I think that if every kitchen in the Netherlands was searched, eight out of ten of them would contain a bottle of Maggi seasoning. The first time I came across Maggi was at a Dutch birthday party. Vegetable soup had just been served and all around me the party guests were eagerly dumping loads of the brown seasoned liquid into their soup, curiosity got the better of me.
The following day, I decided to buy myself a small bottle of this strange item, of which nothing on the front gave me any idea of what it actually was. I got the treasured item home promptly opened it and poured a small drop onto my finger for a taste.
So, what is Maggi seasoning? Maggi is a dark, hydrolysed vegetable protein-based seasoning sauce, which is very similar to East Asian soy sauce without actually containing soy. It is used most often in soups and sauces.
The name is a bit confusing as Maggi is actually a Nestlé brand of instant soups, stocks, bouillon cubes, ketchups, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles. The full name of the seasoning sauce is in fact “Maggi-Würze”, however, in many countries “Maggi” is still used as the seasoning sauce’s name. Consider it a nick-name.
Introduced in 1886, as a cheap substitute for meat extract, it has become popular in countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. As to its taste, if you like soy sauce then you probably aren’t going to mind Maggi. I personally find you need to add quite a bit to really notice a distinctive “Maggi” taste but that might just be me.
So far, I have never seen a recipe that has an ingredient list that includes Maggi seasoning sauce on it and apart from adding it to vegetable soup, I can’t say I have really used the brown bottle much. So, I am curious. Do you have a bottle of Maggi in your kitchen cupboards and what do you use it for?
Comments:
Sandy:
Here is actually a recipe by one of Australia’s well known celebritychefs and the show is not sponsored by Nestle It features Maggi! http://www.abc.net.au/kyliekwong/recipes/s952410.htm
NYC Girl:
Can you use Maggi seasoning instead of soy sauce, I want to make chicken satay and the recipe calls for fish sauce, which I cant use due to severe fish allergies. I was told I could substitute soy for the fish sauce and was wondering if Maggi would also be a substitute. Anyone?
Thanks
Madeline:
Just used it in a Salisbury steak recipe.
Dwayne:
My Mom’s family came to Canada when she was young. I remember my grandmother making us toast covered with Maggi in the morning. I just introduced it to my wife
MattNOVA:
I just discovered Maggi in a michelada recipe (also new to me), and I’ve been using it on whatever strikes my fancy. It’s delicious on fried eggs with hot sauce, and I just replaced some soysauce in an adobo recipe with Maggi. Good stuff!
Linda:
I am making this recipe and it called for Maggi Seasoning. Came across your site on Google while researching what Maggi is. Hope you can try this easy recipe!!
This Polish-American sausage-cabbage-potato casserole recipe is a one-pot dish that comes together quickly and is perfect for tailgating, Super Bowl parties and informal entertaining. It’s even better reheated, so it’s perfect for school night dinners. If push came to shove, I suppose you could call it zapiekanka z kielbasa, kapusty, ziemniaków, but it’s really something I came up with on the fly. This can be as rugged as you like — leave the potatoes and apples unpeeled — or soignée. Either way, it’s a winner.
Polish-American Sausage-Cabbage-Potato Casserole.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings Polish Casserole
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
2 large coarsely chopped onions
1 medium head coarsely chopped or shredded cabbage
2 red-skinned apples, cored and sliced 1/2-inch thick (peels can be left on, if desired)
2 large russet potatoes (peels can be left on, if desired), parboiled for 5 minutes (save the cooking water) and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon Vegeta or Maggi seasoning
Pepper
1 tablespoon caraway seeds (or to taste)
1 pound smoked Polish sausage (skin removed, if desired), cut into 6 pieces and scored diagonally 3 times
1 cup reserved potato-cooking water
Preparation:
In a large, Dutch oven or skillet with a lid, sauté onion in butter over medium heat until translucent. Then, without stirring, add cabbage and sprinkle evenly with Vegeta or Maggi seasoning. Add apples, caraway and pepper without stirring. Top with sausage and 1 cup of the cooking water from potatoes. Cover. When the water begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Uncover and mix all ingredients together. Replace cover and simmer 10 minutes more. Remove the cover and test for doneness of the cabbage. If there are too many juices, cook over low heat until reduced. But the pan juices are delicious when sopped up with rye bread.
