Ground Annatto

Ground annatto is a fine, brick-red spice powder made from crushed achiote seeds. It has a mild, earthy, slightly peppery flavor and is prized for staining oils, rice, and stews a deep orange-red. Cooks bloom it in oil, rub it onto meats, or mix it into pastes for marinades and sauces. Sold as whole seeds, ground powder, and blended achiote paste.

Annatto comes from Bixa orellana, native to the tropical Americas, long used by Indigenous peoples as dye and seasoning. It spread through Latin America and the Caribbean and into Filipino and Iberian kitchens via trade, where dried seeds are milled or pounded and sometimes combined with spices and acid to form achiote paste.