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Herbs & spices

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is a spice from a seed. Cooks use it to season potatoes, spinach, pumpkin, and winter squash.

  • Plant-based

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Part used
Seed
Family
Myristicaceae
Cooked most in
Asia, Africa, Europe
Top country
Indonesia
Nutmeg, whole

Photo: Herusutimbul · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use nutmeg

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Season

Preparing it

Grate whole nutmeg at home with a nutmeg grater or a general-purpose grater.

Goes well with

Nutrition

What 100 g of nutmeg holds

Per 100 g. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 7%Fat 36%Carbohydrate 56%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of nutmeg
Energy475 kcal · 1,989 kJ
Protein6.7 g
Fat32 g
of which saturated9.5 g
Carbohydrate51 g
of which sugars3 g
Fibre20 g
Sodium80 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of nutmeg: minerals and vitamins
Potassium463 mg
Calcium252 mg
Iron14 mg
Magnesium163 mg
Zinc2.3 mg
Vitamin C21 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)40 µg
Folate76 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (foods 170927, 171326), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where nutmeg is cooked

12 dishes in the catalogue use nutmeg. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

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

Origins

Native to
Indonesia

  1. 1,500 BCE

    Nutmeg was traded through an Austronesian maritime network by 1500 BCE.

  2. The 500s · India and Türkiye

    Nutmeg use spread to India and then Constantinople in the sixth century.

On the table

Dishes made with nutmeg

12 dishes in the catalogue use it.

  • Kuah beulangong

    Indonesia

  • Eiernockerl

    Austria

  • Ekuru

    Nigeria

  • Pepernoot

  • Banana Breakfast Cookies

    Africa

  • Kanji rumbi

    Indonesia

  • Nasi gandul

    Indonesia

  • Soto Betawi

    Indonesia

  • Rendang lokan

    Indonesia

  • Sop saudara

    Indonesia

  • Jengkol stew

    Indonesia

  • Gulai Balak

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

Good to know

Diet and allergens: nutmeg in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Allergens
None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: eggs, fish, milk, molluscs, sulphites, crustaceans.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Alcohol
None
Pork
None

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (12)

Around the world

What nutmeg is called

Names in 113 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    nuez moscada

