Hello friends, I hope you all had a meaningful holiday weekend. How are you all holding up? Since so many of us are finding ourselves cooking from scratch, I thought I’d share this recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning. You likely have all of the ingredients in your spice cabinet and hopefully, you have some tortillas and ground beef in the freezer. Just in case you don’t, here’s a recipe for homemade tortillas I’d love to try out soon!
Tacos are comfort food around here. We usually have them once a week, sometimes fajita grilled chicken, sometimes ground beef, and sometimes a crockpot recipe like this one. Everyone is always happy to sit down together and build theirs just how they like them.
I’m almost out of fresh produce but did have some fresh cilantro from our garden to top our tacos with. Tomatoes would be lovely, but ours won’t be ready to pick for another couple of weeks or so. It’s amazing how crazy it sounds all of a sudden to go to the store for just a few ingredients when that was normal just weeks ago. I know we are learning so much about ourselves and our culture through all of this. If nothing else, we are learning to look out for each other and make do with what we have.
The recipe I’ve listed below is for one recipe of taco seasoning for 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef to serve about six people. There is a little bit of sugar in the recipe to balance out the acidity, and also some cornstarch to help thicken the sauce. I find that this recipe isn’t quite as full-flavored as the recipe on the back of a typical store-bought taco seasoning packet. I find those to be a bit overpowering.
Thank you as always for making my recipes, letting me know how you liked them and sharing them with friends. You all make this job very enjoyable for me, and I appreciate how you share my passion for gathering those you love around homemade meals. Keep on cooking, looking for bright spots to be thankful for, and know that we are in this together.
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Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
With this Homemade Taco Seasoning recipe, there’s no need to go to the store for a packet of seasoning, and you can customize it to your liking.
Ingredients
For the Taco Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper (about 10 turns)
For the Taco Filling
- 1 tablespoon oil (if using lean ground beef)
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- To make taco filling with homemade taco seasoning, mix all taco seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and brown, stirring occasionally and breaking into pieces as you stir until cooked through.
- Add the taco seasoning, tomato paste, and water to the browned beef and stir together. Bring to a boil, and then turn heat to low and allow to simmer 15-20 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Taco Seasoning Only
- Calories: 120
- Sugar: 5.8g
- Sodium: 2590mg
- Fat: 3.7g
- Saturated Fat: 0.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 23g
- Fiber: 8g
- Protein: 4.3g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Arpita Patel says
I was skeptical but the seasoning mix in this recipe really does taste a lot like a taco seasoning packet. I didn’t have cornstarch so instead of the water I used about half a can of tomato sauce. I added a little more salt than called for to counteract the sweetness of the tomato sauce. I let it simmer until it was thickened. I think I’m going to make my taco meat like this from now on. Oh and I used turkey and you couldn’t tell it wasn’t beef!
Marcinda Tischer says
This is simmering on my stove top right now and I can’t wait for dinner! Smells amazing! Just tasted it to see if I needed to make adjustments and it’s perfect! Thank you!