Walk down the Latin aisle of any supermarket and you will see three seasonings side by side: adobo, sazón and Sazón Completa. The names sound alike and the jars look alike, but they do very different jobs in the pot. Mix them up and your arroz con gandules comes out pale, or your pernil ends up too salty.
Here is how to tell them apart, what is actually in each one, which dishes call for which, and the brands worth buying.
The short answer
Adobo is an all-purpose seasoning salt: mostly salt and garlic, with oregano and black pepper. It is the base layer you rub on meat before cooking.
Sazón is a color-and-flavor booster, usually sold in small packets. Annatto turns food orange-red, and cumin and coriander add an earthy, savory note. Cooks usually use it together with adobo, not instead of it.
Sazón Completa is Badia’s name for its Complete Seasoning, a garlic-and-onion all-purpose blend. Despite the name, it has more in common with adobo than with sazón, and it does not color your food.
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Adobo vs. Sazón vs. Sazón Completa at a Glance
| Adobo | Sazón | Sazón Completa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | All-purpose seasoning salt | Color and flavor enhancer | All-purpose “complete” seasoning |
| Main flavors | Salt, garlic, oregano, black pepper | Cumin, coriander, garlic, annatto | Garlic, onion, salt, herbs and spices |
| Color it gives food | Barely any (a little yellow from turmeric) | Bright orange-red | None |
| How salty | Very (salt is the first ingredient) | Salty, but used in small amounts | Salty |
| Usual form | Shaker jar | Foil packets or a jar | Shaker jar |
| Best for | Rubbing meat, poultry and fish before cooking | Rice, beans, stews and anything that should look golden | Everyday seasoning of meat, beans and vegetables |
| Best-known brands | Goya, Badia, Healthy Rican | Goya, Badia (Sazón Tropical), Healthy Rican | Badia |
What Is Adobo Seasoning?
In Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, adobo means a garlicky seasoning rubbed onto meat before it cooks. The word comes from the Spanish adobar, to marinate.
There are two kinds:
- Adobo seco (dry adobo) is the powder sold in jars. This is what most recipes mean when they say “adobo.”
- Adobo mojado (wet adobo) is a paste you make fresh: mashed garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil, sometimes with vinegar or sour orange. It is the classic rub for Puerto Rican pernil.
Goya’s Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper, the best-selling version, lists just six ingredients: salt, garlic, tricalcium phosphate (to stop caking), black pepper, oregano and turmeric. Salt comes first, so treat adobo as your salt and don’t add more until you taste.
Badia’s Adobo with Pepper is similar but adds a little sugar and citric acid, which gives it a slightly brighter, tangier edge. Neither contains MSG.
Adobo Is Not Mexican or Filipino Adobo
The same word means different things in other cuisines. In Mexico, adobo is a red chile sauce, as in the canned chipotles en adobo. In the Philippines, adobo is a dish of meat braised in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. If a Caribbean recipe calls for adobo, it means the dry seasoning.
How to Use Adobo
- Rub it onto pork, chicken or steak 30 minutes to a day before cooking.
- Season ground beef for picadillo and meat fillings.
- Sprinkle it on fish, eggs, fried plantains and roasted vegetables.
- Start with about 1 teaspoon per pound of meat, then adjust.
What Is Sazón?
Sazón simply means “seasoning” in Spanish, but in the U.S. it almost always refers to the small foil packets of seasoning that give Caribbean rice, beans and stews their golden-orange color.
The color comes from annatto, also called achiote, a seed with a mild, earthy, slightly peppery flavor. The savory backbone comes from cumin, coriander and garlic.
Here is what is in the best-selling packet, Goya Sazón with Coriander and Annatto (Sazón con Culantro y Achiote), in label order: monosodium glutamate, salt, dehydrated garlic, cumin, Yellow 5, tricalcium phosphate, coriander, annatto and Red 40.
Two things stand out:
- MSG comes first. That is where much of sazón’s savory punch comes from.
- Most of the color is artificial. Yellow 5 and Red 40 appear ahead of the annatto on the label.
