Skip to Content

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

Taco-Seasoning-Mix
Yield: 1 quart

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Use this tasty homemade spice mixture to flavor tacos, chili, crockpot chicken, and more.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chili powder
  • 1/2 cup paprika
  • 1/2 cup cumin
  • 1/2 cup oregano
  • 1/2 cup dried minced onion
  • 1/2 cup dried granulated garlic
  • 1/2 cup salt

Instructions

  1. Mix all the dried spices up in a quart-sized glass jar.
  2. To use for taco seasoning, add 2 Tablespoons of spice mixture for 1 lb. of ground beef (along with 1/4 cup of water or broth).
  3. To use for chili seasoning, add 2 1/2 Tablespoons to your chili.
  4. To use as a dry rub for crockpot chicken, mix 2 Tablespoons of the spice mixture with 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar and rub on chicken thighs or drumsticks.

Did you make this recipe?

Please share your tips or leave us a comment below.

Use this tasty homemade spice mixture to flavor tacos, chili, crockpot chicken, and more.

I like to use my own homemade taco seasoning mixture for a variety of reasons.

The biggest reason is that I don’t like to use the premade taco seasoning found on most grocery store shelves. If the ingredient list mentions spices, I just don’t know what that means. I want to know what I’m putting in my food.

More specialty or gourmet taco spice mixes just cost more, so it’s cheaper to make my own. And I can adjust the heat level just the way I like it – not too hot, but definitely not bland, either.

And when you can buy spices in bulk at a market or a membership club store, you can save quite a bit over the years, especially when you have tacos as often as we do (Taco Tuesdays, anyone?!).

For years, I’ve been putting my preferred spices into my taco meat or chili individually, opening a whole series of containers one by one to flavor the meal. While it’s not a big deal, I’ve been thinking for a while that it would be a whole lot more efficient to mix up a big batch, and then I only have to open one container and done.

I finally spent the time to figure out the proportions to get the big batch mixture just right. And even better, it fits in a quart jar with just enough room at the top to shake it up and get everything distributed evenly.

You might laugh at the simplicity of the proportions, but that’s okay, because it tastes fantastic – just right, the way I love my tacos.

Taco Spice Mix Ingredients

  • 1 cup chili powder
  • 1/2 cup paprika
  • 1/2 cup cumin
  • 1/2 cup oregano
  • 1/2 cup dried minced onion
  • 1/2 cup dried granulated garlic
  • 1/2 cup salt

Feel free to make variations to your own taste or what you have available. For example, if you like a bit of a smoky flavor, you can use smoked paprika.

If you don’t want to see bits of onion in your spice mix, use onion powder.

If you need to be careful of salt, you can decrease the amount of salt a bit (although this does not at all turn out to be overly salty).

The method is as straightforward as it comes. Just dump the spices into a jar, put on the lid and shake it up till mixed.

I like to store things in glass as much as possible. Plastic, in the first place, is not all that healthy for storing food. Also, it can take on the flavors of the food stored in it, especially when we’re talking about strong flavors like taco spices.

Taco-Seasoning-Mix-Jar

So, a quart-sized glass canning jar is just perfect for this taco spice mixture. A wide-mouth jar is ideal so that you can fit your hand in with a measuring spoon as the level of the mixture gets lower.

If you don’t have a glass jar the right size, any container will do, even a plastic bag if that’s all you have.

How to use the taco seasoning mix

  1. To use for taco seasoning, add 2 Tablespoons of spice mixture for 1 lb. of ground beef.

First, brown the ground beef in a high-sided skillet. Then add 2 Tablespoons of the spice mixture to the meat, along with 1/4 cup of water or broth.

Turn heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook for another 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld and absorb into the meat.

  1. To use for chili seasoning, add 2 1/2 to 3 Tablespoons to your chili. Add to the chili after the meat and vegetables are cooked, and simmer for an additional 10-20 minutes.
  1. To use as a dry rub for crockpot chicken, mix 2 Tablespoons of the spice mixture with 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar and rub on chicken thighs or drumsticks.

How to make tacos

Tacos are a great get-together food when bringing families or larger groups of people together. But something I’ve learned over the years when having tacos with a variety of different families and groups is that every family makes tacos differently.

The ingredients are unique. The preferred shells are unique. The way of putting the toppings together is unique. That’s one of the great things about tacos. You can personalize them to your taste.

But the signature element of tacos is that spice mixture. It may have a wide variety in its subtleties, but it’s got to have that little bit of spiciness, that chili flavor. Add that flavor to beef, chicken, fish, you name it, put it on some chopped fresh veggies with cheese in a tortilla, and you’ve got a taco.

Here are the main staples of taco night in our house:

  • Ground beef cooked with my homemade taco seasoning mix (sometimes I’ll mix it up and do shredded chicken)
  • Shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
  • Finely chopped green leaf lettuce
  • Diced tomatoes
  • Diced cucumbers (this is the one that usually surprises people)
  • Salsa
  • Plain yogurt (a healthier alternative to sour cream)
  • Guacamole
  • Soft flour tortillas
  • Restaurant-style tortilla chips on the side

Other common toppings (that we don’t personally prefer on our tacos in the Ciobanu house) include:

  • Refried beans
  • Black beans
  • Olives
  • Diced peppers
  • Diced raw onion

The world is your oyster when it comes to tacos and taco toppings. There’s no wrong way to do it.

Skip to Recipe