Homemade Taco Seasoning

In the past, before I had a fully stocked kitchen with every spice I'd ever need, I used to look longingly at the taco seasoning packets in the grocery store. I wanted to make my own low-carb taco dishes so badly, but I couldn't bring myself to buy the pre-mixed stuff full of sugar, starch, flour, artificial color, and preservatives.

Finally, I moved out of my Manhattan studio and into my Brooklyn two-bedroom with a whole kitchen shelf I could dedicate to spices, and taco seasoning was one of the first things I made for myself. If you make your own already, you probably use this one from allrecipes.com, because it has thousands of positive comments. And for good reason: it's perfect.

The recipe on AllRecipes is great, but it only makes one ounce of seasoning. I quadruple the recipe so I can keep a jar of taco seasoning on hand all of the time.


INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix!


I store mine in this huge honey jar my boyfriend finally emptied, but any airtight container will do.

The most basic thing I do with it is brown a pound of ground beef in a saucepan,
drain the fat,
add 1/4 cup water,
mix in 3 Tablespoons of the seasoning,
and simmer it on the stovetop until the water has dissolved.

I'll post some of my favourite recipes that use taco beef and taco chicken in separate posts soon.