4 Italian Seasoning Blends To Try And 5 To Skip

Looking for a way to add a ton of flavor to your meal? While you can always add a combo of different spices to the mix, it can sometimes be easier to just utilize a seasoning blend (including these underrated ones). And one of the most common spice blends you'll find on grocery store shelves is Italian seasoning. The spices used in these blends differ according to which brand and variety we're talking about, but many of them can take a dish to a whole new level. Plus, you don't have to use them only for Italian-inspired foods — they can be used for a wide range of purposes.

But not every Italian seasoning blend tastes the same. Unfortunately, some are quite mild and do very little to infuse your dish with flavor, while others have bold, pronounced flavors that mean you don't have to use much to give your food the depth of flavor you're craving. I'm taking a look at nine different Italian seasoning blends to give you my insight on whether you should try or skip each of these varieties. The blends I recommend you try have that flavor concentration I'm looking for in a good spice blend, while the ones that fall into the "skip" category generally taste milder and blander, with a focus on dried herbs that are missing that punchiness you crave.

There are a lot of premium spice brands on the market these days, and it seems like the nearly ubiquitous McCormick is trying to get in on that market as well with its McGourmet line. Does this product's name sound like McDonald's is producing it? Yes. But if the chain restaurant actually were producing this product, it would probably be a lot saltier than it is. That's right – McGourmet Organic Italian Seasoning doesn't contain any salt and just isn't that flavorful overall. It contains a mixture of marjoram, rosemary, basil, thyme, savory, oregano, and sage.

If there's one spice that seems to dominate this blend, it's rosemary. The rosemary aroma is absolutely overpowering, and it seems to outshine all the other herbs in the mix. That's not a bad thing if you specifically want your dish to taste like rosemary, but if you're trying to achieve some sort of complexity, you're probably going to be disappointed with this stuff. I can barely make out the other seasonings at all, which indicates to me that they might not be the freshest. Overall, I find this seasoning blend downright bland, and I can imagine very few dishes in which this seasoning blend would make things more interesting.

Now, Whole Foods' 365 Organic Italian Seasoning doesn't have a much different ingredients list than the McGourmet spice blend, but somehow, it works a bit better here, perhaps because the ratios of herbs are different. This blend boasts oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary, and sage. Can you pick up on some rosemary notes in this seasoning? Sure. But it's not as overpowering as it is in the previous blend. Rather, you're just getting a hint of that unique herbal note, and it's complemented by the other herbs in the equation. I would say that the main flavor I'm picking up on here is oregano. To me, oregano often provides the defining flavor for an Italian seasoning blend, so it seems to be doing its job here.

That being said, there are definitely more interesting Italian seasoning blends out there, particularly if you're looking for more of an all-purpose seasoning that contains salt and other spices that you otherwise have to add to the dish separately. However, when you're just looking for a basic, versatile blend that you can add to pasta salads, soups, salads, and beyond, this 365 option has you covered.

There may be some out there who will enjoy Frontier Co-Op Organic Italian Seasoning, but I'm not one of them. The main issue here — like I have with several of the other seasoning blends on this list — is that the flavor concentration isn't pronounced enough. Yes, you get those dried herbal flavors, but they can easily be drowned out by other, conflicting notes in a dish. I wish the spice blend were just stronger, period, but instead, you'll get a milder option when you choose this brand.

The ingredients list here looks similar in some ways to other Italian seasoning blends, with a combo of oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, marjoram, and sage. What really throws me off, though, is the inclusion of spearmint. Technically, it's not a terrible idea, since spearmint does add a touch of freshness to the blend. That being said, I find that minty note to be totally out of place in a seasoning blend that's supposed to taste warm and welcoming, not necessarily that cool and fresh. For true mint lovers, it might be worth checking out. But with this strange additional ingredient (and the fact that the other herbs don't seem to be doing much heavy lifting here), it may just be better to skip this brand and seek out another instead.

Want a seasoning blend that's actually going to infuse your food with a lot of flavor with just a few shakes? Look no further than McCormick's Perfect Pinch Spicy Italian Seasoning. This is a seasoning blend that can function all on its own, without the need to add a bunch of other spices into the mix. Its ingredients list looks much different than many of the other options on this list, including spices like chili pepper, sugar, onion, garlic, and even salt in addition to the standard herbs you'd expect, like oregano and basil. Because of that addition of sugar, it does have a slight sweetness to it, but it's tempered by a decent amount of saltiness, as well as some savory notes from the onion and garlic in the mix.

I wouldn't exactly call this seasoning blend spicy, but it does have a nice kick to it that will make your dishes instantly more interesting. Yes, it still tastes like an Italian seasoning blend, but it doesn't have any of the blandness you might expect from this kind of product. Out of all of the spice blends I tried for this piece, this was the one I enjoyed the most.

