Which Herbs and Spices Are Gluten-Free?

A gluten-free diet has become a popular diet over recent years. Whether you follow a gluten-free diet out of necessity for conditions like Celiac disease or just out of personal preference, knowing which foods and ingredients contain gluten is a necessity.

All plain herbs and spices are gluten-free. There is a chance for added gluten in seasoning blends (a mixture of herbs, spices, and occasionally other ingredients like thickeners and sweeteners), but even seasoning mixes are highly unlikely to contain gluten.

We’ll explain more about why herbs and spices are gluten-free (and why seasoning mixes are gluten-free the vast majority of the time) in this article.

What are herbs and spices?

As a quick recap, herbs and spices are plants that are used to flavor foods. Herbs come from the leaves of plants (like oregano) while spices come from the roots, flower buds, stems, and bark of plants, like cinnamon, black pepper, and cloves.

While you can buy some herbs fresh like cilantro and mint, many are dried and ground for convenient use and longer shelf life. Spices are almost always dried, though – which is one of the main differences.

Are herbs and spices gluten-free?

If you’re on a gluten-free diet, label reading is necessary when you buy packaged and processed foods. Why? Gluten is often hidden in added ingredients and isn’t always as obvious as the gluten in bread and pasta. Gluten can be present in added thickeners and other ingredients you wouldn’t otherwise suspect.

The GOOD news is that all plain herbs and spices are gluten-free. What we mean by ‘plain’ is that it’s only the herb or spice itself – like oregano, cinnamon, onion powder, among many others.

Herbs and spices come from plants that don’t contain gluten. Some plant-based foods do indeed contain gluten (case in point, wheat, rye, and barley), but it’s not in the trees, shrubs, roots, and other plants where we get herbs and spices.

What about seasoning mixes?

Okay, awesome – all herbs and spices are gluten-free! Does that include seasoning mixes like taco seasoning, pumpkin pie spice, and others?

While we can’t say that ALL seasoning mixes are without a doubt gluten-free, the vast majority of them are. Most seasoning mixes are blends of herbs and spices to provide specific flavors for cooking and baking. However, some seasoning blends might have added ingredients like thickeners – but they are usually gluten-free, like corn starch or potato starch.

Potential added thickeners in seasoning mixes

Dextrin: This is a type of thickener that can be derived from wheat in some cases, but it’s usually from corn. The types of thickeners that are present in seasoning mixes (if any) are usually corn starch, potato starch, or tapioca starch. If dextrin is from wheat, it’ll likely say ‘wheat dextrin’.

While unlikely, seasoning mixes can have added gluten, so the bottom line is to always check the ingredients label to make sure a particular seasoning doesn’t contain any added gluten. An easy way to check for added gluten is to look at the allergen statement which is usually in bold below the ingredients. If it contains gluten, you’ll likely see CONTAINS: WHEAT on the allergen statement. 

Barley and rye also contain gluten, but wheat is the most likely source of hidden gluten in foods like seasoning mixes. For instance, hidden ingredients derived from barley are more likely to be in sweetened foods in the form of malt, which isn’t likely to be present in seasoning mixes.

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