Name: Chinese 5 Spice Mix
Prep time: 2 min
Total time: 2 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon; 2 Tablespoons Ground Fennel; 1 Tablespoon Ground Anise; 1 ½ Teaspoons Ground Clove; ½ Teaspoon Ground Szechuan Peppercorns

Jump to Recipe

In this post: Chinese 5 spice is a blend of five spices that adds unique flavors to foods. Learn how to make Chinese 5 spice along with some recipes using Chinese 5 spice here.

Make your own fragrant Chinese 5 spice mix at home with this convenient recipe. Use this blend of spices on meat, vegetables, and more for a bit of spice and a lot of flavor!

Chinese 5 spice mix in a white bowl with a wooden spoon in it.

Table of Contents

What is Chinese Five Spice?

Chinese five-spice is a traditional Chinese spice mix with a bold and spicy flavor. It goes great with all kinds of meats, vegetables, and more! And when you make Chinese five-spice mix at home, you can adjust the spice ratios to fit your personal tastes.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This Chinese five-spice mix recipe:

is quick and easy to make
keeps well in an airtight container for months
doesn’t contain complicated instructions
can easily be adjusted to suit your individual taste

Cinnamon, cloves, anise, fennel, and Szechuan peppers in separate bowls.

Chinese Five Spice Ingredients

Ground cinnamon: sweet, woody, and spicy.
Ground fennel: earthy, sweet, and licorice-like.
Ground anise star: naturally sweet and licorice-like; one of the strongest flavors in the mix.
Ground cloves: warmth and bitterness that balances the sweetness of the other ingredients.
Ground Szechuan (Sichuan) peppercorns: famous for the slight numbing sensation it brings to the mouth when used in large quantities.

Varieties of and Substitutes for Chinese Five Spice

I’ve listed some substitutions below for when you can’t find certain ingredients or you want to use what you already have at home. However, these variations and substitutions change the flavor profile of this spice mix, so you should use the traditional ingredients if you want an authentic Chinese five-spice mix.

Anise seed instead of star anise: they come from different plants, but they taste very similar! Make sure you don’t eliminate the anise altogether, it’s an important part of the mix.
Tarragon or celery seed instead of fennel seed: these two substitutes will give you some of the same licorice flavor and bittersweetness.
Black pepper instead of Sichuan peppercorns: Szechuan peppers bring a unique numbing sensation that no ingredient can mimic. But black pepper does a pretty good job in a pinch.

How To Make Chinese Five Spice

Measure all the ingredients and add them to a small bowl.
Stir until fully combined.
Store in a sealed container, in a dry pantry, for up to 3 months.

Chinese 5 spice mix in a sealed glass jar.

How To Use Chinese Five Spice

You can use Chinese five-spice powder as a dry rub on:

Or, you can make it into a glaze for:

Chicken wings
Oven-roasted veggies
Chicken legs
Braised or barbequed pork

Storage

Store this Chinese five-spice blend in an airtight container in a cool dry place. This spice will not go bad unless it gets wet, but it will slowly lose its flavor over time. It’s best used within 3 months.

Tips

If you can’t find Szechuan peppercorns, you can swap them for black peppercorns, but the Szechuan peppercorns bring the authentic flavor.
If you make this mixture from whole spices, there will be a richer flavor. You can find these herbs and spices in their whole form, roast them on a dry skillet, and grind them in a spice grinder, coffee grinder, or blender.
I like to buy those little refresher packets and put one in the jar with this seasoning so it doesn’t clump. It definitely stays fresh longer that way!

Cinnamon, cloves, fennel, anise, and Szechuan peppercorns in a white bowl.

FAQs

What spices are in Chinese five spice?

There are many variations of Chinese five-spice using things like orange peel, ginger root, nutmeg, turmeric, black pepper, cardamom, and more! But the basic version includes cloves, Chinese cinnamon, fennel, anise, and Szechuan peppercorns. Contrary to popular belief, the “five” in Chinese five-spice does not refer to how many spices are in the mix but to the flavors included – sweet, savory, salty, bitter, and sour.

What can I substitute for Chinese 5 spice powder?

Nothing tastes like Chinese five-spice powder, but sometimes the ingredients are hard to find! I find it best to use the spices I have that are included in the traditional spice mix and then use the substitution ideas listed earlier in this post to make up for the spices I don’t have.

What is the difference between five-spice powder and garam masala?

Both have cinnamon and cloves in them but garam masala often has around 10 spices in it and uses black peppercorns, not Szechuan peppercorns. Chinese five-spice powder is used in Chinese and Taiwanese cuisines and garam masala is essential to Indian cuisine.

Is Chinese 5 spice like allspice?

They seem similar, but Chinese five-spice is a mixture of multiple spices whereas allspice comes from a singular plant.

What does Chinese five spice taste like?

Chinese five-spice has a very unique flavor because it includes all of the basic tastes – sweet, spicy, bitter, sour, and savory. It’s earthy, peppery, and warm with a strong licorice flavor from the anise.

How much Chinese 5 spice should I use?

Chinese five-spice is very strong, so a little will go a long way. It’s often recommended to use 1/2 teaspoon of spice for a dish that serves 4 people, so I would recommend using half that for Chinese five-spice. Remember, you can always add more if you want to the next time you make your meal!

What are Szechuan peppercorns?

Szechuan (or Sichuan) peppercorns are actually dried berries from a species of citrus tree. They bring a sort of tingling and numbing sensation to your mouth.

What can I substitute for Szechuan peppercorns?

Nothing can bring the same flavor and sensation, but you can come close by adding some black pepper and ginger to the mix.

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