Is Simply Organic Italian Seasoning the worst Italian seasoning blend of the bunch? Definitely not. In fact, I think that the herbs in this bottle taste a lot fresher than most. Despite that freshness, though, I still don't find this to be a particularly bold blend. You can immediately taste the oregano, with thyme, basil, and rosemary playing important background roles in the overall flavor of the product. It also contains marjoram, sage, and — just like Frontier Co-op's seasoning — spearmint. Admittedly, I don't really taste the spearmint here, so although I think it's a less-than-delicious addition to an Italian spice blend, it doesn't seem too problematic in this case.

I just wish something else were going on here to make things more interesting. Sure, oregano can be nice, but it's definitely not the most interesting herb in the world, and when a spice blend is dominated by oregano alone, it's almost bound to fall flat in my book. There are much worse Italian seasoning blends out there, but considering that this was one of the most expensive picks in this lineup, I just can't justify paying a premium for a blend that's ultimately just kind of boring.

I didn't really expect Stop and Shop's Italian Seasoning to be a particularly interesting specimen in this lineup, considering that it's a lot less expensive than the other brands listed here (and because it's a store brand). But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's actually one of the better Italian seasoning blends I've tried. That being said, it does come with a pretty simple list of ingredients. You'll find marjoram, rosemary, thyme, savory, sage, oregano, and basil. I like that the marjoram really comes to the fore on the palate here, offering a subtle sweetness that pairs well with the more savory notes in the blend.

This may not be the most interesting Italian seasoning out there. But not everyone is looking for ultimate complexity and unexpected flavors in their spice blends. When you just want a standard, flavorful combination of spices to brighten up your favorite dishes, this store brand option (as opposed to name-brand spices) has you covered. And since so many other spice blends can be so pricey, I can appreciate a more affordable option, even if it's not the absolute best of the bunch.

Badia is known for its line of affordable seasoning blends that can help you stock your spice cabinet without breaking the bank. And who doesn't like to see more accessible seasoning options on the market? But its low price doesn't absolve Badia's Italian Seasoning Mediterranean Blend's blandness. This is perhaps the least flavorful of all the seasonings I tried on this list, and that seems to be because of the quality of the herbs, since the ingredients list looks like so many others. It contains a mixture of marjoram, oregano, thyme, rosemary, savory, basil, and sage.

This combination of flavors isn't bad, of course, since it's the backbone of so many of the other options on this list. It's just that the potency of the herbs used doesn't seem to be that strong. Sure, you'll get a mild Italian seasoning flavor, and in some recipes, that might be enough, particularly if you're not relying only on this seasoning blend and you're adding other spices to the mix. Still, though, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy this product, and I'd seek out another blend before giving this one a prominent place in my spice cabinet.

As one of the most expensive Italian seasoning blends in the bunch, I didn't want to like Morton and Bassett's Italian Herb Blend. I paid almost $10 for this small bottle of mixed herbs, which seems like a ridiculous amount to spend on a tiny container of dried herbs. But after tasting this stuff, I can admit that the price reflects its level of quality. Just like so many of the other spice blends in this lineup, this one contains dried herbs like oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, savory, marjoram, and sage. However, it also includes a few additional spices that didn't appear in most of the others on this list. Garlic and onion are there to provide the savory note this blend desperately needs, and the addition of parsley contributes an unexpected freshness to the mix.

Those additions may seem like small details, tiny adjustments to flavor that wouldn't end up mattering much in the final product. But that's not the case. These few ingredients transform this blend from an average Italian seasoning into one that seriously shines. When you use this stuff, you're definitely not going to have to go through your spice cabinet to figure out what else you can add to your dish to give it the depth of flavor and complexity you're trying to achieve.

Because garlic doesn't seem to be a very common addition to Italian seasoning blends, I was pleasantly surprised to encounter it again in Nature's Promise Organic Italian Seasoning's ingredients list. It appears alongside more common herbs like oregano, basil, marjoram, and sage. This garlic does add a really nice touch, with a savory note that immediately makes things taste more interesting. I also appreciate the strong note of basil you get as soon as you take a whiff of this stuff. But when you see how simple the rest of the ingredients are, it's clear why this variety should be a skip. It just doesn't have enough going on to create the complexity you should expect from a seasoning blend.

This blend isn't terrible, and I really had to ponder whether I considered it a "try" or a "skip." Ultimately, though, it just wasn't as bold as I'd expect from an ostensibly higher-end brand. Still, if you're looking for simplicity rather than complexity in your spice blend, then this may not be the worst product to try, since the actual quality of the herbs seems to be high. For maximum flavor, though, the four "try" options on this list are better options from my perspective.

These specific Italian seasoning blends were selected based on availability at several grocery stores in my area. I tried all of these blends with plain pasta and olive oil, which are bland enough to really allow the herbs and spices to shine above all else. Seasoning blends with stronger, more pronounced flavors fall into the "try" category, while those that taste blander fall into the "skip" category. The best Italian seasoning blends offered more than just the standard combo of ingredients generally found in this kind of blend, or otherwise combined those ingredients in unique, more interesting ways than the other varieties on this list.