101 Cooking For Two - Everyday Recipes for Two: Homemade Taco Seasoning

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Homemade Taco Seasoning from 101 Cooking For Two
Never buy another package of taco seasoning with this spicy taco seasoning in your pantry. This is SO MUCH BETTER. Now you can have a tasty tacos in about 15 minutes.

I love my usual taco recipe (and my wife told me not to change it) but it takes 25 minutes and I get out a lot of spices. It is time to simplify my life. The second issue I have ( the real one to me) is that a lot of recipes I want to try call for a package of taco seasoning. I refused to do that and substituting would mean adding 7 or 8 more ingredients. This is much better. 

As a pediatrician, I'm always look at ingredients on everything. Taco seasoning mix always puzzled me. Whoever though of putting most of that junk in there must be a genius since I had no idea that wheat, flour and maltodextrin were needed. And the salt... so much salt. And I though it was suppose to be spices. Silly silly me.

Rating
Tasty like my other taco meat.

Notes: there are hundred of recipes for taco seasoning out there. I didn't bother since I knew what I wanted.

By making your own, you get to control everything.  I want to always use fresh onion so I did not put the onion powder in. I find the garlic a bit of a pain at times so the garlic powder is in. This is 3/10 spicy. Adjust the cumin and cayenne accordingly. You are the boss.

 Lots of good things plus an air tight container.

Homemade Taco Seasoning from 101 Cooking For Two
Here I'm making a "large" from the chart. Enough for 4 pounds and will store some. The chart gives other options for size and the recipe below is for 1 pound.

Combine 1/2 cup chile powder, 2 tsp each of oregano, Kosher salt, 1 tsp each of cayenne pepper, black pepper and 4 tsp cumin. Options are 2 tsp each of granular garlic powder and onion powder. Add these if you are not adding onion or garlic during your cooking. I always do fresh onion so I omitted the onion powder.
Homemade Taco Seasoning from 101 Cooking For Two
 Seal in a air tight container. It should be good for months.
To make 1 pound of taco meat. If you did not add the garlic and onion to the mix then start with one small onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic and dice the onion and crush the garlic.
Over medium high heat add 1 t oil to a nonstick pan. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes until clearing. If adding fresh garlic, put it in now and "bloom" for 30 seconds.
Add 1 pound of ground beef and continue over medium high heat, breaking the meat apart and cook until browned. About 4-5 minutes.
 Drain the fat.
 Add 3 tablespoons of taco seasoning and 1/4 cup of water. I usually will add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce or salsa here. Simmer for a few minutes until liquid is reduced.




Homemade Taco Seasoning



Never buy another package of taco seasoning with this spicy taco seasoning in your pantry. This is SO MUCH BETTER. Now you can have a tasty tacos in about 15 minutes.
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground beef

  • Taco Mix
  • 2 T chili powder
  • 1/2 t Garlic powder- granulated preferred- optional
  • 1/2 t onion powder-optional
  • 1 t cumin
  • 1/2 t oregano
  • 1/4 t cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 t kosher salt
  • 1/4 t black pepper
Instructions
1) Combine ingredients in medium bowl. Omit the garlic powder and/or onion powder if adding them fresh.2) The heat on this is 3/10. Adjust cumin and cayenne for taste. See post to vary amounts.3) To make 1 pound taco meat. If you did not add the garlic and/or onion to the mix. Start with one small onion and/or 2-3 cloves of garlic and dice the onion and crush the garlic.4) Over medium high heat add 1 t oil to a nonstick pan. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes until clearing. If adding fresh garlic, put it in now and "bloom" for 30 seconds.5) Add 1 pound of ground beef and continue over medium high heat, breaking the meat apart and cook until browned. About 4-5 minutes. Drain the fat.6) Add 3 tablespoons of taco seasoning and 1/4 cup of water. I usually will add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce or salsa here. Simmer for a few minutes until liquid is reduced.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 1 to 8 pounds taco meat

Updated

April 20 2013

Dan Mikesell

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6 Comments:

At April 21, 2013 at 1:31 PM , Blogger Chris said...

I agree, home made is much better. The one thing that I add that a lot don't is some corn starch to help thicken the sauce.

 
At April 21, 2013 at 1:54 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

I have seen people add the corn starch. Since I usually add some tomato sauce and then simmer down, I get some thickening there.

 
At April 23, 2013 at 12:37 PM , Blogger Jess said...

This is great! I usually buy a big container of taco seasoning from a big box store, but I would much prefer a homemade version. Just checking out the ingredients on my store bought version left me googling ingredients to know exactly what they are... Thanks for sharing this recipe!

 
At April 23, 2013 at 9:05 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

It is worth the few minutes to mix it just to know what is in it...

 
At August 23, 2013 at 2:10 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

This recipe is confusing. The measurements differ greatly from the narrative to the actual recipe. Would appreciate a clarification. For now will use the graph.

 
At August 31, 2013 at 10:55 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

First... Sorry for not responding earlier. I have reviewed and hopefully clarified the recipe. Thanks for the note.

 

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