Taste Showdown #2 – Tony Chachere’s vs Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning

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If you’re unfamiliar with either brand, there’s a good chance that you probably don’t know anyone from Louisiana or you have never visited Louisiana.

Tony Chachere’s and Zatarain’s are both Louisiana brands that feature a wide selection of Creole seasonings and dry products such a gumbo file` (ground dried sassafras leaves), beans, dirty rice mix, jambalaya mix, etc.  Those dry mix products tend to be a cook’s time saver because they eliminate the need for extra seasonings to a dish that may only need meat to prepare the dish.

Many Louisiana cooks create their own special seasoning blend for daily cooking or use Tony Chachere’s or Zatarain’s Creole seasonings instead.  If you are unfamiliar with the Creole seasoning blend, it contains salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and other dried seasonings.  Imagine tasting Old Bay Seasoning, but it has a little more salt and more of a spicy kick to it.

Growing up, I was exposed to both seasoning blends.  My paternal grandmother Lu(cille), loved Zatarain’s brand Creole seasoning, gumbo file and the Dirty Rice mix.  However, my mother loved the Tony Chachere’s jambalaya and dirty rice mixes.  Well, as I began doing more cooking during my college years, I bought both Tony Chachere’s and Zatarain’s seasonings and mixes depending upon the product availability at my neighborhood grocery store.  

RESULT:


In my opinion, the Zatarain’s Creole seasoning tends to be quite salty to my palate.  The level of spice is relatively the same between Tony Chachere’s and Zatarain’s Creole seasoning.  My personal preference is Tony Chachere’s seasoning.

In the dry mix category, Tony Chachere’s and Zatarain’s both provide great products for jambalaya and dirty rice. I found that Tony Chachere’s is a little less salty than Zatarain’s and tends to have more dehydrated onions and bell peppers in it which reduces the amount of extra fresh seasoning that I need to add to my pot while cooking.


Published by Adina T. Collins, 2019

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