Dak’s Salt Free Spice Blends

You know I am always on the lookout for great tasting and salt free spice blends to take the place of many of the off the shelf spice blends that are loaded with sodium and will take a normal meal and blow through the sodium count. We can craft some perfectly good recipes to make our own blends at home, but sometimes the convenience of having a go to blend is a relief. Especially after a full day at work.  You also know that there are blends out there, that are lacking in taste even though they hit the low sodium mark. I came across Dak’s Salt Free Spice Blends while on Facebook. I had to get some to put them through the Hacking Salt Taste test. I contacted them to make sure that there was no potassium chloride being used as a sodium replacement, as it is detrimental to those of us on transplant medications.

The people at Dak’s (Drew & Karen) were kind enough to ship me out a sample pack. Now before even chatting with them about their products, I have to say I have a soft spot for businesses that have been started or are related to people like myself (and many of you) who have struggled with heart issues and hypertension. It’s one of the reasons I love the Hydracoach Water Bottle People – it is a product created by another heart transplant recipient. so now, on to the spices:

Dak’s Salt Free Spice Blends – A Review

They sent out a four pack of the spices; Their Original Red, Green Zest, Steakhouse, and Lemon Pep. You see a full list of their blends here. They come nicely packaged and the labels are bright and colorful which help them pop out a bit when placed on your spice rack. All four had a wonderful “nose” to them. You could envision dishes they might go in from smelling them.

The Original red is earthy with a slight smoke and sweet profile. The Green Zest was bright with citrus notes that immediately had me thinking of vegetables, chicken, or fish to try it on. The steakhouse reminds you exactly of that. In fact if your familiar with Montreal Steak seasonings, they tend to have the herby notes of french cooking, specifically Herbs de Provence. The Lemon Pep smells exactly like you think it would and was fresh and bright with citrus aromas.

We put these blends through their paces with chicken breasts, pork chops, and green beans. Since they are dry spices, we applied a little olive oil to each protein and veggie to allow for the blends to cling to the surface a bit better. For the chicken and pork, we used the spices simply as a rub and then tossed them on the grill. Simply prepared, to see how the flavor held up. They were all very good in their own way. I personally liked the Steakhouse and Original Red on the Pork Chops and Chicken. My wife loved the Green Zest, and our oldest daughter thought the Lemon Pep was great on both the chicken and veggies.

I tend to like a little more heat, so the fact that these blends were solid, I will definitely have to try some of their spicier blends.

I also used the Steakhouse blend to make a wonderful marinade I will share. I used 1 tablespoon of the Steakhouse, 1 tablespoon of malt vinegar, a tablespoon of olive oil, and the juice of 1 lime. I used this to marinate some beef chuck roast tips before grilling them up in a skillet. It was really good.

So, if like me, you are tired of just dashing your food when seasoning, I recommend that you give Dak’s a try. They are sold online through their website and may be found in retail locations if you are in or near Alabama. As a special offer just for the readers of Hacking Salt, you can enter the coupon code HACKING SALT you will receive 10% off and free shipping! You can click this link to make a purchase and receive the discount.

 

UPDATE: As of March of 2016 I am proud to announce Hacking Salt is a partner affiliate of Dak’s Salt free Spices. Your Dak’s purchases from links on this site help towards the production of Hacking Salt. Thanks for being a supporter!