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Herbs & spices

Poppy seed

Poppy seed is a seed used as a spice. Cooks bake or simmer it, blend it into pastes, and use it raw or as a garnish, seasoning, or thickener. It pairs with coconut.

  • Plant-based

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

Part used
Seed
Cooked most in
Europe
Top country
Poland
Poppy seed, whole

Photo: Odedr · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use poppy seed

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Bake
  • Boil simmer
  • Garnish
  • Paste blend
  • Raw
  • Season
  • Thicken

Preparing it

For pastry fillings, grind the seeds finely just before use. For a Ukrainian cake, immerse the seeds in boiling water, strain them and soak them overnight in milk.

Goes well with

Nutrition

What 100 g of poppy seed holds

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

Protein 21%Fat 47%Carbohydrate 32%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of poppy seed
Energy525 kcal · 2,196 kJ
Protein18 g
Fat42 g
of which saturated4.5 g
Carbohydrate28 g
of which sugars3 g
Fibre20 g
Sodium26 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of poppy seed: minerals and vitamins
Potassium719 mg
Calcium1,438 mg
Iron9.8 mg
Magnesium347 mg
Zinc7.9 mg
Vitamin C1 mg
Folate82 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 171330), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where poppy seed is cooked

1 dish in the catalogue uses poppy seed. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

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

Origins

  1. About -2700~/-1450 · Greece

    Minoans on Crete cultivated poppies for their seeds.

On the table

Dishes made with poppy seed

1 dish in the catalogue uses it.

  • Obwarzanek krakowski

    Poland

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

Good to know

Diet and allergens: poppy seed 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 (2)

Around the world

What poppy seed is called

Names in 50 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    semilla de amapola · semilla de adormidera

  • French

    graine de pavot

  • Italian

    seme di papavero

  • Portuguese

    sementes de papoila · semente da papoula

  • German

    Mohnsaat · Mohnsamen · Mohn

  • Dutch

    maanzaad

  • Greek

    σπόρος παπαρούνας

  • Turkish

    Haşhaş tohumu

  • Russian

    мак · мак (маслосемена)

  • Polish

    mak

  • Arabic

    بزر الخشخاش · بذور الخشخاش

  • Persian

    تخم خشخاش · دانه خشخاش

Show all 50 languages

  • Afrikaans

    Papawersaad

  • Bangla

    পোস্ত

  • Basque

    mitxoleta hazi

  • Belarusian

    мак · макавае насенне

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    макавае насеньне · насеньне маку · мак

  • Catalan

    cascall

  • Chinese

    罌粟籽 · 罂粟籽

  • Czech

    mák · potravinářský mák · semeno máku · mák (semena)

  • Danish

    birkes

  • Egyptian Arabic

    بذر خشخاش

  • Esperanto

    Papavosemo

  • Finnish

    Unikonsiemen

  • Georgian

    ყაყაჩო (თესლი)

  • Hebrew

    זרעי פרג

  • Hindi

    पोस्ता दाना

  • Hungarian

    mák

  • Icelandic

    Valmúafræ

  • Indonesian

    Kaskas

  • Japanese

    ケシの実 · ポピーシード · 芥子の実

  • Javanese

    Wiji poppy

  • Korean

    양귀비씨

  • Lao

    ເມັດພືດຕະກຸນຝິ່ນ

  • Malay

    kaskas

  • Malayalam

    കശകശ

  • Marathi

    खस खस

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    valmuefrø

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    valmuefrø

  • Punjabi

    ਖਸਖਸ

  • Romanian

    sămânță de mac · semințe de mac

  • Sanskrit

    तिलभेदः

  • Slovak

    semeno maku

  • Slovenian

    makovo seme

  • Swahili

    mbegu ya mpopi

  • Swedish

    vallmofrön

  • Tamil

    poppy seeds

  • Thai

    เมล็ดฝิ่น

  • Ukrainian

    мак · насіння маку

  • Urdu

    تخم خشخاش

  • Vietnamese

    Hạt anh túc

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q2007388

Photos

Photo: Odedr · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons