Taco Seasoning
192 Comments
Nov 11, 2024
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Taco seasoning is really easy to make at home and it tastes much fresher than store-bought packets. Add this seasoning to a variety of meats, seafood, veggies, soups, and stews for your next taco night or when you want a tasty Mexican feast on your table!
Why You’ll Love This Taco Seasoning
Many of you know that I’m a big fan of Mexican food and regularly whip up shrimp tacos, birria tacos, carnitas tacos, pulled pork tacos, and carne asada tacos. And when I want to forgo the tortilla, I’ll make my taco salad or taco soup — Mexican cuisine is my favorite! So as you might imagine, I use a LOT of taco seasoning in my kitchen. And there’s truly no comparison between homemade taco seasoning and those store-bought packets. Here’s why you’ll love the homemade version better:
- The flavor is superior: Freshly mixed spices result in a bolder, more robust flavor. And making it at home allows you to tweak the flavor profile to your preference. Want it a bit hotter? Just add a pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper for a little extra kick.
- There’s no filler: If you read the ingredient list of packaged taco seasoning you’ll find unnecessary fillers ranging from whey (dairy) to cornstarch, potato starch, caramel color, natural colors, sugar, and various preservatives — no thank you!
- It’s easy to make and store: You can easily double, triple, or quadruple this recipe for a larger batch to store in your spice drawer. This is what I do! That way, I’m always ready to go when the taco cravings strike.
Taco Seasoning Ingredients
- Chili Powder: American chili powder (which I’m using) is a blend of spices and not a single ground chili. Though you could always use simple ground chili as well, for a stronger chili flavor.
- Cumin: I love the warm, earthy, and slightly sweet flavor of ground cumin. Fun fact – it’s one of the most used spices in my spice drawer!
- Garlic Powder: I’m using garlic powder that is pure garlic granules and not a blend with salt. If yours contains salt, you may want to reduce the added salt.
- Paprika: I typically use sweet paprika, but you can use sweet or smoky, it’s up to you.
- Oregano: While Mexican oregano is more common in taco seasoning, Italian oregano works just fine as well.
- Salt & Pepper: A little kosher salt and ground black pepper round out the other spices.
How to Make Taco Seasoning
- Mix the spices together. Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper to a small mixing bowl. Then stir it all together.
- Use immediately or store. Add the taco seasoning to your meals as you make them, or store them in an airtight container for future use. They will last for up to one year. And for storage, I usually quadruple this recipe and then store it in these glass spice jars. A kitchen funnel makes it easy to fill the jar without spilling, and I use an extra-fine paint pen to write the label.
How Much Seasoning To Use
This recipe makes about 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, which is equal to one packet of store-bought seasoning. That’s the perfect amount to season one pound of protein — whether that’s ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, flank steak, or shrimp.
For More Delicious Mexican Recipes
- Carnitas: The most juicy, tender, and crispy shreds of pork.
- Birria: A rich and spicy shredded beef stew.
- Carne Asada: A perfectly marinated Mexican steak.
- Guacamole: The best homemade guac hands down.
- Pico de Gallo: The classic chunky salsa.
- Ceviche: A light and fresh lime-marinated seafood appetizer.
- And if you’re whipping up chicken fajitas, shrimp fajitas, or steak fajitas, make sure to check out my fajita seasoning recipe!
If you make this taco seasoning recipe, I’d love to know how it turned out in the comment box below! Your review will help other readers in the community. And if you’re hungry for more healthy food inspiration (and exclusive content), join my free newsletter.
Taco Seasoning (Better Than Store-Bought)
Description
Video
Equipment
- Glass Spice Jars My favorite jars for storing all my homemade seasonings.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika (or smoked paprika)
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, optional
Instructions
- Mix all the spices together in a bowl. Use immediately or store in an airtight container.
Lisa’s Tips
- You can easily double, triple or quadruple this recipe to make a larger batch. Then, in the future just use two tablespoons of your taco seasoning mix per one pound of ground beef.
- I don’t add any onion powder to this mix because I typically add freshly diced onions to ground beef recipes. But feel free to add that spice as well, if you’d like.
- This seasoning will last for up to one year.
- To see inside my own spice drawer, don’t forget to watch my spice drawer organization video.
- For another delicious homemade seasoning, check out my brisket dry rub.
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Recipe originally posted August 2017, but updated to include new photos and information for your benefit!
I make this and add a sprinkle of hot mesican style chili power and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Comes out great!
Sounds delicious! Glad your taco seasoning turned out perfectly, Kathy.
