Are Dollar Tree Spices Worth It? We Taste-Tested 14 To Find Out

Steven Luna/Mashed

If you've never shopped the spice section at Dollar Tree, you've been missing out on some of the most affordable additions to your culinary toolkit. It may not be as extensive as the collections of flavorings found in larger grocery chains and big-box stores, but it provides standards and staples at the $1.25 price point to help you spend less on the sprinkles you use most. Whether it's a BBQ rub to give your ribs a Texas twist or a blend of Italian herbs to take your chicken to the next level, Dollar Tree spices seem ready to help you build big flavor on a budget.

But are these cheap seasonings worth the side quest? Can you really count on a discount store to sell high quality spices like the ones found in your favorite outlet? It bears a taste test to make the discovery, so I trucked a mile to my closest Dollar Tree to find out. Beyond the store's Supreme Tradition label, I also found several better-known brands available, including Badia and Kingsford, though their contributions are limited. I gathered 14 jars of the spices I keep in my home kitchen collection, with a few novelties thrown in for the thriller of new flavors. Then I took my taste buds for what I hoped would be a joyride.

Steven Luna/Mashed

What a kick in the taste buds this little bottle turned out to be! Of course, you'd expect punchy flavor from Kingsford, the reigning monarch of cookout seasonings. But who could have guessed you could find it at Dollar Tree for the same $1.25 price as the lesser-known brands? As soon as I saw it among the other bottles, I knew it was going to be a highlight of the taste test. The big names are dependable like that.

What makes this mix so special, other than the bargain price point? The label only lists onion, garlic, and "spices, including paprika," leaving the secret of this special combination as a griller's mystery. I can safely say that a single dip from the bottle on the tip of my finger set off fireworks on my tongue. It may not call out TNT as part of the formula, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a key ingredient.

Steven Luna/Mashed

How does a spice company mess up a simple mix of garlic and herbs so badly that you can't taste either element? I'm not sure, but Colonna sure seems to have found the secret. Even if this shaker had too much garlic or too much herbal flavor, I would have had something decent to say about it. But the aromatic element was a bit plastic, and the flavor was so bland I had to read the label to make sure there were actual garlic and herbs in the formula. And there were. But darned if I could pick up on them.

Onion, red pepper, parsley, and lemon oil are rumored to be at this party, though in the concentration here they all merge to taste closer to celery seed. It would be preferable to concoct my own garlic and herb mix using my choice of flavors, mostly so there would be something to taste at all. I was hoping this would be a real winner, considering it's salt free, but with no discernible taste, it's entirely lost.

Steven Luna/Mashed

I never think of chives as a spice cabinet trooper. Chives are one of the cheapest fresh seasonings in the produce section, so I usually grab a bunch and use them until they're nothing but roots. But having a shaker at the ready when I forget to pick them up could easily save an unneeded journey to the grocery store, especially when chives are a final touch on a creation that could use an herbaceous kick. That makes Signature Tradition Chopped Chives one of my favorite discoveries in the Dollar Tree spice section.

As soon as the shaker was opened, I smelled the earthy goodness rise up from the bottle, something few of the other spices in my collection offer. I sampled a pinch and found the fragrance carried through in the taste, subtle yet distinctive. Now I have a ready bottle of dried chives to throw in a salad, add to a dressing, or whip into a creamy dip for chips or veggies.

Steven Luna/Mashed

How disappointing to read the label on a seasoning called "garlic pepper" and find out the first ingredient is salt. Beyond being a surprise twist, it's also the primary taste in this shake-on, leaving the garlic in second place and distancing the pepper until it's almost imperceptible. I assumed the blend was garlic powder with pepper, not garlic salt with pepper, a detail that would be better served as part of the name. At least unsuspecting shoppers could count on a more garlic-forward experience.

Further down the label, I found sugar and oregano listed, which is baffling since none of it shows up in the flavor profile. Knowing ahead of time that all the other seasoning is practically invisible, it's easier to stick with garlic salt and add pepper to your dish rather than hoping this weird combination comes through in a pinch.

Steven Luna/Mashed

There's a fun kick to Colonna Cilantro Lime seasoning that almost clutched too hard at the sides of my tongue when I sampled it. The cilantro was in there too, present but not overbearing. But there was also a combination of Southwestern seasonings that help build a flavor foundation I could easily see turning fish into a feast (even though I don't partake), chicken into a celebration, and taco Tuesday into an outright fiesta.

