22 Cumin Recipes to Cook Now (2024)

Warm, aromatic cumin seeds have been used as a spice for thousands of years. They're thought to have originated in Asia or the Mediterranean and were brought to the Americas by Spanish and Portuguese colonists. Cumin is popular in cuisines across the globe, especially prevalent in Indian, Mexican, North African, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern dishes. It's used to flavor all kinds of foods — and even some desserts, such as Cumin and Jaggery-Glazed Apple Pie. We especially like it paired with lamb, eggplant, or both (check out Cumin Lamb Noodles with Eggplant). Browse our favorite cumin recipes to find new ways to feature this spice's unique taste.

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Cold Poached Salmon with Cumin Yogurt Sauce

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Chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern used this recipe in Boiling Water 101, a class he taught for 10 years at a school in Minnesota. He developed the recipe to teach a basic cooking skill — how to poach salmon — that also delivers complex flavors. He serves the fish chilled with sliced cucumber, sliced lemon, and a delicious yogurt sauce packed with herbs, capers, and a healthy amount of ground cumin.

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Spicy Cumin-Braised Pork

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Just a tablespoon of KwameOnwuachi’s Pepper Saucebrings plenty of heat and tenderizing flavor to this reverse braised pork shoulder. As the liquid and delicious fat from the pork cook off, the resulting Geera Pork is coated in a richly seasoned paste, ideal for eating with rice or leftover bara flatbreads.

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Kaera Na Cutless (Spicy Green Banana Cutlets)

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If you like hash browns, you'll love these flavor-packed patties made from more than just potatoes: The recipe also includes bananas, spices, onions, garlic, and chile. The cumin and coriander seeds are toasted first to bring out their flavor before grinding in a mortar and pestle or a spice mill.

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Ande Ki Bhurji (Scrambled Eggs with Cumin and Fragrant Herbs)

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A traditional Indian scrambled egg dish, ande ki bhurji includes an almost equal amount of fresh yellow onion to eggs. As the beaten eggs cook (until they are fully set but not browned), the onion sweetens and mellows. Topped with toasted cumin seeds, cilantro, and fresh green chiles, this meal is fragrant and savory, with a distinct vegetal crunch.

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Lamb Loin Chops with Red Wine Pan Sauce with Cumin and Chiles

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Toasty cumin and piquant chiles, offset with fresh cilantro and lime zest, balance bold red wine in this quick pan sauce. The rich flavor of lamb is delicious here, but you can substitute cuts of beef, such as skirt steak, hanger steak, or filet mignon, which would work just as well with the red wine-based sauce.

Cardamom and Cumin-Spiced Pea Pilaf

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"I like to add whole aromatic spices to the ghee, which releases their oils and infuses the ghee and rice with their warm and intoxicating flavors," says cookbook author Nik Sharma. For this recipe, he cooks cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves in ghee until they're fragrant before adding the peas and rice.

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Spicy Cumin Lamb Meatballs

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Nothing compares to the taste of meat the day it was ground, and grinding meat at home allows you to choose your own flavors. Perfect this meatball recipe to arm yourself with an easy dinner solution for any weeknight. With a crisp crust and tender interior, these cumin-scented meatballs feel at home in Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Indian dishes.

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Fried Catfish Sandwiches with Cumin Slaw

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Tender catfish fillets marinate briefly in garlic and pepper before being breaded and fried for these extra-crispy sandwiches. Don't skip the creamy coleslaw: In addition to the usual cast of green cabbage, red onion, and matchstick carrots, it's punched up with cilantro, bread-and-butter pickles, and a roasted cumin, mayo, and vinegar dressing.

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Cumin and Jaggery-Glazed Apple Pie

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Cookbook author and chef Asha Gomez’s striking apple pie gets a glossy finish from melted jaggery — a deep amber sugar —and piquant cumin seeds. Save any extra glaze for a last-minute drizzle before serving.

