5 Seasoned Salts To Finish Off Your Steak With

Some chefs might throw a Gordon Ramsay-esque hissy fit if you make the classic restaurant steak mistake of asking for extra salt for your meat, but this isn't because beef is meant to be served plain. (Perish the thought!) Instead, the dramatics may have more to do with their confidence that anything that comes out of their kitchen is already perfectly seasoned. Should you be cooking steak at home, though, you're free to experiment with seasoned salt to your heart's content. Whether you're using it as a dry rub for a grilled sirloin (omitting the seasoning is a major steak mistake) or sprinkling it over a pan-seared steak au poivre as a final touch, a salt and spice blend is sure to make for the tastiest steak.

Most supermarkets may carry a selection of seasoning salts, but with all due respect to Lawry's and McCormick, this list is made up of steak seasonings you may be less familiar with. Each and every one is readily available on Amazon, however, and has hundreds (if not thousands) of rave reviews to recommend it. Chances are, one more may become your new favorite spice blend

Johnny's Seasoning Salt touts itself as being MSG-free right on the label, which is a plus if you're afraid the stuff is somehow sneaking into your spice blends under the guise of unnamed flavoring agents. That being said, Johnny's doesn't exactly disclose its entire secret recipe upfront, since the salt is blended with sugar, paprika, and "spices." What spices? That we can't say, although the picture on the label depicts garlic and onions. What we do know is that it's been around since 1956, and nearly 70 years in business speaks to the enduring popularity of the product.

While this seasoning salt works wonders with steaks, it can also be used to season other types of food besides meat. The Amazon web page even features a recipe for "Johnny's Caprese panini," while one reviewer disclosed that it's the only seasoning that'll get their kids to eat vegetables, and another loves to sprinkle it on watermelon.

Purchase Johnny's Seasoning Salt from Amazon for $18.45.

Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Seasonings is another company that produces an entire range of seasoning blends, including an all-purpose seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, and seasoned garlic. If it's beef you're seasoning, though, your best bet is Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Steakhouse Seasoning. (Despite the name, the label says it can also be used for pork and poultry.) In addition to salt, the other seasonings make for a unique blend of flavors with black pepper, garlic, dill, chili peppers, paprika, and lime. While the combination might seem unusual (dill with lime?), all of these disparate elements play nicely with each other and none of them overbalance the blend.

Jane's Krazy fans love the steakhouse seasoning not only on steaks but fajitas and burgers, too. The combination of salty, peppery, and tangy flavors also leads us to believe that it could also work in a mangonada, if you want something less spicy than Tajín

Purchase Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Steakhouse Seasoning from Amazon for $6.92.

If you want to add a gourmet touch to your steak, you couldn't do better than this twofer seasoning combo from Borsari. As an added convenience, the bottles come stacked one atop the other so they'll take up less of that precious spice cabinet real estate.

One of the bottles includes the original seasoned salt blend flavored with basil, black pepper, garlic, nutmeg, and rosemary, while the other, dubbed the savory blend, includes those same ingredients along with lavender and thyme. While we've nothing against homemade spice rubs, let's face it, could you have come up with something so creative on your own without a few years of culinary school under your belt? (Neither could we.) On an ounce-for-ounce basis, these Borsari blends may be a bit pricier than some other seasoning salts, but those in the know swear they're worth every cent.

Purchase Borsari Seasoned Salt Combo from Amazon for $18.93.

For true old-timey steakhouse flavor, you couldn't do much better than St. Elmo Steak House Seasoning. No, it's not named after the '80s Brat Pack movie "St. Elmo's Fire" (although that would also make a great seasoning name), but rather a venerable Indianapolis restaurant that's been a downtown fixture since 1902. We're not sure when the signature seasoning blend was created, but it certainly seems to have a classic flavor to it. The restaurant claims to use it not only on steaks, but on just about everything else on the menu as well (with the possible exception of desserts).

The ingredients in St. Elmo Steak House Seasoning include salt, of course, along with black pepper, celery seed, garlic, onion, paprika, and a touch of cane sugar. Sugar plus steak is an awesome combo that makes for extremely flavorful meat with a caramelized coating, and reviewers also enjoy the slightly sweet taste of this seasoning rub on ribs, burgers, and chicken. Another thing they appreciate is that it's really not all that salty, as far as seasoning salts go, but is instead a nicely balanced blend.

Purchase St. Elmo Steak House Seasoning from Amazon for $13.74.

Once upon a time, Bob's Big Boy was an entire restaurant chain, but there are now just a handful of locations in Michigan, as well as a couple in California. While the restaurant may be better known for its double-decker cheeseburgers (a dish it claims to have invented), some current locations do feature sirloin steaks as well as a selection of tri-tip sandwiches. Somewhere along the line, the restaurant developed a signature seasoning salt that complements all of these dishes (along with the rest of its entrees).

Part of the appeal of Bob's Big Boy Seasoning Salt is admittedly its nostalgia value for any of us in the 48 Big Boy-deprived states who are old enough to remember the long-departed chain. Its 4.8 star rating with over 400 reviews, however, testifies to the fact that it's got a lot more going for it. The ingredient list starts off like a pretty typical seasoned salt with celery, garlic, paprika, and parsley, but it also includes curry powder, which is something not ordinarily found in such blends.  Another ingredient is monosodium glutamate, which, if you're not sensitive to it, can be a valuable kitchen staple for adding instant umami to any dish. Former Bob's Big Boy patrons swear this seasoning salt tastes exactly like what their long-closed, much-missed restaurants used to use and all Amazon reviewers agree that the flavor is fantastic.

Purchase a Bob's Big Boy Seasoning Salt three-pack from Amazon for $29.99.