I thought today I would share my super easy recipe for DIY Taco Seasoning Recipe. I love making my own for several reasons, one of which is that it is so much better for you that buying those store bought packets. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on the back of those packets? Yikes! And no thank you! I also love that making my own DIY Taco Seasoning is so much more economical than buying it. I can make so much for so little and when you have a bigger sized family like mine and they all just happen to love tacos, well, you go through a lot of taco seasoning! 🙂 (affiliate links present)
 
I started making my own taco seasoning last year and can I just tell you how much I LOVE IT!!  It is ridiculously easy to make and you probably have all the ingredients you need right in that awesome kitchen of yours too. And in case you are making my Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup Recipe or my Crockpot Shredded Beef Tacos Recipe and you don’t have a packet of taco seasoning on hand or you just plain don’t like all the extra additives (can we say MSG, what the hey peeps?) that many of the store bought brands include this may come in pretty handy!
This stuff tastes just like the store-bought variety minus all the crud…me likey and I hope you likey too! Â After you make this you will start thinking that the packet o’ seasonings you find in the Mexican food aisle are the poor man’s version of Taco seasoning….just sayin’…it’s that good!
DIY Taco Seasoning Recipe
DIY Taco Seasoning
Recipe Type: Main Course
To use: substitute 2 rounded Tablespoons for 1 packet of taco seasoning.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 oregano
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients above in a small bowl.
- Keep fresh in an air tight container for up to 6 months.
- Double or triple recipe as needed.
- **You can also kick up the heat a notch by adding in 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes!!**
Oh, the line up…how sweet, or ahem, spicy you are!
Mix together 1/4 cup of chili powder…
1 1/2 teaspoons each of garlic powder, oregano and onion powder…
1/2 teaspoon of paprika and 1 1/2 teaspoon of cumin…
1 teaspoon each pepper and salt.
Place it all in an airtight container (I like these Ziploc ones), shake, and enjoy a better-for-your-body taco seasoning at your next Taco night!!  Olé  🙂
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Thanks for stopping by today!
Love,
Maggie
This is very similar to my taco seasoning mix, but I omit most of the salt, using only about 1/4 teaspoon and I add dried bell pepper and dry minced onion flakes. We actually like the homemade taco seasoning more than the store packets.
awesome! i love anything that you can make homemade! i, myself, make homemade laundry soap and dishwasher soap. i am definitely making this taco seasoning mix! thanks for the recipe!
Hey Jess, how do you make your own laundry and dish soap?
This is a keeper. I have often ran out of Taco seasoning and wondered what to use. Thanks!
You are such an awesome photographer! Those seasonings look good enough to roll in :blush: The colors are so vibrant!!! We just altered a taco seasoning pkg to make dip with last night but I am so going to try this recipe! Thanks a bunch.
I’ve been making taco seasoning since reading the package label and deciding against all that other junk in there. 🙂 I didn’t know that it can last for six months though. That’s awesome. 🙂 Love your pretty pictures. Happy weekend!!
This looks great–so simple, too!
~Sarah
This is great and so simple to do. I especially love it because you can control the sodium content. Many of the prepackaged seasoning are very high in sodium.
Mmmmmmmm, I am going to try this, thank you!
Thanks so much
This is good to have as I can’t use the store bought seasonings- way to high in sodium. I would leave the salt out of this recipe and it will be perfect.
That looks amazing! Going to my kitchen right now to make a double batch!
How does this compare in flavor to the store bought seasoning? Some comments from MSM said that they used a recipe similar and it was too bland. I’m wondering if you could offer some insight? Thanks! 🙂 BTW…beautiful pics.
Tip: when I make this, I store it in an old (cleaned) spice container. I just took off the old label of whatever used to be in there, and it is very obvious to see what it is in the now clear container.
Such a great idea and so easy I may just have to link to it on my next blog…is that ok with you?
@ Anonymous-Hmmm, I’m not sure! I think this recipe is pretty good in comparison to the taste of store bought. You can always kick it up by adding more cayenne or chili powder and the addition of salt always ups the flavor punch in your mouth…maybe they decreased the salt and the flavor was not as rich?
@Coronarym-You may definitely link up!!
I happened to see a post on face book for this DIY taco seasoning mix and am thoroughly delighted that I did. Your recipes look scrumptious and you are very funny!! I will certainly try some of your deliciousness soon!! Thanks for sharing!:)
Yay! I’m so glad to have this because of the MSG and sugar that I have seen in some the store brands.
what a great idea will definately try it
If you leave out one spice, do you need to increase the quantity of another spice? I do not care for cumin, so I’d like to leave it out. Not sure if you can just omit it, or if you need to substitute…
Hi Amanda! I’m pretty sure you could leave it out…I know I am missing an ingredient every once and a while and it always tastes good to me…you just might want to add a little bit more of the other ingredients!