Michelle T:
My momma’s recipe for this was gravy; make your gravy traditionally by browning some flour in hot oil, then add your water and add some Maggie sauce for some extra flavor, and color! :). Happy cooking!
Chris:
One of our local NPR stations has a food program called the Food Schmooze. Their topic one week was about Vietnamese sandwiches called Baang Moi (?) which uses the Maggi seasoning on the bread. I have been going nuts trying to find this stuff. Your article will now help me narrow my search. Thank you.
Kelly:
I mix Maggi sauce with mayonnaise and use it as a dip for cucumbers, so yummy.
Tonya:
I use Maggie all the time, I used it to make fried rice, marinades, cook chicken with it it it soo good. Better that soy sauce to me!
Shiree:
@Tonya Omg me to with olive oil as well yummmmm!!
Cathy:
I don’t know how old this post is… but if you read this again… you can put some Maggi on eggs.
doesn’t matter which way they are cooked.
fried is the best tho- with a dash of Maggi and buttered toast.
Renate Bob:
I was born in the former Danzig ,now Gdansk, and my mother always used Maggie for seasoning. It’s interesting to me that people are now rediscovering it. It does taste very similar to sot sauce.
tye:
Very good on all beef, in marinades or when cooking. I just reduce my salt and Worchester. Ground beef and all cuts, roasts.
Chrissy:
I grew up with Maggi Seasoning and I absolutely love it so much I couldn’t live without a bottle of it in my cupboard at all times! I use it in cooking, have added mayo to it to make a salad dressing. But my most favourite way of having it is sprinkled straight onto salad by itself. I will gorge myself purely on a bowl of chopped up tomatoes, cucumbers or lettuce practically drenched in Maggi. I am addicted to the stuff!!
Adrian:
I love spinach salads. I mean LOVE LOVE LOVE. Very basic: baby spinach, chopped cucumbers, and halved cherry tomatoes with high-quality balsamic vinager and extra virgin olive oil. In the military, stationed in Germany, came across Maggi, and added a few dashes to my standard spinach salad. The depth of flavor it added was UH-MAZE-ING!!! Getting ready to leave Germany and move back to the States. On the interweb right now trying to see if I can find a local grocer or web store where I can order it. Can’t wait to experiment with it in other recipes as well (standard addition to vegetable soup as well as my own homemade Micheladas, eggs, gravies, and everything else I can think of)!
Linda:
I recently bought my first bottle of Maggi sauce, and I would like to know if it needs to be refrigerated after opening.
Christian Gessner:
@Linda The salt content in Maggi is so high that refrigeration is not required. I have a bottle in the kitchen an
Christian Gessner:
@Christian Gessner And one on the dining table.
Stephanie:
I use it in almost everything. I use it in rice, meat, in every veggi, I use it instead of salt.
bobby:
I m searching for soy sauce and I purchased it as soy sauce through as kept with other soy sauce brand, is that both same or different ?
Autumn:
What’s the shelf life of Maggi?
I always thought it would last indefinitely but just noticed a best before date on the bottle I’ve had for ages.
Thanks for your input 🙂
Sten:
@Autumn There are best before dates on many things, but as it says, it is a BEST before date. That does not mean it just expires. I think you can keep that stuff for decades. Nothing wrong with that.
Maybe the taste alters a bit, gets less strong or so, but I think it should be fine!
San juana Turner:
I had a beer in Texas which is called michelada. I found a recipe which called for maggi. Didn’t find it anywhere but I will use soy sauce.
