Most kids love tacos and your kids will love making their own homemade taco seasoning – and you will love how much cheaper it is to make your own, not to mention that this taco mix is healthier, easily adaptable to your own tastes and means you don’t have to run to the store when you are out!
You can make a bunch, because my taco omelette uses up leftover taco meat!
Cheap and Easy Homemade Taco Seasoning
This cheap and easy homemade taco seasoning goes perfectly with so many dishes, from Mexican inspired meals to soups, casseroles (like my Taco Casserole!), and even as a chicken or steak rub! Once you have a few staple spices in your cupboard this seasoning only takes a few minutes to pull together so it’s super quick and easy to make. I usually pair this one with ground beef and it’s beyond delicious!
My daughter is quite a picky eater, but surprisingly the one thing she loves is taco meat! Weird isn’t it? She likes butter chicken and she likes taco meat but God forbid I get her to eat anything else that has seasoning on it. So when it came time to make some homemade taco seasoning I decided that it was time she learned how to make it herself, since this is something she likes to eat.
How To Make Homemade Taco Seasoning
It doesn’t get much easier than this!
- Mix all of your ingredients together in a small bowl and… YOU’RE DONE! I like to store my spices in mason jars, but any airtight container will do the trick.
- The next part is getting the taco meat ready. If you’re using ground beef, fry until it’s browned and cooked through.
- You’ll need to go for a lean meat and up to around 1lb of it is perfect.
- Once it’s cooked, drain the fat and add in 2 tablespoons of your taco seasoning.
- Remember to add a quarter cup of water to the mix if you’ve used cornstarch.
- Continue to cook the beef and seasoning until everything has combined and the beef has thickened.
- Remove from the stove and get ready for taco time!!
Tips And Tricks for Homemade Taco Seasoning
- I love adding this taco seasoning to ground beef for my tacos but you can try it with chicken and pork too!
- If you’re making this with the kids make sure to remind them not to rub their eyes with their hands until they’ve washed up. Those spices will definitely cause tears if they get into their eyes!
- I sometimes use smoked paprika instead of the regular version as it gives the flavour a bit of an extra pop.
- If you want a milder version of the seasoning just reduce the amount of pepper you use and ditch the cayenne.
- This homemade taco seasoning will last for around 6 months once you store it in a cool dry place. I keep mine in my spice cabinet so it’s always within easy reach (and I always use it up!).
- Don’t be tempted to leave out the onion even if you’re not an onion fan! The powder gives a very subtle onion flavour so it’s not overwhelming. If you leave it out I’m 90% sure it’ll seem like it’s missing something!
More Taco recipes for you to try:
The BEST Tex-Mex 7 Layer Bean Dip
I hope this is super helpful, I can’t be the only one who runs out of taco seasoning all the time right? Now that we have mastered our own taco seasoning and most importantly, my daughter now knows how to make her own taco seasoning , I’ll put her in charge of tacos from now on. This is actually a super milestone when you have picky eaters, I consider this a major life skill in her teen years that she can actually make real food she will eatl!!!
Happy cooking! Love you guys more than chocolate!
Karlynn
Cheap and Easy Homemade Taco Seasoning
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( adjust this to desired heat and spice level)
Optional Add Ins
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (this will thicken the seasoning when used in tacos)
Instructions
Directions
- In a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Store in an airtight container.
To Prepare Taco Meat
- Fry up 1 lb of lean ground beef until browned and cooked throughout. Drain the fat and mix in 2 tbsp of the taco seasoning mix. If you added cornstarch, add in 1/4 cup of water to the mix. Cook until the taco seasoning is all mixed throughout the beef and thickened up.
- Remove from the stove and place in a bowl. Use for tacos and wraps.
Notes
- To make the amount shown in the jar, quadruple the recipe! We make a LOT of tacos so Ivy made four times the recipe- and that was also some GREAT math skills practice for her as well!
Nutrition
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