Taco Seasoning Recipe – A Lovely Mess

Have you ever made homemade taco seasoning mix? This recipe is so easy to make. I make tacos for my family almost every week and this seasoning works great for beef, chicken, ground turkey, shrimp and vegetables for tacos. You can also use it to season rice and black beans.

Related: Fajita Seasoning, Chili Seasoning, Cajun Seasoning.

Ingredients in Taco Seasoning

• Chili Powder – This provides the base for the spicy flavor and a deep red color. Note: We use American-style chili powder. (This is not the same as cayenne pepper.)
• Ground Cumin – Cumin provides a rich earthy flavor.
• Sea Salt – This enhances the flavor of all the other spices. Choose a finely ground sea salt.
• Ground Black Pepper
• Ground Paprika – Provides a mild sweetness and bright red color to this recipe. You can use smoked paprika if you want to add more smokey flavor.
• Garlic Powder – An absolute must, I find this recipe really missing something without garlic powder.
• Onion Powder
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Dried Oregano – Gives the recipe depth of flavor and dimension.

When choosing a container for my homemade spice mixture, I chose these 4 ounce jars with bamboo lids. If you use the same containers, you can 3x this recipe to get an almost full jar like you see in my photos.

How To Make Taco Seasoning

Prepare your ingredients. Measure each spice into a mixing bowl.

Stir gently to blend, or seal to container and shake.

Store in an airtight container.

Why homemade seasoning is best

• Best ingredients – Homemade seasoning is great because you can be sure what is in it (and what is not in it). If you avoid sugar, dairy or gluten, making your own seasonings can give you peace of mind. You can also choose to use all organic spices if you wish.
• Unlimited supply – If you make tacos as often as we do, it’s annoying to rely on store bought seasoning packets. This way, I always have what I need and if I run out I can always make more.
• Tastes amazing – I swear by the flavors in this recipe. It tastes so good and my whole family loves it.
• You can tweak the spice level – If you make this recipe as written, I consider it “mild.” It’s full of flavor and has some heat, but it isn’t too spicy (my children always let me know if they think something is too spicy). If I am making a dish only for myself, I will use this seasoning and add more red chili flakes to bring up the spice a bit.

How much seasoning is in one packet?

If you are using a recipe, that calls for “one packet” of store-bought taco seasoning. If so, you are probably curious how much homemade mix is equal to “one packet.” One packed is typically equivalent to one ounce, or three tablespoons of seasoning.

Shelf life

A batch of homemade seasoning can last in your pantry for one to two years. For peak freshness, use within six months. This is likely obvious, but using fresher spices will result in a longer shelf life. So if this is a concern to you, don’t use spices that have been sitting in your drawer for years.

Tips for making

• You can customize this recipe to your diet by using less (or no) salt for a low-sodium diet, removing ingredients you are allergic to or dislike and controlling the spice level.
• This recipe can be tweaked with what you have on hand or to your personal taste. Feel free to adjust the ratios to suit your preference. You can also use dried minced garlic or onion instead of powder if you want a little more texture.
• If you want to reduce the needed ingredients, the only spices on this list I consider optional are black pepper, oregano and onion powder. The rest are more or less essential.

More Tex Mex recipes:

More homemade spice mixtures:

• Fajita Seasoning
• Chili Seasoning
• Cajun Seasoning