Spice Pots “The Ultimate BBQ Seasoning Spice Kit” Review

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

Receiving Spice Pots Ultimate BBQ Seasoning Spice Kit has instantly got me excited for Summer and all the BBQ’s planned with family and friends.

The packaging is bright and exotic, and once inside the box you have four 40g navy blue metal pots each with a different coloured design on the front to represent a flavour. My instant thought was, what an amazing Father’s day gift! A lot of men feel at home by the BBQ so this would really add a new dimension to their cooking. My Dad especially loves the praise he gets from his skills on the grill so he would appreciate the adoration from creating something a bit different with these spice pots.

The flavours in this pack are Korma (mild), Bhuna and Tandoori Masala which are both medium and the hot Goan. They can be used for both BBQ and curry recipes, just in case the weather doesn’t hold out.
Each pot contains 8 servings, which is 2 typical family meals per pot. Once opened it does last for 12 months although I doubt that you’d store them for so long.
Also included in the pack is a recipe booklet which can be used with any of the spice blends. Created by a busy mum of 3, these recipes are designed to take less than 30 minutes (hallelujah!) so they can be a mid-week meal just as easily as a special weekend BBQ.

Opening the pots is such a treat as the spices smell simply amazing.  I was instantly drawn to the Satay Sauce recipe as this is one of absolute favourites. This recipe used the Korma Spice Pot, so it was one that I could happily try with my children as they prefer a milder curry flavour. We only needed to add a few basic ingredients, most of which I already had in stock, and we used it in a chicken stir fry. This beats the ready-made packs you can buy in the supermarket any day! It was absolutely amazing; not particularly spicy so I would be interested to try this recipe with one of the medium spiced pots, but it was ideal for the kids and a really tasty family meal.

We got the BBQ out and tried Lamb Bhuna Burgers with the Bhuna spice pot. These are homemade burgers so that the spices are within the meat of the burger rather than in a marinade for this recipe. The burgers were so tasty and a real winner with everyone who tried them; a perfect blend of spices with a nice kick.

I’m not a lover of very hot food, so I let my husband try the Goan Spice Pot in a simple marinade from the booklet using soy sauce, coconut oil, maple syrup and some garlic along with the spices. We held off on the chili just in case! This is such a cheap and simple way to create your own BBQ favourites without making a trip to a specialist butcher, and the flavours are amazing. I will try this with another of the spices as it was quick, yet surprisingly delicious according to my husband.

With the Tandoori Masala Spice Pot I decided to look at one of their online recipes in conjunction with the chicken skewers recipe in the booklet to create a Chicken Tikka Masala, a substitute for our usual takeaway. It was so easy to make and again we didn’t have to buy in too many extra ingredients. There was just a bit of extra time required to marinade and therefore an additional step to account for, but this took just a few minutes and saved time later on as lot of the preparation work was done.

I have to say that there was something missing in terms of the taste. I don’t necessarily believe it was due to the spices as that aspect seemed to be fine. I am not an expert on Indian food so hadn’t a clue what to add to achieve the taste I was wanting, so this was a little disappointing and I would probably avoid making this particular recipe again.
However, I loved knowing that my curry was home made and not swimming in oil as I find with many takeaways. These spices make me feel like I can actually have a go at cooking Indian food, as I just wouldn’t dare try to create my own blends and generally use a curry paste such as korma.

I love that the spices are natural, gluten and nut free, particularly as my son has a wheat intolerance as it can be so frustrating trying to find good tasting food that he can eat with us. I have to admit I was surprised to see that the spices are sugar and salt free, as my assumption has always been that Indian food contains quite a bit of salt. I am not someone who uses a lot of salt in cooking, but I was intrigued to see if I would need to add some to the food. I only added sugar where the recipe dictated. I added no salt to the satay chicken meal but it was required with the Tikka Masala plus a little with the BBQ meats.

The RRP of £15.95 initially sounds steep, but if you consider the many different spices that you now don’t need to buy, as the blend of different ingredients is created for you. Plus, I buy so many spices for various recipes and use them twice before they are out of date, so buying these blends eradicates the waste.  With the “2-family meals in a pot” idea, this equates to £2 for the spices used in each meal (approximately) which is perfectly reasonable considering the recipe ideas available as well. You can purchase refills for the pots from the website below, and source more delicious recipes for free. The website is amazing for ideas.  A great idea would be to take these camping with you, so you can add a bit of spice and flavour instead of sticking with the basic BBQ type meals whilst you holiday.

I love the idea of these spice pots as a Father’s Day gift ready for summer, but as a great way to bring authentic Indian cooking into the home without the stress (and skill) usually required. It’s good to try this set initially so you can decide which refills you prefer. I would award this seasoning set 4 stars out of 5.

Rating: 4/5 stars

RRP: £15.95

You can purchase The Ultimate BBQ Seasoning Spice Kit here.