Hi! haven’t used.your taco seasoning yet but am just.about to, but I wanted to ask do you add water to your taco seasoning &..ground beeflike the stores brands always tell you to add a certain amount of water to the mix &.ground beef.do you not add any.water to yours? hmm? just curious? Thanks so much!
Jana Guagliardo
Hi Jana – you can certainly add a bit of water if you’d like. I personally don’t, but I’ll usually add the taco seasoning when there’s still a good amount of grease in the pan. Enjoy!
Made this tonight and turned out great! Very easy to put together and I will never buy the pre made again!
Can’t beat homemade taco seasoning! Glad you enjoyed this, Andre!
Trader Joe’s was sold out of their taco seasoning, so I found this online. Won’t ever buy a packet again! I did have Mexican Oregano that I purchased from Penzey’s, so I was excited to finally use it LOL. I added 1/2 tsp onion powder and more cayenne pepper. Fast to mix up. I threw in some to spice up my black beans along with Goya Adobo seasoning. Yummm. Thanks for sharing. Love that you can experiment with adding different types of peppers, etc.
Hi Mary – Glad you found the perfect replacement for the Trader Joe’s taco seasoning! Now you can always have a freshly made packet right at home with spices you have on hand.
This is a fantastic taco seasoning. It has no fillers, just awesome flavor. I was very grateful to find it as my son’s girlfriend must eat gluten free and we cannot use seasoning packets. After finding this recipe, I will never go back to a seasoning packet again.
Hi Susan – Glad you found a taco seasoning that suits all you needs! Homemade seasonings are far better anyways in terms of quality and flavor!
Do you also add water when you add the taco seasoning to the browned beef?
does this recipe equal a packet of the store bought seasoning?
Hi Mary – you’ll have more than a packet. See my tips above for how much to use.
Make tacos with this mix today and loved it!! better than any store bought. Thank you, Lisa!!
You’re more than welcome, Pam. Happy to hear your tacos were a hit with this taco seasoning!
Where do the carbs come from?
Lovely and easy to make I am going to use this in a lot more things instead of the store bought stuff in also tastes wayyyyy better then the store bought stuff!! Thank you for the recipe! Five star for sure!😋
Thanks so much, Emma! I’m happy to hear you love it.
The best! Easy and flavorful with clean ingredients only.
Thank you!!
You’re more than welcome, Lisa!
How much water do you use per pound with the taco seasoning?
Hi Abbey – I don’t typically add water to my ground beef when I cook it.
Love love love this recipe!! Hands down better than Ortega or Old El Paso, any day!! I even use the same recipe in my rice it was absolutely delicious!!
Hi Tammy – Thrilled to hear you’re loving this homemade taco seasoning and have found tasty ways to use it already!
I’d reverse the cumin & chili powder amounts or mention this recipe is equivalent to the medium hot taco seasoning.
Thanks for sharing.
This is so good! I love to add it to my homemade chili and know I didn’t add any of the ingredients that the packages add to keep it from clumping or have a long shelf life. Be sure to use fresh spices. You won’t go back to packages.
Hi Dee – Thrilled to hear you’re loving this homemade taco seasoning! It’s always a great one to have on hand.
This is Seriously Better than store bought! I am so glad that I tried this recipe!!
Yay, I’m happy to hear you think so! Thanks, Monica!
So much better than store bought.
What amount of seasoning should be used per pound of beef?
Hi Bekah – I mention in the post above to use 2 tablespoons per pound of beef. Enjoy!
Love this Taco seasoning recipe.
Happy to hear you’re loving this taco seasoning, Theresa!
Fabulous! Thank you :) I just added a pinch of cilantro and dried onions. But this is a great recipe as is.
Perfect!
Tried all. People who are no sauce, I leave the black pepper and red pepper out. People who love hot, I put it in. ALL have loved the flavor.
Thanks for the tip, Lanita! Happy hear this seasoning has been such a hit.
Easy and all natural taco seasoning! I’ll never buy store bought taco seasoning again!
Thanks for you Lisa!
Hi Kimmie – Can’t beat a homemade version like this! Glad you love it.
Good taco seasoning recipe! It’s better than store bought!
Thanks for the recipe!
Sure thing, Kimberly! Glad you’re loving this homemade version.
Love this recipe. Why buy a taco spice mix when I have all the spices for it? After reading the comment about onions, I added some dried minced onion.
So glad you enjoyed this homemade version, Ellen!
Great recipe. I use ground chipotle chili pepper for heat and tomato caldo con pollo for some body. I don’t measure much sorry I can’t give you amounts other than “to taste”.
Ground chipotle chili pepper is a great addition!
Love this, it was easy, thank you
I’m glad you enjoyed this homemade seasoning, Nancy!
