Tuscan Sunset is their salt free Italian seasoning, and it's good; I don't know how it compares to Emeril's, though.

Two other salt free mixes to which I am addicted: Arizona Dreaming (a not-particularly-hot but very flavorful chipotle-based mix, great on fish, chicken and burgers) and Sunny Spain (salt free lemon pepper). Worth trying a sample of those items.

Also, their granulated garlic is much better than what I find in my local supermarket.

I grind my own sausage and use Penzeys BREAKFAST SAUSAGE SEASONING in it.

Another favorite is FOX POINT SEASONING. A light general use mixture (vegetables, poultry, fish, dips, twice-baked potatoes, and salads) but a great add-in when making hamburger or sandwich buns for something different.

PIZZA SEASONING - a powder mixture I use in my easy-mix pizza sauce (tomato powder, water, vinegar, sweetener and pizza seasoning).

Be sure to try the many different kinds of cinnamon. You'll be sure to find one or two new favorites.

My sister-in-law loves the TACO SEASONING, and now they have several to choose from.

Be sure to let us know what some of your favorites are.

-Grainlady

Grainlady! How is Fox Point fitting into your $50 budget?

I love it but it's expensive!

Smoked Spanish Paprika is wonderful. Adds a little something "more".

I second the pizza seasoning and breakfast sausage seasoning. Both very good.

I don't use many of the other blends, mostly just single spice things and mix my own.

Deanna

I generally get my spices at an Indian market, where they are cheaper, but if you are not near one, I would recommend getting sumac, Maharaji curry powder, Malabar or Tellichery black peppercorns, and maybe some ancho chili powder. I use sumac in Algerian and Persian recipes, and there really is no substitute for it. It's great to put on chicken before you grill it. The last time I went there was for Sichuan peppercorns, and I have to say that I have not gotten around to using them. I got a new Sichuan cookbook last month and have not decided upon a recipe yet.

Lars

Don't know if these are salt-free, but the spice blends I've come to enjoy the most are:

Cajun Seasoning (cooking chicken thighs with it tonight)
Bavarian Seasoning (great on pork roasts and turkey parts)
Barbecue of the Americas (love this as a rub for pulled pork and chicken)
Shallot Pepper Seasoning ( delicately seasons vegetables and egg dishes)

I also love their Cinnamon Sugar mix ( has some vanilla in it). I put it on buttered toast when I want a treat for breakfast and it makes oatmeal palatable, too!

seagrass

By coincidence, my recent order from Penzey's arrived this morning. If you're watching the sodium, another one of their salt free blends is 'Sunny Paris'--it is the salt free version of 'Fox Point' seasoning which Grainlady mentioned. Good stuff.

Also, they have a bigger turnover than your average supermarket, so if you ordered something common that's readily available at your supermarket (tarragon, thyme, etc) chances are you'd be getting a superior product at a price that's no higher (and often lower) than what your local supermarket has. I was blown away by how fresh smelling their dried tarragon was; I'd never encountered tarragon that good unless it was fresh.

Once you find a product you like, don't toss the jar; you can save a huge amount by buying the spice or mixture in bags and refilling your original jar. For instance, the Arizona Dreaming blend is $6.45 for a half cup jar which contains 2.1 ounces by weight, but a 4 ounce bag is only $6.65. Likewise, granulated garlic is $5.89 for a half cup jar (contains 2.9 oz by weight), but a full pound of the stuff is only $12.30.

I'm a recent convert to Penzey's, but I am impressed with their attention to quality. The link is to their salt free items.

Here is a link that might be useful: Penzeys salt free items

I see smoked paprika has already been mentioned, so that is covered

I LOVE the 'Szechuan Pepper-salt roasted' in my Asian stir-fries

Lamb seasoning is another favorite on my lamb - I usually make a marinade out of EVOO and balsamic vinegar and toss in fresh garlic as well

Black cardamom is a great sub for bacon in baked beans, and Indian rices

I do stock up on Ancho and Aleppo pepper. Aleppo mixed with Urfa chili (hard to find, only at Surfas in Los Angeles) is great as well.

I also use their powdered chipotle chili. Less mess than the canned ones.

I've gotten lazy and used their ground cardamom, beats messing with opening pods and crushing them. Yeah, there is a bit of compromise on the flavor but I want my minutes.

I really like the northwoods seasoning on my salmon. Another few favorites are the chicago steak seasoning and the fajita one.

I feel like I have at least half of their seasonings.
We have a store in Dallas and one in Arlington.
My family loves their Vietnamese Cinnamon.
My daughter covers her apple slices in it.
I like the chili fixin spices and the italian spices.
I like several of the peppers, especially the Aleppo Pepper.
I have several of the salt free blends.
I don't think you can go wrong with any of their products.

Elery really likes their Mural of Flavor, it's one of the salt free herb blends, so that might be another option in place of Emeril's.

Like Jessica, I buy their powdered chipotle and also the powdered ancho, they keep longer and are not messy. I always buy their Vietnamesse cinnamon and the smoked paprika. My deer hunting nephew really likes their venison sausage seasoning, although it's more expensive than some of the hunting places sell blends for.

The Northwoods seasonoing is good and I just got the free jar of Mitchell STreet steak seasoning, but I haven't tried it yet. Amanda always buys their cheese sprinkle.

I also buy the bags of my favorites, much cheaper than the jars and easier to store than extra jars. As has been mentioned, some blends can be pretty expensive.