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Pot-Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Cumin

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Cookbook author Paula Wolfert visited the kitchens of Dar Yacout in Marrakesh, where the cooks still use charcoal fires to make dishes like lush and smoky roasted eggplant salad.

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Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Cumin

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For this deeply satisfying soup, chefs Anna Trattles and Alice Quillet roast cauliflower with cumin seeds and curry powder to intensify the flavor, then simmer it with onion and water to make an unfussy, spice-inflected puree.

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Cumin Chili

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You'll get a clear taste of cumin in this great cold-weather chili made with ground beef, beans, and green bell pepper. If you want a hotter chili, add as much cayenne as you like.

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Spicy Sichuan-Style Lamb with Cumin

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Cooking pieces of lamb shoulder in a super-hot cast-iron skillet makes them wonderfully browned and tender.

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Swiss Chard with Ginger and Cumin

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“I often use just one or two spices, such as the ginger and cumin in this Swiss chard,” says cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey. “It’s a very northern Indian approach.”

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Roasted Carrot and Cumin Puree

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Roasting carrots until they're golden brown brings out their sweetness and provides a perfect foil for tart lemon juice and musky cumin. Our silken puree is a particularly good side dish for lamb or roasted chicken.

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Gouda, Pancetta, and Onion Fondue with Pretzels

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Leyden, a Dutch cheese flecked with cumin seeds, inspired cheese aficionado Laura Werlin to create this cumin-spiced Gouda fondue. Serve it with soft, warm pretzels or pickled vegetables for dipping.

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Chunky Guacamole with Cumin

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Choosing a guacamole recipe that will please everybody is no easy task, but this one is a winner because of its subtle tartness, nicely balanced heat, and creamy-chunky texture.

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Roasted Cauliflower with Turmeric and Cumin

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"I love this hot or cold, by itself or as part of a larger meal," says chef Sera Pelle about this roasted cauliflower recipe. The dish is a vibrant yellow from turmeric and fragrant with cumin, cilantro, and mint.

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Roast Chicken with Garlic and Cumin

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Whole heads of garlic are roasted along with the chicken in this recipe, then chopped and added to the pan juices to make a light but rich-tasting sauce. The chicken serves four as a main course or six as part of a tasting menu.

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Cumin Lamb Noodles with Eggplant

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Blogger Ashley Rodriguez creates a rich, creamy lamb ragù with delicious Greek flavors; it's a total crowd-pleaser and a nice alternative to more common Italian pasta dishes.

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Summer Berries with Cumin Meringues and Crème Fraîche

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A touch of cumin gives these crisp meringues a welcome warmth that pairs beautifully with a trio of sweet and juicy summer berries and a dollop of tangy crème fraîche. Aromatic and floral ground cardamom or fresh and herbal ground coriander may be substituted for the cumin.

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Spiced Roasted Chickpeas

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Roasted chickpeas make a simple and delicious hors d'oeuvre or snack. Here, they're tossed with cumin, coriander, chile powder, and olive oil, then oven-roasted at a high temperature.

22 Cumin Recipes to Cook Now (2024)

FAQs

What do you use cumin to cook? ›

Chefs rely on Cumin to accentuate the sweetness of root vegetables, like carrots and beets, as well as adding complexity to vegetarian dishes, from vegetable and bean stews to grilled tofu. It's a must-have for enhancing the savory flavor of rich meats like beef and lamb.

What happens when you eat a lot of cumin powder in food? ›

Cumin is known to have narcotic properties and therefore, they should be consumed with cautiousness. Side-effects of cumin seeds include mental clouding, drowsiness and nausea—which may be caused by excessive consumption of them.

What are the warnings of cumin? ›

Special Precautions and Warnings

Cumin might cause an upset stomach in some people. Also, some people can be allergic to cumin. Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Cumin is commonly consumed in foods. There isn't enough reliable information to know if cumin is safe to use as a medicine when pregnant or breast-feeding.

