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Made with everyday pantry spices, this Homemade Taco Seasoning delivers bold, balanced flavor without the preservatives, fillers, or excess sodium found in many store-bought packets.
I have used this blend for years to season everything from classic taco meat to taco soup, casseroles, and roasted potatoes. It takes about 5 minutes to mix together, and because you control the ingredients, you can easily make it mild, spicy, or lower in sodium.
Why Make Your Own Taco Seasoning?
- Better flavor. This blend has the right balance of earthy, savory, and mildly spicy flavors.
- Easy to customize. Reduce the salt, leave out the red pepper flakes, or add extra heat to suit your family.
- Simple ingredients. No preservatives, fillers, added sugar, dairy, or mystery ingredients.
- Budget-friendly. Mixing pantry spices costs far less than buying individual packets repeatedly.
- Incredibly versatile. Use it for tacos, burritos, soups, casseroles, dips, potatoes, and more.
5-Star Reader Review
Yum. Making my own allows me to cut the Kosher Salt 50% for a family member's sodium restriction, still is absolutely delicious and easy to make. I sprinkle it on all kinds of things besides tacos. -- Laurie
Spices in Taco Seasoning
This taco seasoning is made with basic dried spices, but a few small choices make a noticeable difference in its flavor.
- Chili Powder: Use basic American-style chili powder, which is a mild blend of ground chiles and spices. Ancho or chipotle chile powder will make the seasoning taste stronger and potentially much hotter.
- Cumin: Adds the earthy, warm flavor that gives taco seasoning its unmistakable Tex-Mex character.
- Paprika: Use regular paprika for balanced flavor. Smoked paprika can overpower the other seasonings.
- Garlic and Onion Powder: These round out the stronger spices with savory flavor. If you dislike garlic, omit the garlic powder and slightly increase the onion powder.
- Dried Oregano: Either Mexican or Italian oregano works well in this blend.
- Red Pepper Flakes: Add a gentle kick of heat. Leave them out for a mild, family-friendly taco seasoning.
- Kosher Salt: Kosher salt distributes well and contains less sodium by volume than table salt. You can reduce or omit it as needed.
- Black Pepper: Adds subtle warmth without making the seasoning noticeably spicy.
Kristen's Tip
For the best flavor, use dried spices that are less than 6 months old. They will not spoil immediately after that, but they do begin to lose their strength.
How to Make and Store Taco Seasoning
Making homemade taco seasoning couldn't be simpler.
- Combine. Add the spices to a small bowl or jar and stir or shake until well combined.
- Use or store. Use immediately or keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark cabinet for up to 6 months.
How to Use Taco Seasoning
- Replace a Store-Bought Packet: This recipe replaces one standard packet of taco seasoning, or approximately 2 tablespoons.
- Make Tacos: Brown 1 pound of ground beef, turkey, or chicken and drain off excess grease if needed. Add one batch of taco seasoning along with water and tomato sauce to make my famous saucy taco meat. Or use it to flavor shredded chicken tacos, black bean tacos, sweet potato tacos, lentil tacos, and more!
- Make a Creamy Taco Dressing: Mix 2 tablespoons with 1 cup of sour cream and the juice of one fresh lime for a thick dressing for taco salad or southwest chicken salad. Feel free to thin with milk if desired.
- As a Seasoning: For a Tex-Mex twist, swap seasoned salt or kosher salt with homemade taco seasoning to flavor roasted red potatoes, baked fries, chicken, vegetables, homemade burgers, and more.
Make a Big Batch
If tacos appear on your menu as often as they do in my house, make a larger batch and keep it in your pantry. It takes the same amount of effort as making one batch, which is to say, almost none.
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Store in an airtight jar in your pantry for up to 6 months. Use 2 tablespoons for every 1-ounce packet of taco seasoning. This larger batch yields the equivalent of about 8 packages.
Recipes Using Taco Seasoning
Taco seasoning is one of my most reached-for homemade spice blends. It is good for so much more than tacos -- although we certainly enjoy our fair share of tacos around here.
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Homemade Taco Seasoning
Video
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, +/- to taste
- ⅛ tablespoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Add the spices to a small bowl or jar and stir or shake until well combined.
- Use immediately or keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark cabinet for up to 6 months.
Notes
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Yum! I used this in a bean taco recipe - just the perfect spice level. Thanks so much for adding the small batch instructions!
Love the idea of making my own rather than buying the packets which tend to have additives and way too much salt - so easy because these are spices I definitely have on hand already!
I add coriander (1 tsp.), dash of oregano and a dash of red pepper flakes. After draining the cooked beef, I saute, finely chopped, a half green pepper , a half jalapeño and half red or yellow onion in evoo, low and slow, and 5 cloves of garlic minced. Add back the beef and add 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce and 1/4 c. of water. (Add more water as needed.)
For taco salads, crisp iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, diced red onion. Toss. Dump hot taco meaton top of salad,, top with grated sharp cheddar cheese, toss; add black olives and crushed corn chips. Serve with dab of sour cream and avocado makes it divine! Muy bueno.
Sounds like a WONDERFUL dinner! So glad you enjoyed.
I used this recipe to season some chicken breasts in the instant pot with some diced tomatoes and chicken broth, it tasted delicious! Also, I added this seasoning to white rice with some chipotle paste...it was better than I expected. Going to be making this recipe in bulk! Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing Megan! Glad you will be stocking up on this taco seasoning--I always have it on hand!
Made tacos today and the beef filling was really good. Used this recipe! Thank you!!
At my house we use left over taco meat the next day for fried rice, (onion, garlic, frozen veggies, cooked rice and taco meat) which I also like to put in a wrap with lettuce, tomato and hotsauce, just a few ideas...
How much paprika for the bulk recipe??
1/4 cup of paprika 🙂