Abby Safer:
We use in with steak! It’s good. Try it with London broil, skirt steak… Yum
SquatPCalveson:
The main ingredient in liquid seasoning is lovage, which is a plant that gives it the aroma, if you add the leaves into meals you can get the flavor without the sodium content.
irene leeuwenkamp:
I couldn’t live without maggi my oma used it on spaghetti, rice and fries my English friends hadn’t a clue what it was but I love it as I do the dubbel zout dropjes
Swedish chef:
Excellent in salads or just chop some cucumber and tomatoes and put some Würze on there. Live in Sweden but buy it in Germany every time I visit. I got hauled in to Swedish customs on the airport and they explained that they was used to people smuggling vodka but they have never ever seen so many bottles of Maggi
Jennifer:
I recently had sautéed green beans and Maggi seasoning was added to the pan…they were the best green beans I’ve ever had! I tried making them with soy sauce and they did not have the same flavor. I’ll be adding Maggi sauce to my regular seasoning list.
Steve:
I live in the US and recently heard of Maggi’s umami effect while listening to Lynn Rossetto Kapsers radio show “The Splendid Table” (from American Public Media) on my local NPR station.
I most recently used it in a very satisfying attempt to create a turkey/tofu bratwurst recipe. Just a few drops.
Alfred:
I was raised in Maggi sauce. It was relatively expensive 60+ years ago. So my mom would refill empty Maggi sauce bottle with cheap soya sauce for me. But Maggi sauce has such heavenly flavour that even a 4 year old can tell. I just didn’t complain to my mom that she was trying to fool me.
I use Maggic sauce on everything like I am a Maggic-holic. I even deliberately cook meals a touch less tasteful so I can add Maggi sauce to my food. If my food turns out good already, I still put a bottle of Maggi sauce in front of me, just to be near it.
I am so glad that there is Maggi sauce in my life ’cause I may consider killing myself if Nescafe doesn’t manufacture Maggi sauce one day. That is how much I love it, every single day in the last 64 years. But I think nowadays, they may not be made in Switzerland.
helena:
I just recently bought my first bottle of maggi , yay now I can join my dutch relatives, I just have. To know what to do with it.
Anders Svensson:
Recently I bought the maggi sauce. I already used it in almost everything. And I would like to know if it needs to be refrigerated after opening. I am waiting for your response. Thanks
Sten:
@Anders Svensson Probably needs refrigeration. Cant hurt, I think!
Malin Andersson:
Hello Heather! Recently I bought the maggi sauce. I already used it in almost everything. And I would like to know if it needs to be refrigerated after opening. I am waiting for your response. Thanks
Samuel:
Maggi sauce is fairly common in Mexico, unlike its neighbor to the north. It’s used in a variety of ways, including on potato chips.
mia:
Maggi is nothing but bogus garbage that gives me an msg headache. Its soy sauce, plain and simple, and is not to be confused as a substitute for Kitchen Bouquet, which I miss dearly for all my cooking needs. I live in Australia now (big mistake) but none the less, there are many things that are not out here as there are in America. They don’t even have solid shortening here, as in Crisco in their supermarkets. You can actually buy a small can of it in the ‘gourmet’ section of one of their better department stores for about $15-US. Ridiculous.
Oskar:
@mia You can buy the genuine Maggi Seasoning, in Australia, just go to any Continental Delicatessen is about $25 for a litre bottle, don’t buy the one in the supermarkets labelled Maggi Original it’s made in China and tastes disgusting
Gezina ponsen:
I could not live without the real Maggi, “de enige echte” Maggi with I get in the Dutch shop, but there is also an Asian Maggi which tastes a more like Soy Sauce. Sprinkle on meats and in soups and over fried rice etc.
Deb:
I always have a bottle of maggi in my cupboard, I use it for two things:-
1) bowl of mixed salad, tiny drizzle of oil, drizzle of vinegar & a good lashing of maggi, mid it through minutes before serving.