What happens if you put too much cumin in a recipe? ›

Adding too much cumin can result in an overwhelming taste that masks the other flavors in your recipe. To prevent this, start with a conservative amount and adjust as necessary. Additionally, the potency of cumin can vary depending on its freshness and quality.

What flavor does cumin add to meat? ›

The cumin plant is closely related to parsley, caraway and dill. Both the whole seeds and ground cumin can add nutty warmth, pepperiness and smokiness with a faintly musty aroma to all manner of dishes.

Do you put cumin before or after cooking? ›

How to use cumin. The best way to cook with cumin will vary depending on whether you are using whole seeds or ground. The seeds should be added to warm oil, usually at the beginning of the cooking process as they take longer to release their flavour.

Who should not eat cumin? ›

Precautions
  • Bleeding disorders. Cumin might slow blood clotting. ...
  • Diabetes. Cumin might lower blood sugar levels in some people. ...
  • Surgery: Cumin might lower blood sugar levels. Some experts worry that it might interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery.

How much cumin is safe per day? ›

The typical dose of cumin as an herbal supplement is 300 to 600 milligrams per day. Researchers have found evidence that cumin suppresses testosterone levels, which means it could make men less fertile if they're taking it.

Does cumin raise blood pressure? ›

Yes, Cumin helps reduce blood pressure. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. It reduces blood pressure by making nitric oxide more available in the blood. Nitric oxide relaxes narrowed blood vessels and lowers blood pressure[14].

Which disease is serious in cumin? ›

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) is affected by wilt, blight and powdery mildew diseases which are responsible for heavy yield losses.

Is cumin safe for kidneys? ›

For generations, people have used cumin to treat conditions ranging from indigestion and diarrhea to headaches. People in India have used it to treat kidney and bladder stones, eye disease, and even leprosy. Now, scientific research is finding evidence that backs up many of these traditional uses.

Does cumin affect the kidneys? ›

The kidney-protective effects of black cumin are owing to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiapoptotic, and antifibrotic properties.

How much cumin to use in cooking? ›

I like to use from 1 teaspoon to 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin per pound of meat. If I have it on hand, I love to use whole cumin seeds. I'll roast them in a cast iron skillet until they become aromatic. I will grind them in a spice mill and toss in a few roasted, whole ones to chew on.

Can you cook with whole cumin? ›

Cooking Tips & More. The best way to get the most flavor from whole cumin seeds is to roast or fry them before using or grinding. This process helps release their oils, which intensifies their flavor.

Does heat destroy cumin? ›

If you do burn cumin seeds, toss them out and start again; there's no rescuing bitter cumin, and its powerful flavor will ruin a dish. Cumin added at the start of a dish—a common method when making a curry or rice pilaf—forms an earthy, spicy backdrop, but long cooking kills cumin's subtleties.

How do you use cumin powder in food? ›

How to Use Cumin Powder? You can sprinkle this in your stir fry dishes, curries, soups, salads, chaats etc. It is best to use this when you are about to finish in stir fry and soups. To use it in curries, use it along with coriander powder or garam masala.

What form is cumin most commonly used? ›

Grinding roasted cumin seeds releases its earthy flavor notes. Because the seeds have already developed more flavor throughout the roasting and grinding process, you can use the ground cumin at any point while cooking. This is the form often used in chili and Mexican dishes or in a dry rub for meats.

Does cumin add heat to food? ›

Cumin seeds provide strong flavors in hot-climate cuisine. The spice is valued for its pungency and bitterness and for its ability to increase heat in curries and other hot dishes. I discovered this by accident one weekend while testing Tex-Mex recipes.

Does cumin add heat to a recipe? ›

But although cumin is widely associated with heavily spiced foods, it's only spicy by association. Per The Epicentre, cumin on its own hardly has any heat and ranks at only three on the hotness scale. Compared to cayenne, which has a hotness of eight to nine on the same scale, cumin isn't nearly as spicy.

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