I can get my kids to eat almost anything with ketchup or homemade ranch dressing on top… or if I season it with taco seasoning! In fact, I know many moms who keep taco seasoning packets on hand to use in the thousands of kid-friendly ways suggested by Pinterest.
I lived in Texas for much of my life and I fell in love with the flavors of both Tex-Mex and authentic Mexican cuisine. This taco seasoning mix is a family favorite recipe we’ve carefully perfected over many years.
Ground beef, chicken, eggs, or even a veggie scramble… it’s all better with this taco seasoning on top!
Why Make Homemade Taco Seasoning?
Why go through the trouble of making your own seasoning mix when you can buy it at the store? Here are a few reasons I like doing it:
- Perk #1: You get more for your money. If you’ve ever bought taco seasoning packets from the grocery store, this is a simple and cost-effective switch you can make right away. Store-bought taco seasoning is crazy overpriced for the two tablespoons of actual spices it contains. It also often contains things like MSG, anti-caking agents, and artificial colors or flavors. Buying spices in bulk saves money and skips the cheap fillers and harmful additives.
- Perk #2: It’s easy. This homemade version is so easy to make with almost no prep time! The total time to make up a big batch is about 5 minutes. Store in an airtight container (I love my mason jars for this) and store away from heat and light to have it on hand for months to come. No more running to the store because you’re out of taco seasoning!
- Perk #3: You can control the spice level. Add cayenne pepper for heat or double down on the cumin for a more smoky and savory approach. The gentle blend of flavors is great with much more than just tacos though. Add it to scrambled eggs, mayo, stir-frys, soups, and even salad dressings! Since kids usually don’t love spicy foods, I make this a mild taco seasoning and give the adults a grinder with red pepper flakes or bottle of hot sauce at the table.
How to Make Your Own Taco Seasoning Recipe
When you make taco mix yourself, you’ll find it is incredibly easy! You only need a few basic spices:
- chili powder (here’s how to make your own)
- cumin
- garlic powder
- onion powder (here’s how to make your own)
- oregano leaf
- paprika
- Himalayan salt or sea salt (optional)
- black pepper
Measure in the ratios below, mix in a small bowl or mason jar, and store for use! It’s that easy. This recipe should give you a starting point but feel free to adapt it to your family’s tastes and make your own “secret” recipe.
Taco-Inspired Recipes to Try
I use the spices above in many other recipes, so it’s great to have the option of using them on their own or combining them into various homemade seasonings (see the whole list of my favorite spice mixes below).
We use our DIY taco seasoning the most in:
- taco meat (obviously) – because we love tacos!
- as a sub for fajita seasoning
- sprinkled over eggs
- with ground turkey or beef in a meat and veggie scramble
- in an easy taco soup (taco meat + leftover veggies + broth + squeeze of lime)
- to season chili
- with ground chicken and veggies in a lettuce wrap
- as a tasty addition to this Crock Pot chicken recipe
- to season fish tacos
I’m sure the options are endless (not all of them good… I’ve seen some of the kitchen experiments my kids come up with!). If you have other ideas, please drop a comment and let me know!
How to Substitute Homemade Taco Seasoning for Packets
Use 2-3 tablespoons of this spice + ¼ cup of water per pound of meat. Add the spice and water while the meat is browning and cook on medium-high heat until the water has evaporated and the meat is fully cooked.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe
Servings
Nutrition
Notes
Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!
Want to make other spices too?
Check out my full list of spices you can make at home with basic ingredients to overhaul your spice cabinet today! You’ll love it because the flavor of fresh, homemade spice blends is incredible and you’ll save money too!
What are your favorite seasonings?
I keep coming back to this Taco Seasoning recipe when I need more. I usually double it because I eat tacos a lot (every night if my partner would allow it). My suggestion for everyone is to invest in Mexican Oregano if you can. It adds so much more than the italian oregano you can find in the store (mexican oregano has liquorice undertones which go better with mexican food than the minty undertones of regular oregano). Also because I tend to prefer seasoning my meat myself, I either skip, or just add a small amount of salt to this (this double batch I just made got like 2 cracks on my himilayan salt grinder). I tried it once with the salt amount in the recipe and it got way too salty. 1 TBSP of salt is more than enough if you double the batch.
I’ve been making this seasoning for a few years now and absolutely love it! It’s well rounded flavor, and I love that I know exactly what is in my seasoning. Thank you for creating this.
I don’t like adding salt to seasoning mixes because, depending on the audience, I like to amp up the spice! I put in 2-3 TBSP seasoning mix, 1/2 tsp salt per pound, and I don’t use water since I don’t like my taco meat saucy. I also split the paprika with half regular and half hot smoked! Yum!
Awesome Katie
Love your blog & podcast .
When do you find time with 6 kids ?
Hats of to you .
Keep up the good work .
With warm regards, From San Francisco Bay Area
–
Methinks your recipe is missing an ingredient. In your description of the recipe, you mention adjusting the amount of cayenne to achieve desired spiciness. Your recipe has no cayenne powder in it.
Love diy can’t wait to try this taco seasoning
My daughter says it’s wonderful
Katie, your recipe for taco seasoning saved our supper plans. I was so sure I had packaged taco seasoning on hand, but when I went to find it in the pantry there was none. We had just returned from the grocery store and my sweet husband offered to go back to purchase seasoning. Instead we thought we’d find a recipe to mix up at home. Thankfully we found yours! We were very pleased with the flavor and will use your recipe from now on. I did find that we preferred the addition of 1/2 cup water instead of the 1/4 cup recommended. Thank you so much!
Michele
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it, Michele!
I love this mixture! So much better (and cheaper) than the store-bought blends!
Thanks for this recipe. The store brands are chock full of yucky stuff! Mexican food is s staple at my house and this is my new go to!
Store bought taco seasoning are really unhealthy so I make my own but this recipe is definitely an improvement. Kudos to you for sharing this.
Hi! Your recipe for taco seasoning above is different than in your most recent book. I feel like based on the amount of salt the book calls for, that the online recipe is the correct one? Can you please advise
You can adjust the salt according to your preference.
Sidebar question — Does anyone have an idea for how to keep garlic powder from turning rock hard in its (supposedly airtight) jar? I live in a high-humidity area and even just opening the jar to use the product seems to let in enough moisture to cause problems.
Is the chili powder a blend “with other spices” or just ground chili’s?
Just ground chilis
Do you have smaller amount measurements for us mere mortals?