2) pressure cooker full of potatoes half filled with water, cook for 20-30 mins until
Potatoes are cooked but still firm, drain and allow to cool a bit before peeling. Dice an onion or two and soak in shallow vinegar. Slice potatoes and layer in a bowl every so often adding onions in vinegar a drizzle of oil and splashes of maggi, keep layering potato and repeat until all ingredients are in the bowl. I normally leave overnight, mixing occasionally. The it’s ready to serve with salads and sandwiches etc. Excellent buffet food, filling and low fat.
Rita:
It can be purchased through Amazon.com if you’re having trouble finding it.
kikkoman soy sauce boiiiiiiiiii:
i use maggi sauce on my eggs and on many different stir fry, as i am asian. on eggs, it is best if you only use a tiny bit and on top of a runny yolk. i actually prefer maggi over soy sauce because it has a milder flavor, and is cheaper. unless, i am at a sushi restaurant, i will also use it for sushi/sashimi. also, i can only find it at asian markets for some reason.
Barry:
Greetings maggi lovers, and those new to the wonder. Maggi has been a part of my life for the last 50 years and still is and will be. I have never kept it in the fridge, nor observed the ‘use by’ date and dump it. It may depend on where you live so things like humidity and temperature may be a factor to help one decide where to store it. Remember the fridge is one of the driest places in your home. so keep it sealed if you store it there, otherwise it might evaporate. I even have a maggi plant in the garden as a herb for soups and stews etc, also known as ‘lovage’, and no wonder !!
Andrew Walaszek:
Maggi Würze (seasoning sauce) contains MSG Monosodium glutamate C5H8NO4Na. It is a flavor enhancer. Some people are sensitive to MSG.
Annie:
I grew up in a Dutch immigrant household where Maggi was always available for our soup. My mom also used it when she made deviled eggs. I like to add it to my deviled eggs, too. When I was a little girl, I would take Maggi and put it on freshly sliced French bread and eat it – weird, but I thought it was yummy. I stumbled upon this site because I happened to see it as an ingredient in a local restaurant’s Michelada recipe, so I was googling maggi and Micheladas and found this site. In any case, I would be that typical Dutchie (although born and raised in California) with Maggi in my kitchen cabinet.
George Johnson, Jr. Ph. D.:
I discovered Maggi in West Africa. When I barbecue meat I seasoned the meat with it as I cook it. Also, I use it on rice! I barbecued some pork meat in Cameroon using Maggi and they are still raving about it!
Greg Wassermann:
Yeah, I’ve got a bottle of Maggi in the back of my fridge. It’s still almost full and has been there for ages.
I have it because an Asian friend said it was delicious. The only recipe I have that uses Maggi is a “World’s Greatest Meatloaf Recipe!” I’ll have to sniff around some more…
Josh:
Anything you want to have a savory flavor or would put soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, or liquid smoke on, you can put wurze on, however I do love to use it in my homemade soups. My wife puts in in a skillet with butter to cook fresh asparagus and it is to die for.
Sarah Murphy:
I just found a photo copy of an old recipe calling for Maggi in Hamburger Steak, I believe it is an old Betty crocker book in the 30’s.
This is what promted me to google it!
TamG:
This is the European version of the USAs Kitchen Bouquet. Kitchen Bouquet was introduced over a decade earlier (1973?) in New Jersey. It is used primarily as a browning sauce. I use it as my mother did to darken foods like BBQ sauce, gravy, stews, and beans. Today it lends ‘color’ to microwave foods that look pale and unattractive. Brush it on chicken, micro fries or anything you want more color on. This is a savory sauce and to darken sweet items use ingredients like molasses, and tamarind paste. The deepened color along with the extra subtle flavors makes many foods more appetizing.
TamG:
Wrong date on previous post… should be 1873 !!
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