What to use instead of pumpkin spice
Quick answer
The closest option is Cassia with Ginger and Nutmeg and Allspice, rated excellent. Not really a substitution. Pumpkin spice descends from a printed pie recipe rather than a regional tradition, so its composition is settled enough that mixing it from four jars produces the same thing — fresher, and adjustable. The ginger proportion is the part worth getting right: it is what stops the blend reading as merely sweet.
It will not do for: Nothing, beyond the two minutes of measuring..
All recorded options
Ranked by suitability. Ratios are given only where they are defensible, and always with their basis — by weight or by volume — because spice densities differ.
Use: ~1× by volume — Four parts cinnamon, two ground ginger, one nutmeg and half a part allspice, at the same total volume.
Not really a substitution. Pumpkin spice descends from a printed pie recipe rather than a regional tradition, so its composition is settled enough that mixing it from four jars produces the same thing — fresher, and adjustable. The ginger proportion is the part worth getting right: it is what stops the blend reading as merely sweet.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| very close | very close | very close | n/a |
Works for
- Pumpkin pie, squash and sweet potato dishes, spiced baking
- Anyone who would rather not buy a jar used once a year
Does not work for
- Nothing, beyond the two minutes of measuring.
For drinks rather than baking, ease off the cloves. A blend balanced for a pie is often too clove-forward in a beverage, where there is nothing to hide behind.
Mixed spice with Ginger
Good matchUse: ~1× by volume — Equal volume of mixed spice with an extra half-teaspoon of ground ginger per two teaspoons, which is most of the gap.
The British cupboard answer. Mixed spice is broader and milder and contains coriander seed, which pumpkin spice does not — so the result reads slightly more citric and rounder. Adding ginger closes the main difference; the coriander cannot be removed and is rarely missed.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | close | very close | n/a |
Works for
- Pumpkin pie, squash dishes and spiced baking
- Anywhere in Britain, where mixed spice is on the shelf and pumpkin spice may not be
Does not work for
- A side-by-side comparison, where the coriander lift is detectable
Cuisine: Moves an American bake fractionally towards a British one. Neither blend contains pumpkin, and neither is a version of the other.
Where pumpkin spice stands in for something else
The reverse view of the same graph.
- Instead of Mixed spice — acceptable