I can see why the flavor is reduced to cilantro lime on the label; there's also cayenne, black pepper, paprika, chili powder, lemon peel, cumin, and oregano leaves, which makes this a more well-rounded seasoning than the name suggests. It's beyond taco seasoning, bordering on fajita flavoring (another great use!) and would make perfect crema for topping any Tex-Mex dish you favor. I'll be trying it in hummus to see what kind of cross-cultural razzmatazz I can conjure up.

Steven Luna/Mashed

This subtle yet sophisticated take on Italian herbs and spices wasn't exciting enough for me to recommend. It's probably entirely passable if you plan to spruce up your recipe with other flavorings from fresh herbs or aromatic veggies, but if it's all you have on the docket, you'll want to rethink your Dollar Tree purchase. You may think it's a great place to start, especially if you have sauce on the menu and you want to jump-start your supper work. Just know that you could do better on your own than tossing a buck and a quarter on the counter for this disappointing buy.

The mélange of thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, and sage certainly reads like successful Old World seasoning. But somewhere in the drying of the herbs maybe, or perhaps in the packaging in a plastic shaker bottle, the spirit of the plants gets lost. What you're left with is a grassy mashup that needs more oomph to be noticed for anything more than its colorful addition to your dish.

Steven Luna/Mashed

Few seasonings are as welcome in as many dishes as garlic powder. It makes just about every savory dish on every cultural menu a more memorable experience, and it's easy enough to add to your other seasoning blend without compromising anything. With Supreme Tradition Garlic Powder from Dollar Tree, you have an affordable version that pops any recipe with a bold flavor blast you can count on. It's pure garlic goodness, with no added ingredients to augment the flavor, a fact which I appreciate as a fan of pure garlic moments.

My taste test proved the purity of this garlic and showed that even inexpensive spices can come to the rescue. This will join my basic garlic-onion-paprika trio I use on my home fries and will easily hold its own against the other spices without making trouble. Knowing I can find this bottle at a discount outlet gets my culinary gears turning, wondering how much garlic infusion my family dinners can take.

Steven Luna/Mashed

There's a surprising lack of flavor in Supreme Tradition Paprika, which is usually one of the more robust spices on the rack. I can't add it to the food I'm cooking without feeling a little sneeze coming on, yet when I put a dish of this version up to my nose to get the aroma, I couldn't detect anything. A little taste test did nothing to reveal the usual pepper essence, either.

Another interesting aspect: There were clumps in the bottle that would keep the paprika from coming through the shaker top, something that's bound to frustrate home cooks who don't relish further prep work to get their prepared spices ready to use. Unlike many of the other spices I tried, this one doesn't include any anti-caking agent to keep things smooth and shakable, which may appeal to those who prefer a more straightforward formula to their seasonings. But when paprika is both clumpy and flavorless, it's worth skipping entirely.

Steven Luna/Mashed

With citric acid and lemon peel providing the pucker factor, Supreme Tradition Lemon Pepper leans into the tart temptation and comes up with a borderline winner, only because the sour layer stopped just shy of turning off the other regions of my tongue. The pepper is shy here, and a little of the onion and garlic included on the ingredients list linger in the aftertaste. But the effect is so fun and flavorful, I don't even mind the powerful tingle it provides.

The best use for this bottle is, of course, lemon pepper chicken wings, which provide the perfect surface space for spreading around the tangy excitement. But don't stop there; add it to roasted vegetables, twist it into sour cream or plain yogurt as a brush-on for chicken, or get wild and use it in the same way you would Tajin spice for turning watermelon into a spicy-sweet-savory masterpiece. It's just that versatile.

Steven Luna/Mashed

This is another top-shelf purchase, a version of onion powder in which simply slicing into the freshness seal releases the piquant fragrance of real onions. If you're a fan of such a scent, then you already know how excited your palate gets just smelling such a creation. I knew this bottle and I were going to be good friends from the jump, and I will eagerly work my way through the contents with every onion-friendly recipe I can find.

The fact that there's nothing to cut the onion flavor is perfect; the power is full-strength, which lets you as the chef decide how much or how little to bestow upon your chosen dish. It's ideal for a quick onion dip when you're out of actual mix or craving a more natural version without all the additives, and it'll help your homemade taco seasoning show up for dinner with its best foot forward. Maybe you can tell how much I love this Dollar Tree spice. I'm not embarrassed by it, either. That's just how much I dig my seasonings.

