This Simple Trinidadian Green Seasoning is so good, you’ll find yourself reaching for this herby sauce for more than just Trini food! Vibrant, complex and zingy, I have been keeping this green seasoning on hand for months and use it for everything, from rice dishes to curries to marinades.
Ingredients to make Trinidad Green Seasoning
- Green onions
- Small onion
- Chadon beni (shado beni) (culantro)
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Thyme (ideally Spanish thyme, aka Mexican mint) but regular thyme will do
- Oregano
- Scotch bonnet peppers
- Garlic
- Lemon juice
- Salt
- Olive oil
Similar to Argentina’s chimmichurri, this vibrant green sauce is made primarily from green herbs like thyme and cilantro, peppers, an acid (lemon or lime juice) oil and salt. The beauty in this sauce is that you can customize the flavors of this green seasoning to match your tastes.
Substitutes In Green Seasoning
Best substitute for chadon beni
If you cannot find chadon beni at your local grocery stores then a good substitute is to just use extra cilantro! Chadon beni tastes similar to cilantro, just much stronger. Double the amount of cilantro in the recipe to substitute.
Best Substitute for lemon juice
Another ingredient that can easily be substituted is the acid component in the recipe. Instead of lemon juice, you can use really anything acidic, like lime juice, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar.
Best substitute for scotch bonnet peppers
If you want less heat in the green seasoning, you can skip the peppers entirely, or you can substitute with milder peppers like pimiento peppers, cherry pepper, or even bell peppers! Use the same amount as you would the scotch bonnet pepper.
Other Ingredients You Can Add
Based on my reading, every Caribbean household has their own version of this yummy green seasoning mixture, and it depends on your personal taste! Mainly, the foundation of the seasoning will be key ingredient chadon beni (known by many names, such as culantro, shado beni, sawtooth herb), Spanish thyme, green onions, hot pepper, and a blend of herbs. Lots of recipes call for garlic cloves and sometimes even pimento peppers!
The basic formula to whip up this green seasoning recipe is to use handfuls of the ingredients and eyeball the entire thing! Blitz everything up in a food processor, add a little water here, some of your favorite herbs there, and pour it all in a glass jar. For the sake of the internet however, I scaled the recipe to make two servings’ worth. That way, you can scale the recipe up if you want to keep a bigger jar in the fridge to use!
Storing and Freezing Trinidadian Green Seasoning
The oil, salt, and vinegar in this green seasoning will help extend the shelf life of this sauce fresh for up to a week in the fridge and even longer in the freezer.
Storing in the fridge
Blend the green seasoning and pour the mixture into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid, like a mason jar. Store in the fridge and use within a week.
Storing in the freezer
Pour the green seasoning into ice cube trays and freeze until solid. Put the seasoning cubes in freezer bags and keep frozen for up to 3 months.
Simple Trinidadian Green Seasoning
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 small onion, or 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped chadon beni
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh Spanish thyme or regular thyme
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
- 1 tbsp chopped scotch bonnet pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, add all of the ingredients and cover with the lid.
- Pulse the green seasoning mixture until it forms a thick paste. If it looks too dry, add a little water to thin it out.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning as you see fit- extra salt, extra pepper etc.
- Pour the mixture in a glass jar and store in the fridge. To freeze, pour into ice cube trays and freeze until solid, then transfer to freezer bags and keep frozen for up to 3 months.