Just made homemade salsa and found I didn’t have the package taco seasoning to make my tacos with this afternoon. So I found your recipe for taco seasoning and will give it a whirl! Thx
Just finished my last container of store-bought – so mixed up your recipe and will never buy another container of it. Had all of the spices on hand, couldn’t be easier, and tastes great! It’s probably much healthier than the store mixed brand. Thank you!!!
Hi Karen – Absolutely! This homemade version won’t contain any other additives that store-bought versions might have. Enjoy!
Easy to put together. Taste better than store-bought seasoning packet
Hi Kathy, glad to hear you loved this taco seasoning. Fresh is always best!
Very easy and tastes amazing.
I’m glad you enjoyed this taco seasoning, Tresa!
Nice
Happy to hear you loved this taco seasoning, Jeffery!
Just made this today! What a game changer. I ran out of the packet stuff from the grocery store. So glad I did, as this recipe is easy and so much more healthy than putting all of the fake ingredients into our bodies! Thank you!
Good thing you ran out to make this homemade version, Jen! It really is the best way to avoid filler ingredients and a much fresher mix of spices. I hope you enjoy this taco seasoning for many many years!
I made it tonight for my tacos because I didn’t have any store bought.. Its very good I think I will always make this from now on
Yay, love to hear that, Cheryl!
Help! Can’t run to store because of expected snow and I want to make tacos for the Eagles game. I have everything but oregano, can I use Italian seasoning instead?
Hi Kelley – Yes, you could swap a little bit of that in. Enjoy!
So do you add water to the pan when you use it, like you do for store bought seasoning? How does it thicken up if it doesn’t have cornstarch in it?
Hi Betsy – it depends on what I’m adding it to. If I’m adding it to a soup (like my taco soup recipe), no water is needed. And if I add it early to ground beef while there’s still grease in the pan I’ll often not add water. But you can certainly add a splash of water to help it blend. And I don’t think cornstarch is needed, though you can always add that separately if you’d like.
This is my Go-To taco seasoning! It’s easy and I love that it doesn’t have any fillers like the store bought versions. I quadruple the recipe and store it in a large glass jar because we eat tacos at least once a week.
So smart to quadruple this recipe, Mandy! It always comes in hand when you want to whip up a taco night on the fly. Enjoy!
What is the recipe for American chilli powder 🤔 please share if that can be made at home as well 😀
How much onion powder should I add to the homemade taco seasoning?
Excellent recipe. I started prepping for Taco’s and realized I was out of packaged seasoning, went to this recipe, had all the seasoning – and BAM – great tacos. I don’t think I’ll go back to packaged seasoning!
Hi Travis – This beats the store-bought packets any day! Glad you loved it.
Wanting to make as a family Christmas gift. My question is the season jar you suggest, is that amount for one batch? Next if I do want to add onion powder, what would the amount be? Thank you!
Hi Candy – I don’t remember off hand if one recipe fills a jar completely, it might take two batches. And if you’d like to add onion, I’d recommend about a teaspoon or so. Merry Christmas!
I have always used a packaged taco seasoning but wanted to try making my own. I have all of tese ingredients in my pantry and can’t wait to try it.
Thank you! Love the taste of taco seasoning mix!
Hi Anita – I’m so glad you love this homemade taco seasoning!
Searched this up because I forgot to buy a packet. This was better than the packets for sure. Going to just make this every time from now on.
Homemade taco seasoning is always so much better! Enjoy!
How spicy is this?
Hi Sherri – I don’t think it’s overly spicy, just flavorful.
It is my understanding that “chili powder” is actually made from all the other ingredients in this recipe, plus some ground, dried ancho chili, so question is why not delete chili powder and increase all the other? Also, Mexican Oregano, dried chopped leaves, is available bulk online.
That’s exactly right re: “chili” powder. But I’ve substituted chile powder (ground guajillo chiles) for the chili powder this recipe calls for, and it’s great!
What a great recipe! Made several batches for a large amount of ground beef. It smells soooo good, and tastes good as well. Mahalo nui for a great recipe.
I’m so glad you love this taco seasoning, Debbie!
I made this because I was out of taco seasoning. Best stuff ever! I use it on much more than tacos. Going to make a big batch and store it.
Nothing beats homemade taco seasoning!
Dear Lisa,
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!! Finally a simple and healthier way to feed my family. I just have one question, how much water is needed for the seasoning mix per one pound of meat? I didn’t see it listed.
There’s no water needed for this taco seasoning! But my general rule is to use two tablespoons of your taco seasoning mix per one pound of ground beef.