Homemade Taco Seasoning
This easy homemade taco seasoning mix can be made in just five minutes. Keep it in the pantry for quick taco nights!
When I was a kid, McDonald’s never fazed me. I could take or leave a Happy Meal, no big deal. What I really craved was tacos. Point me in the direction of a Taco Bell and I was the happiest of campers.
Looking back on it, I don’t really understand it. No one in my immediate family has ever been a big fan of Mexican food, and kids can be tremendously picky (I, for one, was notorious for never eating a morsel of anything green and clung to my peanut butter and jelly like there was no tomorrow). So where I picked up this love for tacos is beyond me. But if I found myself at the mall with my mom and the food court presented itself, I marched straight to Taco Bell. If I was given the opportunity to choose what my mom cooked for dinner on any given night, you guessed it. Tacos.
Needless to say, back in the day taco kits were certainly the way to go for taco nights at home – shells, seasoning mix and sometimes sauce all in one box. Super easy. Heck, even up until a few years ago I wouldn’t have thought to make tacos any other way, and surely wouldn’t have thought to make my own taco seasoning! However, over time, I’ve become keenly aware of the things that I eat and where they come from. Prepackaged seasoning mixes are full of salt and preservatives, artificial flavors and colors. For example, look at this ingredient list from a popular brand of taco seasoning:
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Um, no thank you. Making my own homemade taco seasoning and knowing exactly what’s in it makes me feel much better. Whipping up your own taco seasoning mix takes less than 5 minutes and you can keep it in your pantry for the next time a taco craving hits. Use it in place of the packet to make taco beef or chicken, and easily substitute it in any recipe that calls for a taco seasoning mix (like my mom’s famous taco dip!).
So there you have it – an incredibly easy and super flavorful homemade taco seasoning that you can feel good about!
One year ago: Copycat Chipotle Chicken Recipe
Two years ago: My Favorite Guacamole Recipe
Five years ago: Mint Julep Jello Shots
Seven years ago: Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread
Eight years ago: Three Cheese Beer Bread
Homemade Taco Seasoning
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (0.03 g) + 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1¾ teaspoon (1.75 teaspoon) garlic powder
- 1¾ teaspoon (1.75 teaspoon) onion powder
- 1¾ teaspoon (1.75 teaspoon) dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients until thoroughly combined. Store in an airtight container or glass jar at room temperature for up to 1 year.
- To Make Taco Meat: Brown 1 pound of meat (ground beef or chicken) over medium heat until cooked through. Drain. Return to the stove over medium-high heat and add ⅔ cup of water and 2 tablespoons of the taco seasoning mix. Simmer, stirring frequently, until all of the liquid has evaporated.
Notes
- This amount of seasoning mix will be enough for about 8 pounds of meat.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on May 5, 2010.
Thanks so much for the recipe. I make a lot of Mexican food and I always seem to be out of taco seasoning.
Ugh, no thanks is right! Thanks for this healthy and unpronounceable-free ingredient taco seasoning!
I’m so grateful for this recipe. I recently became obsessed with making my own salad dressings and now I’m ready to move onto seasoning packets. Going to try to recreate Ranch this weekend.
I love this idea! I can’t wait to try it! Alison
BTW, I love your 100 list, and it inspired me a few months ago to have my own hand-written list. It has really motivated me – it got over my fear of yeast breads, and now I make sandwich bread all the time – we don’t buy any bread anymore! It’s so satisfying to check one off the list :) Thanks for that!
:O! Thanks for this recipe. I’ll never have to buy pre-packaged taco seasoning ever again!
I’ve also been wanting to try this since I saw it on annies eats. But, to be honest, we haven’t had tacos in the meantime! Sheesh! And I looove tacos – and it is terribly entertaining to watch my 3 (almost 4) year old try to eat them. But he does, and with a vengeance – I really don’t think I’ve seen him eat anything with such delight :) Okay, so tacos and homemade chicken fingers are a tie on that one.
Thanks for reminding me to give this a try! (especially after you go and slap me in the face with a picture of the “ingredients”! Hah!)
Thank you! After I took a look at the ingredients on that package a year ago, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make my own and nothing I’ve tried has turned out quite right yet.
Sounds great and much healthier for sure
THANK YOU! Those ingredient lists scare me! This mix looks fabulous!
Gotta love MSG added to packaged stuff – gross! It’s in so many things we don’t think about! Thanks for this recipe, can’t wait to try it!
Love it! This mixture would be a breeze to put together and SO much better for you (and I’d imagine better tasting) than the packaged stuff.
Super!! You post just one great thing after another. Muchas gracias.
I love making my own taco seasoning! Yours looks yummy!
i’m so excited you posted this…I’m going to make a huge batch and use it up in, oh i don’t know, a WEEK!
Great taco seasoning mix! Must make this! So much better than buying the packet kind!
Do you add any salt? I must have salt but was wondering how much to put into the mix. Thank you for sharing this recipe–this will save a lot of money in the long run–I use a lot of taco seasoning mixes!
I’m with ya on this one for sure! The store bought taco seasoning has way too much sodium for me. I either make my own or I buy Penzey’s, which is much lower in sodium and is a fabulous seasoning. I’ll try your recipe next time I make my own!!
And, I think I ate at Taco Bell almost every day for lunch when I was in high school…and now my son loves it as much as I did!
Great idea Michelle! Much better than the store bought pack with who knows what inside!!
My son also loves tacos and will always choose them if I ask him what I should cook for dinner. That being said, he will never ever turn down a Happy Meal!! I’m excited to try this seasoning, it sounds so good and so easy!!
Thanks, I look forward to trying this. One of the first things we ever made in 6th grade home ec (cooking – 7th was sewing) was tacos and the seasoning was not from a packet. I kept and used the recipe for years until it became tattered. Somewhere between undergrad and grad school, the recipe became lost (you’d think I’d have memorize it by then, no?) and I have been trying unsuccessfully ever since to find a recipe I like as well. Looking forward to trying yours!
thanks for posting this! my fella & i LOVE our nacho/taco nights, but have always sighed a little when we use the store bought more chemical/less food taco seasoning. i’m so excited to try this!
So easy to make at home. Love it!
I made my own Mexican spice blend a few months ago for the same reason! (http://arteats.blogspot.com/2010/02/mexican-spice-blend.html) It kind of creeped me out to read the label of the packets you could buy at the store. Your version looks fun – I may have to try that next. :)
I’ve wanted to try this ever since Annie posted it, but your including the label of the premade taco seasoning has convinced me! I have no excuse not to make up a batch of this now! :)
Great idea! I should make a big batch of this and keep it in the pantry to have on-hand…we make tacos A LOT! Thanks for doing the leg work ;)
Aww yeah. I LOVED tacos as a kid as well, and still do!
I never had taco bell until I was way older, it must have been the commercials, which were never as enticing as the ones from MacDonald’s..haha. I find the prepackaged stuff has a weird aftertaste. Homemade is way better.
Indeed!!! I’ve been making my own seasoning (the same recipe as yours) for a few months now.
Happy Cinco de Mayo to you!
Thanks so much for sharing this! I agree – the pre-packaged stuff is WAY too salty!
This is a great basic recipe, the only 2 things missing from it that I like to add to mine is cocoa powder and corn starch. I also add the salt to my mix and like touse a beer in place of the water.