Homemade Taco Seasoning - cut the sodium & fillers, amp up the flavor

Anybody else love Mexican food? Um, yes please. I know, I know -- what I’m making in my kitchen is NOT authentic, but we cook at home to save money and we do more than alright!

So one day, I’m making dinner and get out my taco seasoning and begin to sprinkle it on my lean ground turkey. I look at the ingredients, since I pay more attention to that than I used to, and the first few ingredients were yellow corn flower, salt, and maltodextrin. Further down the list were modified corn starch, sugar, and silicon dioxide.

Now, I’m NOT Chicken Little with ingredients – the sky isn’t always falling – but I KNEW that if I made homemade taco seasoning instead, I wouldn’t need any fillers and anti-caking agents, I would get most of my flavor from spices rather than salt, and I’d know EXACTLY what I was putting in my body… which I happen to be a really big fan of. My little eaters totally eat the occasional PopTart, but our kids deserve the best, too.

Honestly, with how much Mexican food we make, I knew I’d save some money, too, by buying our spices in bulk on our next trip to Amish Country.

Eating healthy and saving money are not an either/or thing – YOU. CAN. DO. BOTH! And I love helping with that.

No further delays! Here it is! This recipe almost filled up our shaker of store-bought taco seasoning, so that was PERFECT. But you’ll want to mix this in a bowl before putting it in the shaker, to be sure you have even distribution! Remember Big-T is Tablespoon and Little-t is teaspoon.

• 4T chili powder
• 2T cumin
• 4t salt
• 2t paprika [we use smoked for an awesome flavor]
• 1t garlic powder
• 1t onion powder
• 1t red pepper flakes
• As much ground black pepper as you’d like. I used about a teaspoon.

Enjoy! 

PS – If your Mexican dish happens to include fresh avocados or sour cream, a little of this sprinkled on top makes your meal look even more beautiful. 

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