We Found the 4 Best Substitutes for Cardamom

Known as "the queen of spices," cardamom is a pod in the ginger family. Originally hailing from the subcontinent of India and Indonesia, cardamom is a luxurious spice that perfumes deliciously fluffy Scandinavian enriched breads, curries from around the world, and more. It's known as "the queen of spices," not only for its unique flavor but also because of its high price tag.

What Is Cardamom?

Cardamom is available in green and black varieties, though the green type is much more common. You may find cardamom sold as the whole pod or ground into a powder in stores. Similar to spices like cinnamon and clove, the whole spice is often used to infuse flavor and is then discarded while the ground version is added to be mixed in. Cardamom works exceptionally well in pumpkin spice blends and other similarly spiced recipes like chai or rice pudding.

It's an incredibly versatile spice that can also be used in savory applications. It's not uncommon to find whole cardamom pods perfuming dishes like biryani, and ground cardamom brings a lot of dimension to rubs for pork and chicken. Green cardamom is usually used in sweet recipes, while black cardamom is usually used in savory recipes, but both can easily swap back and forth.

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What Does It Taste Like?

Cardamom is often lumped in with other warming spices, and it shares a lot in common with them, but it has such a flavor all its own. Beyond the warm cozy flavor, green cardamom can also taste floral, citrusy, medicinal, slightly bitter, a bit tangy, and in large quantities, has almost a numbing quality like Szechuan peppercorns.

Black cardamom is similar but has a slightly smoky, peppery flavor. This makes it much better suited for savory applications, especially barbecue or grilling.

Cardamom is extremely popular in Indian cooking; you'll find it in chicken recipes, paired with mango, and as a staple in the spice blend garam masala. Cardamom plays well with a lot of other flavors often found in the many regional varieties of Indian cooking, like ginger and turmeric, and its flavor is carried well in dairy, so it's especially common to see it paired with yogurt in marinades or sauces.

Best Cardamom Substitutes

Coriander

If a savory recipe calls for cardamom, coriander is the best swap, especially in rubs for meat where coriander is already present. Cardamom and coriander share the same slightly bitter and medicinal flavor, blended with a light floralness. If a recipe calls for whole black or green cardamom pods, use about one teaspoon of whole coriander pods per pod of cardamom. If a recipe calls for ground cardamom, use roughly double the ground coriander.

Star Anise

The thing that both star anise and cardamom share above all else is that perplexing tingly, almost numbing effect. Whole star anise pods are easily swapped for black cardamom particularly, though it can stand in for green cardamom as well in a pinch. This works especially well in recipes like Japanese curry where cardamom makes up a blend of spices and anise is already part of that blend. If you have whole pods and a spice grinder, it can be swapped for ground cardamom at an equal ratio.

Allspice

Allspice has a slight bitterness that's similar to cardamom. In autumnal recipes that already include other warming spices, simply add in a few extra pinches of allspice in place of the cardamom. Most sweet recipes that call for a blend of spices along with cardamom likely call for allspice as well, so increasing the allspice won't throw off the dish's flavor too significantly.

Mace

Mace is very similar in flavor to nutmeg because it's made from the outer shell that encases nutmeg. However, it's more delicate and less spicy, making it a perfect substitute for cardamom. Nutmeg is more assertive while mace is a lighter, more floral version of the flavor. Mace and cardamom are paired together often, especially in sauces and curry paste. In recipes that call for ground cardamom, use an equal amount of mace.

Related:

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• Amazing Indian Recipes to Make with Garam Masala