Almond dukkah (nut & spice blend)

Jump to recipe

This almond dukkah recipe is made with sesame seeds, coriander, fennel, anise, and salt. It’s my own copycat of Trader Joe’s dukkah.

This recipe comes together in minutes. And it makes a generous 1 ½ cups.

Dipping warm bread in oil just got a whole lot better with the addition of dukkah.

Dukkah is a flavorful nut and spice blend that is mostly used as a dip. Think of it as the savory Middle Eastern version of Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip.

Except instead of dipping a candy stick into sugar dust, you’re dipping bread into oil to wet it, and then finally into a shallow bowl of dukkah. The nut & seed mixture sticks to the bread.

When you bite into it, you’re greeted with notes of nuttiness, salt, sausage flavors from the fennel, a faint citrus flavor from the coriander, and licorice from the anise.

It is a flavor explosion with a mild crunch.

Dukkah (also spelled dukka and duqqa) is an Egyptian condiment that’s usually made with hazelnuts and seeds. For my dukkah recipe based on the Trader Joe’s mix, I use almonds, sesame seeds, anise seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and salt.

In this post:

Jump to:

Ingredients
Step by step instructions
Serving instructions
Make it your own
Ways to enjoy it
FAQ
Storage instructions
📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.

Almonds: Roasted & unsalted are best here.

Spices: Whole fennel seeds, whole coriander seeds, and whole anise seeds.

Sesame seeds: Use any color of seeds that you like. I usually go with white.

Smoked salt: This adds a delicious undertone of smokiness. It can be replaced with kosher salt.

Step by step instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Toast the following in a dry skillet on a medium heat:

Coriander seeds
Fennel seeds
Anise seeds
Sesame seeds

Warm for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently, so that the seeds don’t burn.

Once the seeds are fragrant, turn off the skillet.

Move them to a clean, dry coffee grinder or spice grinder.

Give it a pulse a few times, until coarsely chopped. Be careful not to over blend.

(If you’d rather use a mortar & pestle for this, go for it.)

Then put the roasted & unsalted almonds into a food processor.

Add the seed mixture, and smoked salt or kosher salt.

Almonds, spices, and sesame seeds in food processor bowl.

Pulse the food processor several times. Or turn it on low.

You may need to stop and stir a few times, so that everything breaks down evenly.

You want the dukkah to have an even, pebbly consistency. (Don’t turn it into almond flour or almond butter.)

Serving instructions

Put a few spoonfuls of almond dukkah into a small, shallow bowl.

In another shallow bowl, drizzle extra virgin olive oil.

Dip hot bread into the oil, and then directly into the dukkah to pick it up.

Make it your own

Make this dukkah recipe your own by switching up, swapping, or adding different nuts and seeds.

Instead of almonds, try hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, and/or pumpkin seeds.

Instead of or in addition to the seeds listed here, try one to two teaspoons of cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or black peppercorns.

Ways to enjoy it

There are so many ways to enjoy this flavorful Middle Eastern spice blend!

Serve it as an appetizer

Dukkah with bread and oil is a delicious starter for a kale salad.

It is also a tasty addition to a vegan charcuterie board or mezze platter.

Fill out a vegan charcuterie board with:

Warmed Castelvetrano olives
Grilled artichoke hearts
Dolmas
Crudités
Fruit

Use it as a topping

A sprinkling of dukkah on top takes store-bought or homemade hummus up a serious notch.

Of course, it’s equally delicious on top of baba ganoush.

Serve with pillowy pita bread.

Use it as a finishing spice

Dukkah is a delicious finishing spice on:

Avocado toast with a drizzle of tahini
Roasted cauliflower
Creamy vegan tomato soup

Give it as a gift

Dukkah makes a great DIY vegan food gift.

Put it in a jar, and tie on a ribbon.

Then give it with a baguette & nice bottle of olive oil.

FAQ

Where did the word “dukkah” originate?

The word is derived from the Arabic “to pound.” That’s a reference to the way a mortar and pestle is typically used to grind down the nuts and seeds into a blend. However, it’s even easier if you use a food processor and spice/coffee grinder!

Can I use ground spices for dukkah instead of whole?

I wouldn’t advise it. Even though you will be grinding the spices, the texture you’re aiming for is just slightly crushed. You don’t want a smooth powder like you’d find in commercially ground spices. It should adhere to the bread like pebbles, not dust.

I recommend visiting your grocery store bulk bins to buy a scoop of each of the whole spices. That way you don’t have to commit to an entire jar.
A spoonful of whole spices usually costs just change.

Storage instructions

Keep dukkah in an airtight container in the refrigerator, so that the oils in the nuts stay good.

It will last for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Comments

5 from 11 votes (2 ratings without comment)