Homemade Taco Seasoning

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No sugar added! Make up a bulk mix of this healthy Homemade Taco Seasoning for an easy mexican dinner and great taco flavor.

If there was a list of things that you should know about me and food, the first thing on the list would be that I REALLY LOVE peanut butter and chocolate.

But right next to it would be that I LOVE tacos. They are one of my favorite meals. I’ll take taco flavor any way I can get it, whether in corn casserole, taco pizza or taco dip.

Homemade Taco Seasoning in a bowl

There was actually a time when I didn’t love tacos. It was just something about the flavor I didn’t like. Then I realized it was the store bought seasoning mixes. They were just too….something. I could not put my finger on it, but I didn’t love the flavor.

Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe

Are you wanting something more than just a little packet from the store, but don’t want to waste your time on making taco seasoning for just one meal? You can make this Homemade Taco Seasoning easily and you can make a lot of it.

spices for Homemade Taco Seasoning

What is taco seasoning made of?

There are nine seasonings in our taco seasoning recipe:

  • chili powder
  • ground cumin
  • sea salt
  • black pepper
  • paprika
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder
  • crushed red pepper flakes
  • dried oregano

Is Taco seasoning sugar free?

Our taco seasoning is sugar free! If you start checking labels, many store bought packets of taco seasoning contain sugar. If you are following a Whole30, Paleo, Keto or Low Carb diet, you’ll want to stay away from that added sugar and make your own.

It’s easy. Trust me!

Homemade Taco Seasoning with black pepper

How to Make Taco Seasoning

Simply mix up the ingredients in a bowl and store them in an airtight container.

Really…that’s it. Please note that there are a few seasonings that make this spicy such as crushed red pepper flakes, chili powder and black pepper. If you’d like to tone down the spiciness, start with cutting back on the red pepper flakes.

How much taco seasoning do I add to a pound of meat?

Use about 2-3 tablespoons for each pound of ground beef or chicken. Unless you may happen to like really spicy. Then you can add as much seasoning as you want.

Do you add water to taco seasoning?

When we make this recipe, we do not add water to the taco meat. Sometimes store bought packets will call for water. That’s because they seasoning packets have a “thickener” in them that makes the taco meat have a thicker sauce. We don’t really care for that, so we leave the thickener…and the water…out.

mixing Homemade Taco Seasoning

How to Store Taco Seasoning

This recipe makes about 1 ½ cups and can be stored in an airtight container for 6 months.

How to Use Up Leftover Taco Meat

Sometimes when we make tacos, we end up with meat leftover. That’s when my family gets creative!

  • Make Baked Nachos with taco meat and cheese.
  • Make we make beef, rice and cheese burritos.
  • If there are no tortillas on hand, throw together some rice, cheese, and taco meat into a bowl and heat it up for lunch.
  • Make a salad with taco meat and lettuce, then throw some Pico de Gallo on top.
  • Top pan fried potatoes with taco meat and other taco fixings: Mexican Potatoes!

What is your favorite way to use leftover taco meat?

Homemade Taco Seasoning on a spoon
Homemade Taco Seasoning on a spoon
Homemade Taco Seasoning on a spoon

Homemade Taco Seasoning

4.95 from 17 votes
No sugar added! Make up a bulk mix of this healthy Homemade Taco Seasoning for an easy mexican dinner and great taco flavor.
Servings 6
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

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Ingredients
 

  • 1/2 cup chili powder
  • 1/4 cup ground cumin
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons sea salt
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano

Instructions
 

  • Mix all of the ingredients together. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
  • To make tacos: Brown 1 pound of ground beef in a skillet. Add 3 tablespoons taco seasoning mix to the beef. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Makes a little over 1 cup of seasoning.

Notes

Adjust the red pepper flakes depending on how spicy you like your tacos!

Nutrition

Calories: 16kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Sodium: 2909mg | Potassium: 91mg | Fiber: 1g | Vitamin A: 875IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Course Condiment
Cuisine American
Calories 16
Keyword homemade seasoning mix, how to make taco seasoning, how to season tacos
No sugar added! Make up a bulk mix of this healthy Homemade Taco Seasoning for an easy mexican dinner and great taco flavor.
About JulieJulie Clark

About Julie Clark

I'm Julie Clark, CEO and recipe developer of Tastes of Lizzy T. With my B.A. in Education and over 30 years of cooking and baking, I want to teach YOU the best of our family recipes.

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Shawn
10 years ago

5 stars
We tried this recipe tonight for dinner. We cooked up 1.5 lbs of ultra thin steak and added 4Tbsp to 3/4 cups of water. We cooked it down ’till it was like a thick glaze. ABSOLUTELY INSANE GOOD!!!!! We made nachos with it. WOW!!!!

Elizabeth
5 months ago

5 stars
Which Brand of seasoning did you use?…McCormick, Trader Joe’s, Costco

Michiko Anderson
2 years ago

Hi! I wanted to try this recipe this week and was wondering if we are supposed to drain the meat before adding the seasoning? I know usually the meat is always drained but in this case I was wondering since there is no water involved for the actual seasoning. Thanks in advance!

Last edited 2 years ago by Michiko Anderson
Dawn Cochran
4 years ago

My husband is diabetic. I’m absolutely going to try this. It sounds great. I’m excited about trying this.

Liz
9 years ago

5 stars
Another wonderful recipe. Thanks so much and have a Wonderful Day!

Rita
10 years ago

5 stars
Could regular salt be used in this recipe for the Homemade Taco Seasoning, instead of sea salt? Thank you very much for your help.

Heather
10 years ago

5 stars
This recipe was delicious, it tastes so much better than the premade store bought stuff. Highly recommend this recipe!

alanna
10 years ago

What a good idea! I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for awhile now. I always forget about it until the next time I’m making burritos and am haphazardly throwing all these spices in separately.