Adobo Seasoning

Shake it generously onto meat before cooking as a dry rub, or stir it with a little olive oil and lime juice to make a quick wet marinade. Because it is salt-free, you can use a heavy hand without over-salting, then salt the dish separately to taste.

The old rule of thumb: adobo goes on the meat, sazon goes in the dish. Adobo is the savory, garlic-and-herb backbone for proteins; sazon is more about color and goes into rice and stews. They do different jobs and often work together.

No, just a shared name. Filipino adobo is a braising method built on soy sauce and vinegar. This is the dry Caribbean and Latin American seasoning blend, shaken on as a rub. Different dish entirely.

Most commercial adobo is salt first and flavor second, which is why it is easy to ruin a dish with it. Building it salt-free puts the aromatic seeds and chiles in front and hands you control of the salt, so the seasoning works on everything from eggs to a holiday pernil.

Paprika, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, garlic, onion, coriander seeds, ancho chili pepper, pasilla pepper, and oregano. Nothing else.