Nutmeg substitutes
Nutmeg is the hard inner seed of the Myristica fragrans fruit, sold whole or ground, with a warm, sweet, slightly woody smell that is used in tiny amounts — a few scrapes of a grater — in both custards and cream sauces.
Mace
Use 1 tsp for every tsp of 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.
At a glance
| # | Substitute | Instead of nutmeg, use | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mace | 1 tsp per tsp | Straight swap |
| 2 | Pumpkin Pie Spice | 1 tsp per tsp | You'll taste it |
| 3 | Allspice | ¾ tsp per tsp | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Ground Cloves | ¼ tsp per tsp | In a pinch |
| 5 | Ground Cinnamon | ½ tsp per tsp | In a pinch |
Every nutmeg substitute
Substitutes for Nutmeg with ratios
1. Mace
Straight swapUse 1 tsp for every tsp of nutmeg
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.
What changes
Special tripvegangluten-freedairy-free- Covers
- Aroma & flavour identity
2. Pumpkin Pie Spice
You'll taste itUse 1 tsp for every tsp of nutmeg
A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and usually cloves or allspice, so it already contains what you are replacing — behind a lot of cinnamon.
What changes
Likely in your cupboardvegangluten-freedairy-free- Covers
- Aroma & flavour identity
3. Allspice
You'll taste itUse ¾ tsp for every tsp of nutmeg
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.
What changes
Likely in your cupboardvegangluten-freedairy-free- Covers
- Aroma & flavour identity
4. Ground Cloves
In a pinchUse ¼ tsp for every tsp of nutmeg
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.
What changes
Likely in your cupboardvegangluten-freedairy-free- Misses
- Aroma & flavour identity — not covered
5. Ground Cinnamon
In a pinchUse ½ tsp for every tsp of nutmeg
The spice everyone reaches for and the one that changes the dish most, because cinnamon announces itself where nutmeg sits in the background.
What changes
Likely in your cupboardvegangluten-freedairy-free- Misses
- Aroma & flavour identity — not covered
Which one for your recipe?
A savoury white sauce: béchamel, mac and cheese, lasagne, quiche, creamed spinach, potato gratin.
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 nutmeg bechamel substitute.
Sweet baking where nutmeg is one spice among several: pumpkin pie, apple pie, spice cake, doughnuts, carrot cake.
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 nutmeg pumpkin pie substitute and nutmeg apple pie substitute.
Nutmeg is the flavour you would name: eggnog, custard tart, rice pudding, a nutmeg-dusted flat white.
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.
You cannot find the ground jar but there is a whole nutmeg in the drawer.
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 ground nutmeg substitute.
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.
Don’t substitute nutmeg here
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.
Nutmeg is background there; those spices are foreground. Even 1/8 tsp of cinnamon in a cheese sauce reads as dessert, and dairy carries the flavour of it straight to the front.
Scaling nutmeg up — using a tablespoon, or a whole grated nutmeg, in one dish.
Large doses of nutmeg cause a documented, unpleasant toxic reaction. Culinary amounts are a fraction of a teaspoon and there is no cooking reason to go past about 1/2 tsp in a dish for four; past that it tastes soapy and medicinal anyway.
Eggnog, custard tart, rice pudding or anything served with nutmeg grated over the top.
The nutmeg on top is the flavour people are expecting, and there is no cooking left to blend anything else in.
What nutmeg does in a recipe
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.
Tips for substituting nutmeg
- 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.