Steven Luna/Mashed

It's a nice touch to remove the salt from a seasoning for anyone watching their sodium intake. But replacing it with so much tartness, Supreme Tradition goes too far in the other direction, presumably in an attempt to keep your taste buds happy. Instead, you get a bit of an acidic clench in the back of your throat as the seasoning goes down. It ends up feeling like a direct line to acid reflux instead of a tasty way to flavor your food.

Orange peel, lemon oil, and citric acid may pile up to create this overly-sour effect. They drown out the garlic, onion, and parsley, though the crushed red pepper kept its hold on the sides of my taste buds long after my taste test was finished. I don't think there's anything here that you couldn't conjure up in finer fashion with what you already have in your cabinet. At least you can leave out the citric acid to see what the other ingredients might offer.

Steven Luna/Mashed

What I like best about Supreme Tradition Steakhouse Seasoning isn't the kicky dance of flavors that works caraway and dill seeds into the formation, although those are welcome additions to the routine. It isn't the harmonics created by garlic, red pepper, and MSG, either, though they absolutely state their case for front-runner-ship. Now, what I like best about this bottle is the texture, the oversized grains that don't get lost in a sauce or dissolve in an oil drizzle. These bits and bobs can be seen by the naked eye, which means they can be tasted with a discerning tongue, too. What a wake-up call for such a low-priced seasoning.

This bottle may be meant for steak, but no one can stop me from using it as a baked potato topping instead. I also intend on working it into my regular roasted veggie rotation to give new spark to an old tradition. It has the smoky savory allure that can make a simple vegetable medley taste like a restaurant-style entrée. It's the best culinary magic you can spend $1.25 on these days.

Steven Luna/Mashed

From ribs and wings to patties and steak, Texas-style BBQ flavors always make a big impact. But the lasting impression created depends on a robust presentation that balances the elements with precision. It may be hard to think that Dollar Tree might be the home of your next big seasoning shaker to give Southwestern spirit to whatever your heart desires. But the $1.25 outlet serves up a bottle from Colonna that just might flip your burger.

The aroma is subtle when you crack open the shaker top, but the flavor is distinctive, a mix of peppery paprika, smoky black pepper, and zesty garlic powder. It was nice to not be overwhelmed by one element or another when I took a taste, an indicator that this blend is perfect for gently layering the BBQ boldness without pouring it on too thick. It would also add a great zip to steamed broccoli or cauliflower.

Steven Luna/Mashed

Anyone with a taste for a salty tingle on homemade air fryer chips will be pleased with this combination from Badia. I've been on the search for a powdered vinegar seasoning that doesn't set my grocery spending back too far, and this discovery was a fun find I'll be investing in during future Dollar Tree trips. It's a fantastic topper for popcorn, baked potatoes, and home fries, all of which call for a bit of zing.

To be fair, there's a little more in the bottle than just vinegar and sea salt; the label lists sugar, onion, garlic, and other unspecified spices. I did detect a bit of green onion in the powder, indicated in part by the green flecks that stand out vividly. But everything comes together so naturally, it seems more like a formula for zesty magic rather than an attempt to dial down the tartness of the vinegar. I plan to keep this one on hand for any recipe that needs a boost where liquid vinegar doesn't fit the bill.

Steven Luna/Mashed

I had a shopping list in mind of all the spices and seasonings I've bought at Dollar Tree in the past, with possibilities from the chain's website added to create a fuller selection. I ended up at the mercy of the stock in my location, which looked slightly different from the display I was used to seeing. Preferred options like cinnamon, cumin, and taco seasoning weren't available, so I stuck with my staples, including garlic powder and lemon pepper, and chose others that sounded intriguing, like vinegar sea salt, Texas BBQ, and Cajun spice. I also gathered an array of brands, since Dollar Tree offers more than just its own signature label.

For the testing, I did a simple one-dip taste to get a sense of the true essence of each spice and decide if they were worth buying or not. By holding off on using the spices in cooked dishes, I was able to avoid confusion between the base food flavor and what the seasonings had to offer. Once I had tasted every option, I tried the vinegar sea salt and Texas BBQ as popcorn flavorings and used the steakhouse seasoning on a baked potato — real-world scenarios that gave me a better sense of how the spices work with simple dishes.