Tired of Spending $1.25 or more on a single packet of Taco Seasoning Mix? Here’s our very simple copycat recipe for your favorite Taco restaurant chain. Now you can make fabulous tacos at home for just pennies.
In addition to saving money on packages of seasoning mixes, we frequently make our own to control the ingredients contained in them as well. For example, in the original ingredients list for Taco Bell Seasoning Mix the ingredients are as follows:
Wheat, Flour, Salt, Dried Garlic, Maltodextrin, Chili Peppers, Spice, Dried Onions, Monosodium Glutamate, Paprika, Sugar, Contains less than 2% of Silicon Dioxide As An Anticaking Agent, Soybean Oil, Malic Acid.
By making our own, we can eliminate unwanted chemicals such as MSG from our diet.
For 1 single Package You’ll need:
2 tablespoons Instant flour** (wondra works great!)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon crushed beef bouillon cube
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
dash onion powder
Measure all ingredients into a small ziploc baggie, makes 1 pkg of mix; which is enough to create 1 batch of Tacos)
To Use:
Brown 1 lb of ground beef or turkey and then drain
add 1 pkg (about 1/4 c. slightly rounded) of the homemade taco seasoning mix (as listed above) and
1 can diced tomatoes, un-drained OR 3/4 c. Cold water
If you’d like it slightly spicier use 1 can un-drained Rotel tomatoes with chili’s.
Stir well to mix and fully incorporate with the meat.
Reduce heat, simmer 7-10 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.
Fill taco shells as you normally would and add your favorite taco toppings such as diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, black olives, hot sauce and more.
For a Double Batch You’ll need:
1/4 c. Instant flour*
1 Tbs + 1 tsp chili powder
1 Tbs dried minced onion
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp crushed beef bouillon cube
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
Measure all ingredients into a small Ziploc baggie, makes 2 pkg of mix; which is enough to create 2 batches of Tacos. To use add a very slightly rounded 1/4 c. seasoning mix per pound of meat.
For 4 Packages You’ll need:
1/2 c Instant flour*
2 Tbs + 2 tsp chili powder
2 Tbs dried minced onion
1 Tbs + 2 tsp salt
1 Tbs + 1 tsp paprika
1 Tbs crushed beef bouillon cube
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
Measure all ingredients into a jar or Ziploc baggie, makes about 1 cup of mix; which is enough to create 4 batches of Tacos. To use add a very slightly rounded 1/4 c. seasoning mix per pound of meat.
Large Batch (8 pkgs) (Pint Jar)
1 c. Instant flour*
1/3 c. chili powder
1/4 c. dried minced onion
3 Tbs + 1 tsp salt
2 Tbs + 2 tsp paprika
2 TBS crushed beef bouillon cube
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
Measure all ingredients into a jar or Ziploc baggie, makes about 2 cup of mix; which is enough to create 8 batches of Tacos. To use add a very slightly rounded 1/4 c. seasoning mix per pound of meat.
** Instant flour is a pregelatinized, low-protein flour that dissolves quickly and smoothly in liquids, regardless of temperature. Pregalatinization is simply a process in which the flour is heated with steam, then dried back out. The most common brand name of instant flour is Wondra.