If you would rather skip one or both, there are good options. Badia’s Sazón Tropical is MSG-free but still uses Yellow 5 and Red 40. Goya’s Sazón Natural & Complete has no salt added. Healthy Rican’s sazón has no MSG and no artificial colors. You can also make your own with the recipe below.
One more note: in Dominican homes, “sazón” can also mean a homemade wet blend of peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro and oregano, similar to sofrito. If a Dominican recipe calls for a cup of sazón, that is what it means, not a packet.
How to Use Sazón
- Stir it into the pot with sofrito before adding rice or liquid.
- A common starting point is one packet for every 2 cups of uncooked rice or pound of meat.
- Use it with adobo, not as a replacement. Adobo seasons the meat; sazón flavors and colors the whole pot.
What Is Sazón Completa (Badia Complete Seasoning)?
Sazón Completa is the Spanish name on the label of Badia’s Complete Seasoning. Badia is a spice company founded in Miami in 1967, and Complete Seasoning has been a fixture in Cuban-American kitchens for decades.
The name trips people up, but Sazón Completa is not a sazón in the packet sense. It contains no annatto and will not turn your rice orange. The label lists dehydrated garlic and onion, spices, salt, monosodium glutamate, herbs and tricalcium phosphate.
In practice it tastes like a rounder, more oniony adobo. Many Cuban cooks reach for it where a Puerto Rican cook would use adobo: black beans, ropa vieja, picadillo, steak, chicken, eggs and roasted vegetables.
Can You Substitute One for Another?
| If the recipe calls for | You can use | How |
|---|---|---|
| Adobo | Sazón Completa | Swap 1 to 1. Taste for salt. |
| Sazón Completa | Adobo | Swap 1 to 1 and add a pinch of onion powder. |
| Sazón | Adobo plus spices | For each packet, use ½ tsp adobo, ¼ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp ground coriander and ½ tsp ground annatto (or ¼ tsp turmeric for color). |
| Sazón | Sazón Completa | Not a good swap. You will get the salt and garlic, but no color and less cumin. |
| Adobo | Sazón | Not a good swap. It is much less garlicky and will color the meat orange. |
Which Seasoning for Which Dish?
Many Caribbean recipes use two or even all three. This is how they usually divide the work:
- Pernil: adobo, lots of it, plus fresh garlic and oregano.
- Arroz con gandules: sofrito and sazón, with a little adobo in the pork.
- Asopao de pollo: adobo on the chicken, sazón in the broth.
- Carne guisada: adobo on the beef, sazón and sofrito in the stew.
- Pastelón: adobo and sazón in the picadillo filling.
- Pasteles: achiote oil for color, adobo and sofrito in the pork.
- Ropa vieja and Cuban black beans: Sazón Completa or adobo, with cumin and oregano.
For more of the pantry behind these dishes, see our guides to Puerto Rican ingredients, Dominican ingredients and Cuban ingredients.
The Best Adobo, Sazón and Complete Seasoning to Buy
All of these are easy to find online. Prices and pack sizes change often, so check the listing before you buy.
Best all-purposeBadia Complete Seasoning (Sazón Completa)
The original Sazón Completa. Garlicky, oniony and balanced, and good on almost everything from black beans to scrambled eggs. Contains MSG.
Classic adoboGoya Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper
The adobo most Puerto Rican and Dominican cooks grew up with. Salt, garlic, oregano, pepper and a touch of turmeric. No MSG.
Best for big batchesBadia Adobo All-Purpose Latin Seasoning (2 lb)
MSG-free, a little brighter than Goya thanks to a touch of citric acid, and sold in a 2-pound jar that makes sense if you roast pernil for the holidays.
Classic sazónGoya Sazón with Coriander and Annatto
The orange-and-yellow box behind most arroz con gandules. Premeasured packets make it foolproof. Contains MSG, Yellow 5 and Red 40.