Annie

Just made a chicken salad with leftover roasted chicken meat, dressed with a dressing using the Sunny Paris spice blend. (1/8 cup Sunny Paris reconstituted with 1/4 cup water, allowed to sit for about 5 minutes, then enough mayo added to make about 1 cup mixed well--you have to reconstitute it first because one of the ingredients is freeze dried shallots). DW and MIL raved about it. It was very good, probably good enough to elevate canned chicken breast to an edible state--I'll try that next.

A co-worker turned me on to Penzeys years ago, even before I started hanging out here!! I like:

Tuscan Sunset
Sandwich seasonings (a good all purpose seasoned salt)
Adobo (all the southwest flavors minus the chilis, which then allows me to custom blend my picante profile)
Alleppo pepper
Turkish seasoning (very unique to them, for lovers of Mediterannean stuff, which is definately me)
The various cinnamons which I don't get for cost reasons
Pasta sprinkle (another good all purpose Italian blend)
Mural of flavor - I love this stuff on eggs!
Smoked paprika
Vanilla sugar - makes a great gift, awesome in coffee and for chai tea if you like sweet tastes. You can make your own vanilla sugar for less money but I never can seem to find the time
Ancho chili pepper - this is hard to find in other places

Tuscan sunset is their Italian salt free blend and we like it a lot. Emeril's Italian lists oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary and marjoram as the main ingredients. Tuscan Sunset is basil, oregano, garlic, bell pepper, black pepper and fennel so it is going to be similar but not the same.

Agree with the above on Mural of Flavor which is great on vegetables and just about everything else with the mixture of onion, garlic, herbs and citrus.

Singapore Seasoning which has a mix of onion, garlic, curry spices (mildly hot) and citrus.

Also like CA Pepper mix - try it on roast vegetables

I was reminded today at the grocery store how much I like Penzeys granulated garlic. Not garlic powder, granulated which you can then grind for powder if you like. It's very fresh.

Great thread. I wandered through my local Penzey's for a long time. I came home with only a few items but a big wish list.

I just made a pot of chili using Penzey's Chili 3000 and it turned out great. It's a salt-free mix so it made it possible to get depth without turning it a salty mess. I've found most grocery store chili powders are just too high in salt.

DH inhaled the boiled-then-broiled chicken wings I made with the Northwoods Seasoning. He liked the seasoning so much he requested I try it on shrimp next time. This will be a new staple in my pantry.

My neighbor raved about their cinnamon & sugar mix. It's good but I probably won't purchase it again due to the cost. It's not overly expensive but DH layers it on his toast. He's almost emptied the entire 1.8oz jar in 2 weeks.

I purchased the Mural Of Flavor mix but haven't really used it yet. I see others have used it on veggies so I'll work it in this way.

Jennifer

My DH loves the mural of flavor in his scrambled eggs and also mixed into his tuna salad.

I, too, love their Mural of Flavor.

The Italian seasoning is good, too--it's just a blend of herbs. I go through big bags of it.

I order all my 'regular' herbs and spices from them.
Once, years ago, not sure which Cinnamon I wanted, I ordered the smallest jar of all of them and did a taste test--Korintje won for me. Vietnamese is good, but I like the K. better for baking. But I also keep Ceylon on hand--it's the only one I use for anything with apples.

I make my own vanilla extract from their V. beans.
Always give a new bride a selection of their spices inside of whatever else I may give her (an enameled dutch oven, for example).

As someone else said, their stuff is so fresh, and so pure, it's just not worth buying from anywhere else. Have fun figuring out your order. And they almost always send you a little extra bottle of something to try for free.

And they use cinnamon sticks and whole nutmegs, and sometimes bay leaves as part of their packing material so the box smells fabulous!

/tricia

If you are not sure what to get or don't think you'll use much, they have half-sized bottles of many of their items. If you use a lot of something, definitely buy the bags.

I *love* Penzey's, it smells so good in their stores. Here are some of my staples/favorites:

Smoked Paprika--I use this in nearly all of my winter stews. Gives a rich, smoky flavor.

Chicago Steak Seasoning, great in bbq beef or "sloppy joes", steaks, burgers and occasionally pork chops, though for pork I generally prefer...

Pork Chop Seasoning--great on grilled chops and in barbeque pork. I make my own bbq sauce with this.

Muskego Street Fish and Chicken, this is a new one, and very simple--just pepper, salt and lemon, but it's convenient and the balance is just right.

Bouquet Garni--this is my go-to blend for soups and stews. (along with the smoked paprika)

Mural of Flavor, the hubs likes this on his salads, it's nice on roasted veg, and it's also very good on chicken and fish.

Their bay leaves give a lovely depth of flavor to soups and stews. I split a bag with my mom once a year or so, to keep them fresh.

Tellicherry extra bold peppercorns for the pepper grinder

Any of their cinnamons, the flavors are so different from each other. I like the subtle and fruity Ceylon for oatmeal and anything where you are sprinkling it on top, my daughter and hubs like the Vietnamese. China is very strong and lends good flavor when baking.

Their double strength vanilla is a staple for baking.

Their cocoas are fabulous for hot chocolate and baked goods--my teenage daughter makes a killer chocolate muffin.

For quick dinners on very busy nights, I often use the Taco Seasoning or the Chicken Taco seasonings.

Apple Pie Spice--my mom uses this in her apple pies and everyone raves about them. Pumpkin Pie spice, too.

Have fun!

Cj

I have tons of Penzey's spices in my cabinet. But if I had to pick one favorite, it would be their Baking Spice. It's a blend of Ceylon cinnamon, Spanish anise, Grenadian mace, Guatemalan cardamom. It makes a nice addition to banana bread.