Montreal Steak Seasoning

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Make this copycat Montreal Steak Seasoning with 8 basic spices, then season steak (of course), chicken, pork, and vegetables. Or, mix with oil and soy sauce for a delicious marinade!

Montreal Steak Seasoning spices on a plate.


 

Recipe ingredients

Labeled ingredients for Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Ingredient notes

  • Dill: Montreal Steak Seasoning uses dill seed, but you can substitute 1 tablespoon dill weed if desired.

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, combine paprika, pepper, salt, garlic, onion, coriander, dill, and crushed red pepper. Store in an airtight container.
Montreal Steak Seasoning spices in a jar.

Should I use a spice grinder?

I HIGHLY recommend using a spice grinder if you want the freshest flavors for your spice blends. They’re not too expensive and make a tremendous difference in your cooking! The KRUPS Fast Touch Electric Grinder is my favorite one because it’s powerful and easy to clean. You can get it at Walmart for $34.96 but I recommend a few others in my best spice grinder roundup!

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: This recipe makes ¾ cup seasoning (you’ll need an 8 ounce jar to store it).
  • Storage: Store this spice blend covered in the pantry for up to 6 months.
  • Marinade: To make a marinade for 2 pounds of steak, chicken, or pork, whisk together ½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup soy sauce, and 4 teaspoons seasoning. Marinade at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to 1 hour. Pat meat dry before cooking.
  • Origin: Montreal Steak Seasoning is based on the pickling spices of Eastern European and Jewish cuisine. The spice blend also goes by the names Montreal Steak Spice, Canadian Steak Spice, and Canadian Steak Seasoning.

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Montreal Steak Seasoning spices on a plate.

Montreal Steak Seasoning

Make this copycat Montreal Steak Seasoning with 8 basic spices, then season steak (of course), chicken, pork, and vegetables. Or, mix with oil and soy sauce for a delicious marinade!
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 1 minute
Total Time 2 minutes
Servings 36 servings (1 tsp each)
Course Pantry
Cuisine Canadian
Calories 6
5 from 203 votes

Equipment

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • In a small bowl, combine paprika, pepper, salt, garlic, onion, coriander, dill, and crushed red pepper. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

  1. Dill: Montreal Steak Seasoning uses dill seed, but you can substitute 1 tablespoon dill weed if desired.
  2. Yield: This recipe makes ¾ cup seasoning (you’ll need an 8 ounce jar to store it).
  3. Storage: Store this spice blend covered in the pantry for up to 6 months.
  4. Marinade: To make a marinade for 2 pounds of steak, chicken, or pork, whisk together ½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup soy sauce, and 4 teaspoons seasoning. Marinade at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to 1 hour. Pat meat dry before cooking.
  5. Origin: Montreal Steak Seasoning is based on the pickling spices of Eastern European and Jewish cuisine. The spice blend also goes by the names Montreal Steak Spice, Canadian Steak Spice, and Canadian Steak Seasoning.

Nutrition

Serving: 1teaspoonCalories: 6kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 392mgPotassium: 32mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 261IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

    1. Hi Jessica! Thank you so much for your comment, glad you’re enjoying the steak seasoning! – Meggan

  1. So simple! I was out of my husband’s Montreal seasoning and made this. He couldn’t tell the difference!5 stars

    1. Heather, that’s so great! I feel like I passed the ultimate test – the discerning husband. :) I’m so glad it worked out for you. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. -Meggan

  2. Best steak seasoning ever, I’d say taste better than the original. I didn’t have dill seed so I substituted with celery seed.

  3. This is wonderful! I use it as marinade with soy sauce and olive oil. I eat keto so i tenderize several pieces of sirloin at a time and leave them in a zip lock with this in the fridge. It’s phenomenal. Thanks for sharing.5 stars

  4. Love this and it is great for marinade. So much cheaper to make a batch and I had all of the spices.
    Gave some to a friend and she put it on chicken…loved it!5 stars

  5. Hi
    This recipe calls for spices that are in seed or corn form (dill seed & peppercorn), but I do not see in the recipe if we need to grind these spices? Or do we leave them whole?

    1. Hi Joy, thank you for the question! The peppercorns should be crushed beforehand, but the dill seed can remain whole, or if you prefer you can substitute the dill seed for dill weed. Take care! – Meggan

    1. Hi Jan, dill seed contains more oil than dill weed and the seed oil is greasier and stronger tasting than dill weed oil. Hope this helps! – Meggan

  6. My go-to seasoning for all things beef grilling or beef roasting related! Thoroughly enjoying the flavours from Australia5 stars

  7. I’m allergic to Coriander/Cilantro so for the Montreal Steak Seasoning recipe I substitute Cumin for Coriander.

  8. I have been using this recipe on Salmon several times a month since I found it. I air broil in my Air Fryer and use it for my prepared meal for the week. So good!!

