Skip to content
GlobeCooks
Herbs & spices

Annatto

Bixa orellanaAlso called Achiote, Lipstick tree, urucum and bixa orellana

Annatto is a spice sold as dried seeds. Cooks use it to infuse and season foods or blend it into pastes.

Part used
Seed
Family
Bixaceae
Cooked most in
The Americas
Top country
Peru
Annatto, whole

Photo: Grupo Colombio · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use annatto

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Infuse
  • Paste blend
  • Season

Cooking with it

Heat the seeds in oil or lard to draw out their color and flavor.

Shopping

Choosing and storing annatto

Sold as
Dried

Around the world

Where annatto is cooked

2 dishes in the catalogue use annatto. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list annatto among their ingredients.

Origins

Native to
Mexico, Central America, South America

On the table

Dishes made with annatto

2 dishes in the catalogue use it.

  • Hallaca

    Venezuela

  • Malarrabia

    Peru

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include annatto.

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (2)

Around the world

What annatto is called

Names in 77 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    Bixa orellana · Yrucu · Bixa urucurana · Yrucú

  • French

    Roucou · Annatto · Rocou · Bixa orellana

  • Italian

    Bixa orellana · Achiote

  • Portuguese

    Urucu · Bixa orellana · urucum · urucuzeiro

  • German

    Annattostrauch · Urucú · Bixa orellana · Urucum

  • Dutch

    Orleaanboom · Bixa orellana · Anattoboom

  • Turkish

    Achiote

  • Russian

    аннато · Bixa orellana · Орлеан, красящее вещество · уруку

  • Polish

    Arnota właściwa · Achiote · Bixa orellana

  • Arabic

    بكسة أورلانية · بكسة · شجرة الصبغ الأناتو

  • Persian

    درخت آناتو

  • Hindi

    लटकन

Show all 77 languages

  • Achinese

    Mo

  • Albanian

    Bixa orellana

  • Aragonese

    Bixa orellana

  • Asturian

    Bixa orellana

  • Bangla

    দইগোটা

  • Banjar

    Kasumba (tanaman)

  • Basque

    Bixa orellana

  • Bikol

    Atsuwete

  • Brazilian Portuguese

    Bixa orellana · urucu · urucum

  • Bulgarian

    Bixa orellana

  • Burmese

    ပိုးသီတင်း

  • Catalan

    bixa · Urucú · Bixa orellana · Bixàcia

  • Cebuano

    Bixa orellana

  • Chinese

    红木 · 臙脂樹 · 胭脂木

  • Croatian

    Bixa orellana

  • Czech

    oreláník barvířský

  • Egyptian Arabic

    بكسه اورلانيه

  • Esperanto

    Bikso orelana · Bixa orellana

  • Estonian

    värvibiksa · Bixa orellana

  • Extremaduran

    Bixa orellana

  • Filipino

    Atswete

  • Finnish

    annatto · E160b · Bixa orellana · E 160b

  • Galician

    Bixa orellana

  • Georgian

    ორლეანის ხე · Bixa orellana

  • Guarani

    Uruku · Uruku'y

  • Haitian Creole

    Pye roukou · Woukou

  • Icelandic

    Roðatré

  • Ido

    Bixa orellana

  • Indonesian

    Kesumba keling · Bixa orellana

  • Interlingua

    Bixa orellana

  • Interlingue

    Bixa orellana

  • Irish

    Bixa orellana

  • Japanese

    ベニノキ · 紅の木 · ビクサ

  • Kannada

    ರಂಗುಮಾಲೆ

  • Kazakh

    Аннато

  • Kazakh (Arabic)

    انناتو

  • Kazakh (China)

    انناتو

  • Kazakh (Cyrillic)

    Аннато

  • Kazakh (Kazakhstan)

    Аннато

  • Kazakh (Latin)

    Annato

  • Kazakh (Türkiye)

    Annato

  • Korean

    빅사 · 립스틱나무 · 아치오테 · 우쿠루

  • Latin

    Bixa orellana

  • Lithuanian

    Dažinė urlija · Bixa orellana · Ačiotė

  • Lower Sorbian

    Bixa orellana

  • Madurese

    Ghâlughâ

  • Malay

    Bixa orellana

  • Malayalam

    കുരങ്ങുമഞ്ഞൾ · Bixa orellana · കുപ്പമഞ്ഞൾ · Achiote

  • Marathi

    शेंदरी · केसरी · सिंदूरी

  • nah

    Āchiyōtl

  • Northern Frisian

    Orleaanbuum

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    orlean

  • Occitan

    Bixa orellana

  • Pampanga

    Aswiti

  • Quechua

    Achiwiti · achiote · bixa orellana

  • Romanian

    Bixa orellana

  • Sango

    Lëmbïö

  • Scots

    Bixa orellana

  • Shan

    တူၼ်ႈမၢၵ်ႇၽွင်

  • Simplified Chinese

    红木

  • Simplified Chinese (China)

    红木

  • Simplified Chinese (Singapore)

    红木

  • Slovenian

    Bixa orellana

  • Sundanese

    Galinggem

  • Swedish

    Bixa orellana · Annattoträd · Achiote

  • Tamil

    வருகமஞ்சள்

  • Telugu

    జాఫ్రా

  • Thai

    คำแสด · Bixa orellana · Annatto Tree · คำเงาะ

  • Traditional Chinese

    紅木

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    紅木

  • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

    紅木

  • Ukrainian

    Аннато

  • Upper Sorbian

    Bixa orellana

  • Uzbek

    Bixa orellana

  • Vietnamese

    Điều nhuộm · Điều màu · Bixa orellana · Cây điều nhuộm

  • Volapük

    Bixa orellana

  • Waray

    Bixa orellana

  • Wayuu

    Choote

Sources and credits

Data

  • GlobeCooks editorial: descriptions, kitchen notes and classification, written by GlobeCooks from checked sources
  • Wikidata: names, classification and dishes (CC0 1.0)
  • Wikimedia Commons: photos
  • Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Wikidata item: Q147701

Photos

Photo: Grupo Colombio · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons