Montreal steak seasoning
Also known as montreal steak spice, steak spice, montreal spice
Quick answer
A coarse cracked rub of black pepper, coriander seed, dried garlic and salt, used on grilled beef. Deliberately not ground, because the texture is the crust, and deliberately without sugar, because sugar burns at steak heat.
In essentially every version: Cracked black pepper, Cracked coriander seed, Dried garlic, Salt, Dill seed, Dried onion, Chilli flakes.
2distinct versions are recorded below. None of them is presented as the correct one, because there isn’t one.
A note on the name
The style name is used generically across the trade and specific branded products carrying it are commercial marks. SpiceHQ describes the style and names no brand, and records the origin story as contested rather than repeating any one packet’s version of it.
What goes in it
The defining core first, then the versions. Roles are recorded so it is clear what each ingredient is doing.
| Ingredient | Role | How essential |
|---|---|---|
| Black pepper (cracked)The largest component, and cracked rather than ground. Piperine is heat-stable and does not burn, which is why pepper can be the bulk of a rub that goes onto a grill at full heat. | base | defining |
| Coriander seed (cracked)The component that makes this blend recognisable and the one most people cannot name. It is also the direct link to the Montreal smoked-meat cure, which uses coriander seed the same way. | primary aromatic | defining |
| Garlic (flakes)Granules or flakes rather than powder. Powder burns and clumps on a hot surface; a coarse granule browns. | savoury depth | defining |
| Salt (flakes)Coarse. Salt is the reason a rub seasons rather than merely coating, and the coarse grade is what lets it stay on the surface rather than dissolving into the meat before it reaches the grill. | salt | defining |
| Dill seed (cracked)Present in most versions and absent from most imitations. Dill seed is carvone-led and reads as caraway-adjacent rather than as the dill leaf people expect, which is part of why the blend tastes vaguely of a pickle. | supporting aromatic | usual |
| Onion (flakes) | savoury depth | usual |
| Chilli flakes (flakes)A background warmth rather than heat. This is not a hot seasoning and versions that lead with chilli have missed what it is. | heat | usual |
| Paprika (ground)Present in some commercial versions and a real risk on a hot grill: paprika carries sugars and pigments that scorch well below steak-searing temperature, which is why the traditional blend does without it. | colour | optional |
Commercial versions differ mainly in how much salt they carry and in whether they include paprika, and the salt fraction varies widely enough that two packets cannot be used interchangeably by volume without tasting first. Homemade versions typically use less salt and more coriander. The genuinely contested component is dill seed: it is in most Canadian versions and in fewer American ones, and it is the difference between a blend that tastes of Montreal smoked meat and one that tastes like coarse pepper and garlic. Some versions add mustard seed, which is defensible and shifts the blend towards a pickling spice.
The versions
Each attributed, with how firm its proportions are stated plainly.
Traditional Montreal steak spice
regional traditionalCanadian delicatessen and household practice · proportions representative · low confidence
Pepper-led with coriander close behind, dill seed present, and no paprika or sugar. All components cracked coarse rather than ground.
| Ingredient | Parts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cracked black pepper | 4 | 29% |
| Coarse salt | 3 | 22% |
| Cracked coriander seed | 2 | 15% |
| Dried garlic granules | 2 | 15% |
| Dill seed | 1 | 7% |
| Dried onion | 1 | 7% |
| Chilli flakes | 0.5–1 | 5% |
Recorded at low confidence: the shape is well attested and no source SpiceHQ holds documents proportions. The salt fraction in particular is the one most worth adjusting to taste, because commercial versions carry considerably more.
Commercial supermarket style
commercial typicalTypical mass-market composition · proportions representative · low confidence
Saltier, often with paprika for colour, and frequently with the dill seed reduced or absent. Perfectly usable and noticeably less distinctive, and the salt level means it seasons a steak fully on its own.
| Ingredient | Parts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 4 | 37% |
| Cracked black pepper | 3 | 28% |
| Dried garlic | 2 | 19% |
| Cracked coriander seed | 1 | 9% |
| Paprika | 0.5–1 | 7% |
Recorded because it is what most people actually have, and because the higher salt fraction changes how it should be used — a commercial blend applied at the rate a homemade one calls for will over-salt the meat.
Using it
Pressed onto the surface of the meat rather than sprinkled, and applied shortly before cooking or well ahead — the middle is the bad option. Applied twenty minutes before, the salt has drawn moisture to the surface and not reabsorbed it, which steams the crust instead of searing it. The coarse grind is not optional: ground finer, the same mixture burns and turns bitter at searing temperature and gives no crust at all. Because it is salty in its own right, a steak seasoned with it needs no further salt, and the commercial versions in particular carry enough that the rest of the plate should be seasoned lightly.
Peppery first, then garlic, with a warm citric note from the coriander and a faint pickle quality from the dill seed that most people notice without identifying. It is savoury rather than sweet, which distinguishes it from every American barbecue rub, and it is coarse enough to be felt as texture as well as tasted.
Slight. The pepper gives a genuine bite and the chilli flakes a background warmth; this is not a hot seasoning.
- Grilled and pan-seared steak
- Beef roasts
- Burgers
- Chops
- Roast potatoes
Scaling: Scales linearly. The component to hold back when scaling up is salt, because it is the one that cannot be corrected on the plate and because the coarse grade dissolves unevenly — a batch that tastes right in the bowl can be patchy on the meat.
Storage
Good for: 9–18 months (typically 12 months)
Cool, dark, dry and closed.
A caked or faded rub is a quality matter. Kept dry it does not become unsafe.
Allergens and safety
Not among the substances that must be declared as allergens under EU Regulation 1169/2011 Annex II or under the United States major food allergen rules. That is a statement about labelling law and not about whether allergy occurs: allergic reactions to spices are documented in the clinical literature and are simply not a labelling category. Where a ground spice presents an allergen risk it is usually through adulteration or shared processing equipment rather than through the plant itself.
Culture and origin
Montreal, and associated with the smoked-meat delicatessens of the city and with the Eastern European Jewish immigrant cooking they came from — the seasoning shares most of its ingredient list with the cure used on Montreal smoked brisket. The specific attribution to any one deli or person is contested and SpiceHQ does not adjudicate it.
Canada
A supermarket staple across Canada and a domestic default for grilling in a way that has no exact equivalent elsewhere — it occupies the position a barbecue rub occupies in the United States, while being savoury rather than sweet. Its relationship to Montreal smoked meat is generally known rather than obscure.
The United States
Widely sold and used alongside the sweet, paprika-led barbecue rubs rather than instead of them, and chosen for exactly the situations the sugar-bearing rubs are wrong for — high direct heat and short cooking. The name has become a style description rather than a geographical claim.