Short answer
No, not in cooking. Nutmeg can affect the mind in large amounts, so the scholars forbid taking it in a quantity that intoxicates or harms. The small amount used to flavour food has no such effect and is permissible in the Hanafi school, and the other schools agree.
Nutmeg (jawz al-tib) is among the substances that can cloud the mind in large amounts. Taking it in an amount that intoxicates or harms is haram; the small amount used as a spice is permissible, following the Hanafi principle for non-drink substances of this kind.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The question exists because nutmeg is not an ordinary spice. Classical scholars noticed that a large dose produces a drugged, intoxicated state, and several of them, including Ibn Abidin in the Hanafi school and Ibn Hajar al-Haytami in the Shafi'i school, discussed it alongside other mind-affecting substances. Modern medicine confirms the effect: a large amount of nutmeg can cause hallucinations and poisoning.
The Hanafi school distinguishes between intoxicating drinks and solid substances that can affect the mind, such as nutmeg. For drinks, even a small amount is haram. For substances like nutmeg, what is forbidden is the amount that actually clouds the mind or causes harm. The pinch grated into a curry, a bechamel, eggnog or a spiced cake does nothing of the sort, so it is permitted.
- Cooking and baking: permissible, including garam masala, pumpkin spice and mace (the outer covering of the nutmeg seed).
- Taking large amounts on purpose to get high: haram, both as an intoxicant and because it harms the body.
- Nutmeg in an alcoholic drink: haram because of the drink, not the nutmeg.
The same principle covers other spices and herbs: the normal culinary amount is fine, and using any substance to alter your mind is not. For related rulings, see is weed haram and kava.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:195
وَأَنفِقُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا تُلْقُوا۟ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى ٱلتَّهْلُكَةِ ۛ وَأَحْسِنُوٓا۟ ۛ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿١٩٥﴾
And spend in the way of Allah and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by refraining]. And do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good.
Forbids taking a substance in a harmful amount.
Sahih Muslim 2003
Sahih... كل مسكر خمر وكل مسكر حرام ...
"Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is haram."
Taking nutmeg to intoxicate falls under this; flavouring food does not.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Ashriba. Nutmeg and similar substances are forbidden in the amount that affects the mind, not in small amounts.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitab al-Ashriba. The ruling on solid substances that cloud the mind.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.