  • French

    noix de muscade · Noix muscade

  • Italian

    noce moscata

  • Portuguese

    noz-moscada · Moscadeira · Nogueira moscada · Noz moscada

  • German

    Muskatnuss · Muskat

  • Dutch

    nootmuskaat · Muskaatnoot · Muskaat · Myristica fragans

  • Greek

    Μοσχοκαρυδιά

  • Turkish

    Küçük Hindistan cevizi · Hint cevizi · Muskat

  • Russian

    мускатный орех · Мускатник · Миристика · Myristica

  • Polish

    gałka muszkatołowa · gałka muszkatowa · orzech muszkatołowy · orzech muszkatowy

  • Arabic

    جوزة الطيب · جوزه الطيب

  • Persian

    جوز هندی

Show all 113 languages

  • Afrikaans

    Myristica

  • Albanian

    Myristica

  • Aragonese

    Myristica

  • Armenian

    Մշկընկույզ

  • Assamese

    জাঁইফল

  • Azerbaijani

    Myristica

  • Bangla

    জায়ফল

  • Banjar

    Pala

  • Basque

    Intxaur muskatu

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    мускатны арэх

  • Bosnian

    Muskatni oraščić · Muškat · Muškatni oraščić · Muskat

  • Brazilian Portuguese

    noz-moscada

  • Breton

    Myristica

  • Bulgarian

    Индийско орехче · Myristica · Мускатово орехче

  • Burmese

    ဇာတိပ္ဖိုလ်

  • Cantonese

    肉豆蔻籽

  • Catalan

    nou moscada · Myristica fragrans

  • Cebuano

    Moskada · Moscada · Mace · Masis

  • Central Kurdish

    گوێزی چاک

  • Chinese

    肉豆蔻 · 豆蔻核仁 · 肉荳蔲

  • Chuvash

    Мускат мăйăрĕ

  • Croatian

    Muškatov oraščić · Muškat orah · Myristica fragrans · Muškatni oraščić

  • Czech

    muškátový oříšek

  • Danish

    muskatnød · Muskatblomme · Myristica

  • Divehi

    ތަކޫވައް

  • Egyptian Arabic

    جوزه الطيب

  • Esperanto

    Muskato · Muskatnukso

  • Estonian

    Muskaat

  • Filipino

    Moskada

  • Finnish

    muskottipähkinä

  • Galician

    Noz moscada

  • Georgian

    ჯავზის ხე

  • Goan Konkani

    जायफळ

  • Gujarati

    જાયફળ

  • Haitian Creole

    Miskad

  • Hebrew

    אגוז מוסקט · Myristica · משיה · מייס

  • Hindi

    जायफल · जावित्री

  • Hungarian

    szerecsendió

  • Icelandic

    Múskat

  • Ido

    Muskado

  • Indonesian

    Pala · Fuli · Myristica fragrans · Nutmeg

  • Irish

    noitmig

  • Japanese

    ナツメグ · ナッツメッグ · ナツメッグ

  • Javanese

    Pala

  • Kannada

    ಜಾಪತ್ರೆ

  • Kashmiri

    زاپھَل

  • Kazakh

    Мускат жаңғағы

  • Korean

    육두구

  • Latin

    Myristica fragrans · nux moschata

  • Latvian

    muskatrieksts (garšviela) · Smaržīgais muskatrieksts · Myristica fragrans · Myristica

  • Lithuanian

    kvapusis muskatmedis · Muskatai · Kvapusis muskatas · Muskato riešutas

  • Lombard

    Myristica

  • Low German

    Myristica

  • Low Saxon

    Myristica

  • Luxembourgish

    Myristica

  • Macedonian

    морско оревче · индиско оревче · мускатно оревче · мускатен орев

  • Madurese

    Pa'ala

  • Malagasy

    Voamanitra

  • Malay

    Buah pala · Pala · Pokok Pala

  • Malayalam

    ജാതിക്ക

  • Marathi

    जायफळ · जायपत्री

  • Min Nan Chinese

    jio̍k-tāu-khò͘ · jio̍k-tō͘-khò͘

  • Minangkabau

    Palo

  • Nepali

    जाइफल

  • Newari

    nutmeg

  • Nias

    Falo

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    muskatnøttslekten · Muskatt · Muskatnøtt · Myristica fragrans

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    myristica

  • nrm

    Muscade

  • Occitan

    Notz muscada

  • Piedmontese

    Myristica

  • Punjabi

    ਜਾਇਫਲ

  • Romanian

    Nucșoară · Nucşoară

  • Sanskrit

    जातीफलम्

  • Scottish Gaelic

    Cnò-mheannt · Muscata · Nutmeg

  • Serbian

    Мушкатни орашчић

  • Serbian (Latin)

    Muškatov oraščić

  • Shan

    မၢၵ်ႇၸႃႇတိၽူဝ်ႇ

  • Simplified Chinese

    肉豆蔻

  • Simplified Chinese (China)

    肉豆蔻

  • Sindhi

    جعفر

  • Sinhala

    සාදික්කා

  • Slovak

    Myristica

  • Slovenian

    Muškatovec · Muškatni orešek · Myristica · Muškatni orešček

  • Sundanese

    Pala

  • Swahili

    Kungumanga

  • Swedish

    muskot · Myristica fragrans · muskotnöt

  • Swiss German

    Myristica

  • Tamil

    ஜாதிக்காய்

  • Telugu

    జాజికాయ

  • Thai

    จันทน์เทศ · Mace · Myristica fragrans · ลูกจันทน์เทศ

  • Tongan

    Kotone · Myristica inutilis · Myristica fragrans · Myristica hypargyraea

  • Traditional Chinese

    肉豆蔻

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    肉豆蔻

  • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

    肉豆蔻

  • Ukrainian

    мускатник · Мускатні горіхи · Мускатний горіх · Мускат

  • Upper Sorbian

    Prawy muskatownik · Mušotownik

  • Urdu

    جائفل · Mace · جوزۃ الطیب · نٹمیگ

  • Uzbek

    Muskat yong‘og‘i

  • Venetian

    Myristica

  • Vietnamese

    Hạt nhục đậu khấu

  • Walloon

    Myristica

  • Waray

    Myristica

  • Welsh

    nytmeg · cneuen yr India

  • West Flemish

    Notevaschoa · Neutemuskoat · Muskaatnoot · Notemuskoat

  • Western Panjabi

    جائفل

  • Wu Chinese

    肉豆蔻

  • Yiddish

    מושקאט נוס

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q83165

Photos

Photo: Herusutimbul · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons