Make It Yourself: Taco Seasoning

Who doesn’t like tacos?  Very few people I’ve come across, that’s for sure!  So when we had a family get-together this past weekend that included kids of all ages, I decided that tacos would be the ideal solution to a “please-most-palates” dinner.   We did it simply, with basic taco toppings, an extensive array of homemade salsas, guacamole, and a ground beef base for the tacos.

I have to add in a quick story.  When Andy and I were newly married and expecting our first child, we were living in an apartment complex near some people who would become very good friends of ours.  I was new to cooking at the time, and was really enjoying learning how to make all kinds of things from scratch.  Well, one day, we were making tacos for our dinner, and I discovered I forgot to pick up taco seasoning.  The store was closed by this time, so Andy went a few doors down to see if our neighbors had any seasoning on hand.  He came back a few minutes later with a bowl of spices, and told me that she had mixed up her own taco seasoning real quick for me.  That was a revelation for me.  I didn’t need to buy taco seasoning in a packet?  That really was one of those moments in life where I can look back and see that was one of those very small things that started steering me in the direction of making as much from scratch as possible.

When it came time to go grocery shopping I was debating the taco seasoning.  I’ll buy it from time to time if I think about it, but most often I forget, and then I just throw together my own seasoning.  The funny thing is, when I use the taco seasoning packets, I’m always disappointed with them.  They’re always salty- even the lower sodium versions, and we can never seem to find a nice heat level that pleases everyone.  They are either lacking heat completely or way too hot for the kids.   This weekend though, I had 5 pounds of ground beef to brown up and season, and the idea of using five of those packets… five packets of salt-laden not-quite-good-enough seasoning made up my mind.  I was going to make my own, and when I did assemble it… You know, there are just some things that you should really make yourself because they are so easy.

You can make this in as big of a bulk as you like.  Take a trip through your local bulk foods supplier or go to Penzeys and load your cart with the spices you need.  Make up a nice big jar of it, and then you’ll never have to worry about whether or not you need to pick up taco seasoning for taco night.  Use 2 1/2 tablespoons of your mix, along with 2/3 of a cup of water added to your browned ground beef.   I also like to add some tomato sauce- for 1 pound of meat, use the little 6-ounce cans if you can find them.  When you look at this recipe, you may be tempted to add some salt.  Don’t.  I actually did not add even a pinch of salt to my meat mixture this past weekend, and it didn’t need it.  When we added the cheeses and condiments to the tacos, it more than made up for any lack of salt in the meat (which I didn’t find there was, really).

Here is the basic mixture.  When I browned up a full five pounds of ground beef this past weekend, I just used the whole recipe for seasoning, and I thought it worked perfectly.  Adjust the heat up and down by using different varieties of chili powder- and also the cayenne can be bumped up and down.  I left the cayenne completely out this time around, as my chili powder had a little heat to it as it was.  Mix it up,dump it in.  It just doesn’t get much easier than that.  There’s no preservatives, no oddball chemicals, and no sodium at all.  This is Real Food at it’s finest.  Easy. We like that.

Taco Seasoning Mix

Mix all the spices together and store in a half-pint mason jar or other container.  To make taco meat, add 2 1/2 tablespoons plus 2/3 cup of water to 1 pound of browned ground beef.  Simmer for about 10 minutes before serving.