Thanks for this! I found you on Money Saving Mom.com and I love your humor! I just got taco seasoning for free the other day, but will def make some when I run out!
I found your post coming from MoneySavingMom and wanted to say Thank You. We finally figured out that we are all very reactive to MSG and thought tacos were off the menu. You saved the day with this recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing! We eat tacos weekly and I occasionally run out of seasoning. It never occurred to me to make my own! I featured you on my blog today out my excitement 🙂 http://www.themombot.com/food/2011/06/22/taco-seasoning-recipe
Amy @ http://www.themombot.com
Thanks for sharing! I also found you from moneysavingmom. I buy my taco seasoning in bulk at Costco but as soon as I use those 113 servings, I will use your recipe to refill the jar. I like your ingredient list much better.
I’m so glad you shared this recipe! I hate the additives in processed stuff, but hadn’t been able to find the right combination of ingredients. Looks like I was missing oregano!
i like this recipe hope you post more of them I love saving money
I’ve been making my own for quite a while. I put in a little bit of flour to make things thicken up a little!
Jen
Thanks for posting this DIY (I think I might just have to link to it)! It’s a great idea and your photos make the spices look interesting too!
This is perfect! My husband can no longer have ANY black pepper… I never considered making my own “premade” mixes! Perfect for our new diet!
I think this looks great! I use powdered ranch mix a lot too and would love to know how to do it myself….Do you make your own? If so I would love to see the recipe for that too. Thanks!!
I made this tonight, and we like it so much more than the packets! I did not have paprika or oregano, so I will add those in next time I make it. Thanks so much for sharing!
I have all these ingredients. Some of them purchased for 1 recipe and then never used again. This is great to use up all the leftovers!
Hi there,
I remember making homemade tacos in high school but since that was many moons ago, I cannot remember the ingredients. I just remember how much I pigged out since they were so good! I have used taco seasonings for years and am glad that I now know what seasonings we can use on our taco nights.
http://www.tanyasrantings.blogspot.com
Never again am I going to buy store bought taco seasoning, this seasoning is soo much better. Made our tacos taste much better!
Just made this! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
question… the top recipe says garlic powder and the recipe with the pics says garlic salt… which one do you use?
You use garlic powder!!
Thanks for sharing. I used to make my own but I long-lost the recipe.
🙂
Found you on Pinterest and have been using the taco seasoning recipe. Due to food allergies between my daughter and I, I have yet to find a store-bought taco seasoning that we can both eat. No need now! Yours is fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
Do you need to add water to the meat like you do with the seasoning packets?
You don’t have to or you can…totally up to you!
I kinda just want to hang your spice pictures on my wall. They are that good. Your recipe is too. We’ve used it a couple of times now.
Thanks soooo much for this recipe!! I’ve been thinking of Googling it, but a friend steered me to this site for your homemade deodorant(will try that, too), decided to browse the recipes…bookmarked your blog!!
Marcia
Thanks so much for posting this!! I am a convert, no more store bought for me!
We’ve been making our own taco season for 2+ years. I was sick of all the additives in the packets and came across a recipe that was simple, looked delish and I had all the spices/seasonings. Our varies a little bit from yours, we do not have as much chili powder. It is a hit. I always have some pre-made and if I don’t it is one of the recipes that is taped to the inside of a cabinet. 🙂
When using your mix, do you add any liquid to the ground meat as the packages do? If so, how much and what? Thanks!
I do sometimes if I remember but usually I just add the mix alone as I really don’t think it makes that much difference.
Do you have a homemade version of seven seas salad dressing packets?
Hi Jane,
I’m sorry but I do not! I’m not actually even sure if I’ve tried it before!!!
xo,
Maggie
Just wondering if I wanted to make it each time what the proportions of these spices are to equal the 2 T. amount/serving
Hi Lynette, I am not sure what you mean? Like, you just want to make 2 tbsp?
If you want to respect the proportions, this is the best you are going to get if you don’t want to keep any excess, and it yields just slightly over 2 tablespoons of spices, about what the taco envelopes contain. This isn’t baking where precision is critical, so eyeballing it or adjusting to your own taste is just fine (no one seasons meat exactly the same twice when sprinkling roasts, steaks, chickens, etc, so this is no different).
FOR ABT 2 TABLESPOONS OF SEASONING (ONE ENVELOPE):
4 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/6 teaspoon paprika (just eyeball it in a slightly rounded 1/8 tsp measure)
1/3 teaspoon salt (just eyeball 1/3 of a teaspoon full)
1/3 teaspoon pepper (same as salt)