Trinidadian Green Seasoning

I’ve always been amazed by how delicious Caribbean food tastes. Every island has its own unique dishes that are bursting with flavor.

Whether it’s juicy meats, tasty seafood, hearty stews, fragrant curries, or perfectly seasoned rice, every bite is a treat. Why? What’s their secret? It’s simple: they use Green Seasoning, which goes beyond just salt and pepper to give their dishes that extra kick.

Look at this heaping bottle of Green seasoning. It’s a Caribbean essential. This is a powerhouse of flavors coming from fresh herbs and aromatics, all bottled together. Everything fresh, vibrant and just screaming FLAVORS. This green bottle has different names going from island to island. Haitians may call it Epis. Purto Ricans or Cubans know it as their beloved sofrito or Recaito. That bottle might have plus or minus a few ingredients. But no Caribbean household ‘pot’ is complete without the generous presence of this green magic. This is what gives so much depth and flavor to their food. They literally use this in E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Well then, if you want to jazz up that bland food a tad bit, let’s learn more about the green seasoning. This one comes from a special place in their heart…

What is Green Seasoning?

Green seasoning is like the secret sauce of Caribbean cooking, and it’s a must-have in my kitchen. While each island has its own version, Trinidad is known for its special blend. It’s made with simple ingredients like onion, garlic, peppers, ginger, and herbs. I love using it as a marinade for meats and seafood, and it adds amazing flavor to stews, curries, soups, rice dishes, and more.

My favorite way so far is to use this in this super tasty Trinidadian Curry Chicken. This chicken stew is breeze to make once you have your green sauce ready.

Ingredients Needed

• Scallions or Green onions
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Cilantro
• Culantro – Or chadon beni as Trinis call it. Optional, if you can find it. It’s like cilantro but stronger.
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Bell peppers (we use all colors )
• Cubanelle peppers
• Hot pepper – habanero.
• Lemon juice

How to make Green seasoning

Once you decide what you are blending together, it’s just a matter of blending everything in your food processor or blender. Just a few tips:

1. I start by washing all herbs and peppers and pat them dry.

2. I first chop all the ingredients roughly, to make them easier to process and blend. Since this recipe makes a lot, I sometimes need to work in batches. After blending everything, I stir it all together in a large bowl to ensure it’s consistently blended.

3. I like chunkier and thick green seasoning, rather than smooth and runny. That being said, blend to your desired consistency. You might need a little water to make everything come together.

4. I like to store my green seasoning in clean glass jars, preferably Mason jars. Some folks opt for plastic squirt bottles too. It stays fresh in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. If you don’t use it often, it freezes beautifully. I usually divide it into smaller portions, either in jars or ice cube trays. After they’re frozen solid, I transfer the cubes into freezer bags for easy storage.

Some variations

I suggest making this seasoning with your favorite herbs and things that you commonly use in your cooking.

1. Lots of people add onion along with scallions.
2. When it comes to peppers, I love to play around with different varieties. For mild flavors, I often go for bell peppers, cubanelle, or pimento peppers. But if I’m craving some heat, I reach for scotch bonnet or habanero peppers. They add that perfect spicy kick to my dishes.
3. Adding olive oil, vinegar or even salt is common practice. These help preserve it for a longer time.
4. Add or subtract herbs. Don’t like cilantro? Your seasoning doesn’t have to have it. Love rosemary or tarragon? Throw some in. Even basil and mint can find their way into this amazingly versatile seasoning. Just remember, herbs like basil and mint are strong and can overpower the blend, so use them sparingly.

Having this vibrant green bottle in my fridge is like having a taste of the Caribbean ready whenever I want it. It’s filled with fresh herbs and spices that bring out that authentic island flavor in my cooking.

GypsyPlate is coming up with all kinds of curries and stews from the Caribbean in the future, and all of them will take a generous scoop out of this bottle.

Stay tuned and subscribe to get them straight to your email. Step up your game up a notch and cook with fresh herbs. Why? Fresh is always better!

Trinidadian Green Seasoning, in our Gypsy Bowl… enjoy!

Love sauces? Try some of our others from around the world:
Jamaican Jerk Marinade
Cilantro Mint Chutney
Puerto Rican Sofrito
North African Chermoula
Peri Peri Sauce
5 Minute Pesto
Cuban Mojo Marinade

Trinidadian Green Seasoning

Yield: 4 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Add some flavor to your food with this Caribbean staple. Green seasoning is the perfect addition to your stews and rices, and makes a great marinade for your meats and seafoods.

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Ingredients

• 8 scallions or green onions
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 8-10 culantro leaves (optional)
• 13-15 garlic cloves
• 12-13 sprigs of thyme
• ½ red bell pepper
• ½ yellow bell pepper
• ½ green bell pepper
• 1-2 habanero peppers
• 2 cubanelle peppers
• ¼ inch ginger
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Wash all herbs and peppers and pat them dry with pepper towel.
2. Roughly chop all the ingredients, except lemon, and mix them together in a bowl.
3. Blend everything, along with lemon juice and ½ cup of water, in a food processor in batches. Add more water if needed. Scrape down from the sides if needed. Blend till you get desired consistency. We like it thick and coarse.
4. Store it in clean air tight mason jars and refrigerate.

Notes

1. Leftovers can be frozen in ice trays. Once frozen, place cubes in ziploc bag and freeze up to three months. This is a convenient way to store leftovers, so you can choose how many cubes to use.

Nutrition Information

Yield 8 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 41Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 8mgCarbohydrates 10gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 2g

Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.

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Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.