespoon or more of ground nutmeg at once — cause a documented toxic reaction. Keep it to a few scrapes of a grater per dish and never double it when doubling a recipe.
Can I use whole nutmeg instead of ground nutmeg?
Yes, and it will taste better. Grate it on the finest side of a box grater or a microplane. One whole nutmeg yields about 2 to 3 tsp, and freshly grated is noticeably stronger than an old jar, so start with about two thirds of the amount the recipe asks for.
Can I use nutmeg in savoury dishes?
Yes, and this is where a lot of nutmeg is used: white sauces, mac and cheese, lasagne, quiche, potato gratin, creamed spinach, sausage-making and some soups. The point of it there is to make dairy taste rounder rather than to be tasted itself, which is why the amounts are so small.
Tips for substituting nutmeg
6 tips- In savoury cooking nutmeg is a background spice, not a flavour: about 1/8 tsp in a pan of béchamel, mac and cheese or creamed spinach. If you can clearly identify it, there is too much in there.
- Buy whole nutmegs and grate them. A whole nutmeg keeps its aroma for years, while the ground jar fades within a few months, which is the usual reason a recipe tastes of nothing.
- One whole nutmeg gives about 2 to 3 tsp grated, so a single one lasts through dozens of dishes. Never grate a whole one into a single sauce.
- Nutmeg and mace come from the same fruit — the seed and the lace around the seed — and swap teaspoon for teaspoon. Mace is paler, so it leaves a white sauce genuinely white.
- Grate nutmeg over the pan at the end of cooking rather than at the start. Its aroma is volatile and long simmering takes most of it away.
- Nutmeg is one of the few spices with a real upper limit for reasons other than taste. Keep it to a few scrapes per dish and do not double it when you double a recipe.
Source — National Capital Poison Center (opens in a new tab)