Annatto (Bixa orellana), also called achiote, are the small, hard, brick-red seeds of a tropical shrub native to Central and South America. They are prized almost entirely for their extraordinary natural pigment — bixin — which produces brilliant orange-red colors that range from golden to deep vermillion depending on the concentration.
Flavor Profile
Mild, earthy, and slightly peppery with faint notes of nutmeg and pepper. Annatto’s flavor is subtle — it’s used more for color than taste. The seeds are typically infused in warm oil or lard to extract both color and flavor before being discarded.
How to Use Annatto Seeds
Annatto oil (achiote oil): Gently warm ¼ cup vegetable oil with 2 tablespoons annatto seeds over low heat for 3–5 minutes until the oil turns deep orange. Strain out seeds. Use this vivid oil to fry onions, cook rice, or as a base for sauces and stews.
Ground annatto: Grind dried seeds in a spice grinder. Use in dry rubs, spice pastes (recado rojo), and seasoning blends.
Key Uses
- Latin American rice dishes — arroz con pollo gets its golden-orange color from annatto
- Recado rojo (achiote paste) — Yucatecan spice paste for cochinita pibil
- Caribbean sofrito and sazón — foundational seasoning blend
- Natural food coloring — used commercially to color butter, cheese (cheddar gets its orange from annatto), and snack foods
Fun Fact
Before synthetic food dyes, annatto colored an enormous range of foods worldwide. The vibrant orange of commercially produced cheddar cheese is almost always annatto — natural cheddar is actually cream-pale.