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.
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
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Recipe originally posted August 2017, but updated to include new photos and information for your benefit!
I’ve tried homemade taco seasoning recipes for years and finally found my favorite: this recipe. It’s SO delicious! I’ll never buy a packet again!
Glad you found the perfect homemade taco seasoning recipe, Amy!
This is my new go-to taco seasoning recipe! I have all ingredients on hand and I have more control over what I’m seasoning my food with compared to grocery store pre-made taco seasonings. I used to love them but this is a budget friendly and healthier alternative! SO GOOD!
I’m so glad you’re loving this taco seasoning, Jasmine! Sometimes, homemade is the way to go.
I haven’t bought taco seasoning packets since discovering your recipe. It’s perfect!
This recipe beats the store-bought packets any day! Glad you’re loving this taco seasoning, Sherry.
This was a great recipe I just wish the water amount was added. I used a cup for 2lbs of ground turkey. I do not like the taste of cumin at all. It really over powered the other flavors so I added tajin! A life saver 😊
Thank you for the basement recipe! I can’t wait to play around and tweak it more!
It was not a good combination of flavors. I did not like what it did to my ground beef. The flavor signature was not pleasant but was edible.
Just. Perfection.
Glad you’re loving this taco seasoning, Tanya!
Just made it, and we’ll never buy packets again! I added some onion salt (can’t use onions because of my son), and we all really enjoyed it!!
Thank you!
Glad you were able to tweak this recipe to your liking, Terri!
Tastes great with 1 lb burger and 2/3 cup of water
Thrilled this taco seasoning was perfect for you burger, Jenny!
This was SO good!! Better than every store bought seasoning I’ve tried! Will definitely be making on repeat
Oh yay! I’m so glad you loved this seasoning, Lauren.
Tastes great with 1 lb burger and 2/3 cup of water
Best taco seasoning without all the sodium. I used on dark ground turkey 20% fat. Gave my meat a whole lot of delicious 😋 flavor! Thanks.
Hi Teresa – Glad you’re loving this taco seasoning!
Excellent recipe. I replaced one tablespoon of chili powder with an Indian extra hot chili powder. I also add about 1/4 of water per lb of ground beef. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Sounds delicious! Glad you’re enjoying this homemade taco seasoning.
Is it necessary to have that much salt?
Hi Georgiana – You can always tweak this to your liking, but I find this amount of salt is perfect for seasoning ground beef.