Taco Seasoning

As I try to stay away from commercially prepared processed foods, there are many things I miss and search for a substitute.  Taco seasoning is one of them.  We LOVE tacos at our house but gone are the days where I cook a pound of ground beef and open one of those envelopes of taco seasoning mix that I am now suspicious of.  I like to know there is as much purity in every food we consume so I really like to be in control of the ingredients I use in the kitchen.

Speaking of ground beef, what is the deal with the prices of ground beef lately.  Oh my goodness... we actually found some roast beef cheaper per pound than the local ground beef and bought several of them.  This week, when I was hungry for tacos and had no ground beef in the freezer I used the roast and cooked it up in the crockpot.  I have begun to cook my roast in leftover whey, as I usually have plenty of that around and feel it adds some additional nutrition to my meal over using water.  The roast cooks up very tender and flavorful in the whey in the crockpot and is very easy to do.  Once the roast beef was done, I had half a roast plus over a pound of chopped up roast beef to cook up into taco meat.

But back to taco seasoning.  I found a couple of wonderful recipes online and did my own configuring to make a batch of wonderful taco seasoning.  Even better than making some up for my family to use, I gave a jar to each of the girls in the family for Christmas presents so they could also enjoy it.  Making your own means being in control of the ingredients and ultimate flavor of the finished product and this was some GOOD stuff!!

Taco Seasoning:

1 TBSP chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 - 1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp salt 
1 tsp black pepper
Cayenne pepper would be optional (might add 1/4 tsp)


Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container with your other spices. 

2 to 3 tablespoons of this seasoning plus 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water is enough for one pound of cooked meat. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until most of the liquid is gone.

We used the seasoned taco beef wrapped in homemade tortillas (recipe here: http://thenewsuburbanpioneer.blogspot.com/2012/10/in-kitchen-homemade-whole-wheat.html) with some cheese, black beans, salsa, lettuce, black olives and sour cream and it was WONDERFUL.

My daughters use this taco seasoning in their Chicken Tortilla soup recipe and love it in there.