  9. Came here looking for a sub because I didn’t want to run to the store for one item. My husband loves this on everything! Thanks!5 stars

  10. I was out of the real brand and looking for a recipe I could use right away for my grilled hamburgers. I just sprinkled on both sides of the burgers before putting them on the grill and they turned out great. Same awesome flavor as the bottled stuff, but with more control over the ingredients. This is a keeper! Thanks!5 stars

  11. Unless your a salt Fiend I would suggest using only a quarter of salt, other than this is was excellent.

  12. Love this. Since I always have these spices on hand it’s more economical to make my own blends. And I won’t run out, it takes 5 minutes to make a new batch. Thanks!5 stars

    1. This recipe was a real surprise.
      The taste is awesome. I use it on a variety of meats as well as chicken. It never fails to bring a wonderful taste to what ever I cook. I’ve even put it in a chili it made it so much better. Thank u I look forward to using other spice recipes from ur site. It is hard to find spices that we can both use. In this I can leave out the heat. I am allergic to anything with a spicey heat. Thanku so much.

  13. Can I ask for the difference between pepper and black pepper?

    “Montreal Steak Seasoning is made of garlic, coriander, dill, black pepper, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Some recipe variations, including mine, also contain paprika and dried minced onion.”

    1. Hi Shaun, sorry about that! It was a typing error, the second pepper shouldn’t be there. I’ve fixed the wording. The recipe card is correct. Sorry again! – Meggan

  14. Tried this recipe when I ran out of Montreal Steak seasoning for my chili recipe. I was skeptical, and after following the recipe exactly, it didn’t smell at all like the real thing. After adding it to the beef, it still didn’t smell right. 5 minutes later I lifted the lid of the pot: there it was, that awesome aroma! I’ll never buy the real stuff again, THANK YOU!5 stars

  15. I used this to make the “Lightened-Up Philly Cheese Steak Mac and Cheese Bake” on Pillsbury.com and it was amazing! I used more of this than the recipe called for because it was that good (and I like extra seasoning). I put all my excess into an old empty spice jar so I can have it on hand.5 stars

  16. Hi Meggan,
    Thanks for this recipe. It is great.
    But, a couple of points.
    First, concerning your statement about using salt just before cooking. Dry brining is the technique of salting well (hours or even a day) ahead, wrapping in plastic wrap and putting the meat back in the fridge. The salt draws moisture out of the meat, as you correctly state, but then the salt mixes with the moisture and is drawn back into the meat where is is both more effective in enhancing the taste and also in tenderizing the meat. Samin Nosrat discusses this in her book, “Salt Fat Acid Heat”, as does Meathead Goldwyn in his Amazingribs.com website. If you do this, you may want to make a batch of seasoning and omit the salt. I like to use strong, black coffee to make a paste.
    Second, Since cold meat takes up smoke better than warm meat, if you are grilling or smoking the meat, take it straight from the fridge to the cooker.

    1. Thanks for this! I am going to get that book you mentioned, I always look at it on Amazon and wonder if I should get it. I clearly have more to learn, so I will. I appreciate your help so much. Thanks a lot! -Meggan

    2. Correct about dry brining. But surprised you wrap it in plastic wrap. I dry brine the steaks in the fridge, exposed on a rack, to allow the air to circulate around the meat (I’ve read that that is critical). My steaks are always super juicy and flavourful. I just puts a couple of steaks into the fridge with this mix. Looking forward to trying them tomorrow!

  17. Why is this recipe classed as american cuisine when it originated in Montréal, Québec, Canada?

    1. Hi Dale, because no one was paying attention. We fell asleep at the wheel. I’m sorry about that, you’re obviously right, and I fixed it. Sorry again. I also had dill weed listed in the recipe and it’s supposed to be dill seed. -Meggan

    2. meggan, You mention it is supposed to be dill seed but the recipe still says dill weed and the picture looks like dill weed. Which is it?

      I used this on some steaks last night and it was very good. I wanted smaller red pepper flakes so I blended it and it turned more into a rub, but was delicious. I used the dill weed as mentioned in the recipe

    3. Hi Craig! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Originally it was dill weed, but a reader pointed out it should be dill seed. I’ve updated it so it can be either, sorry about that! – Meggan

  18. perfect, thank you. they quit selling the large containers in my local store and the small ones run out too soon.5 stars

  19. Very good recipe. A note: Montreal Seasoning calls for “dill,” but it is the seed you want as opposed to “dill weed” as shown in your photo. I ended up using dill weed myself as I was out of dill seed, which is still very good. Just mentioning that the dill seed is what you get when you buy Montreal Seasoning at the store.5 stars

    1. Hi Timothy, that is SO HELPFUL. Thank you. I will fix it up for sure! I appreciate your help. -Meggan

  20. This is s very good seasoning. Rich in flavor, and a welcomed bit out of the ordinary because of the use of dill  and coriander with beef,  It works very well. I recommend the use is smoked paprika instead of the pretty-but-tasteless paprika used for garnishing. This recipe has become part of my permanent collection. Well worth trying if you haven’t yet. 5 stars

  21. This is great! We were going on vacation and I didn’t want to pack a bunch of seasonings, so I was searching for something that would have everything I needed in one jar. This is it! Great on steaks, burgers, even grilled chicken! It is just like the store brand Montreal Steak Seasoning!5 stars