No MSGBadia Sazón Tropical with Coriander and Annatto
A shaker-jar sazón without MSG, so you can season by the pinch instead of the packet. It still uses Yellow 5 and Red 40 for color.
No salt addedGoya Sazón Natural & Complete
Goya’s answer to cooks watching sodium. Useful if you already salt your food with adobo and want the sazón flavor without doubling up.
Cleanest labelsHealthy Rican Adobo, Sazón and Sofrito
A Puerto Rican brand made without MSG, preservatives or artificial colors, including Red 40. It costs more, but it is the easiest way to get all three flavors with short ingredient lists. Buy the adobo on its own or the full set below.
How to Make Sazón and Adobo at Home
Homemade blends take five minutes, have no MSG or dyes, and let you control the salt. The sazón recipe card is below.
Quick homemade adobo: stir together 2 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 2 teaspoons ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon onion powder and 1 teaspoon ground turmeric. For a homemade Sazón Completa, add 1 teaspoon ground cumin and 1 teaspoon dried parsley.
Homemade Sazón (No MSG, No Dyes)
A five-minute homemade sazón with annatto, coriander, cumin and garlic. It gives rice, beans and stews the same golden color and savory flavor as the packets, without MSG or artificial dyes.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground annatto (achiote)
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric (optional, for a more golden color)
Instructions
- If you are starting with whole annatto seeds, grind them to a fine powder in a spice grinder.
- Add all of the ingredients to a small bowl and stir until the color is even.
- Transfer to a clean, airtight jar and store in a cool, dark cupboard for up to 6 months.
- Use about 1¼ teaspoons in place of one store-bought sazón packet.
Notes
Salt: this blend is lightly salted so you can season with adobo as well. For a salt-free sazón, leave the salt out.
No annatto? Use 1½ teaspoons ground turmeric plus 1 teaspoon sweet paprika for color.
How much to use: about 1¼ teaspoons for every 2 cups of uncooked rice or pound of meat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sazón the same as adobo?
No. Adobo is a salty garlic-and-oregano seasoning used mainly on meat. Sazón is a cumin, coriander and annatto blend used mainly to flavor and color rice, beans and stews. Most Caribbean recipes use both.
Is Sazón Completa the same as sazón?
No. Sazón Completa is Badia’s Complete Seasoning, an all-purpose garlic, onion and herb blend. It does not contain annatto, so it will not give food sazón’s orange color.
Does sazón have MSG?
Goya’s classic Sazón with Coriander and Annatto lists MSG as its first ingredient. Badia’s Sazón Tropical and Healthy Rican’s sazón are MSG-free, and homemade sazón contains none.
Does adobo have MSG?
Goya’s and Badia’s adobo with pepper are MSG-free. Badia’s Complete Seasoning (Sazón Completa) does contain MSG.
Is adobo spicy?
Not really. Regular adobo gets a little heat from black pepper only. Goya also sells a “Hot” adobo with chile pepper if you want more.
What can I use instead of sazón?
Mix ground annatto (or a little turmeric for color) with cumin, coriander, garlic powder and salt, or follow the homemade sazón recipe above. About 1¼ teaspoons of the homemade blend replaces one packet.
Is Caribbean adobo the same as Mexican adobo sauce?
No. Caribbean adobo is a dry seasoning. Mexican adobo is a red chile sauce, like the one canned chipotles come packed in.
Keep all three in the pantry and you will be ready for nearly any Puerto Rican, Dominican or Cuban recipe on AmigoFoods. Start with arroz con gandules, where you will see sazón and adobo working side by side.
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Jorge Garcia is the founder of AmigoFoods, where he has spent over 20 years helping readers discover authentic Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Raised in a Cuban-American household, Jorge learned to cook at the hands of his mother and grandmother, carrying forward generations of family recipes. That heritage, backed by his family’s four-generation history in the Latin food industry, inspired him to launch AmigoFoods in 2003. With more than 1,000 published articles on recipes, ingredients, and food culture, Jorge’s mission is simple: make authentic Latin cooking approachable for home cooks everywhere while honoring the traditions behind every dish.
