It’s easy to make up a large batch of taco seasoning mix- perfect Mexican spices for ground beef, chicken or pork to use in tacos, taco salads, etc. 
Years ago I got tired of buying the packages of commercially prepared seasoning mixes and started adding my own spices to ground beef, pork or chicken when we ate tacos or taco salads. Today I’d like show you how to make your own taco seasoning mix very easily.
I used to haul out various jars of spices each time I made it and then haul them all back to the cupboard when I was done. Then I found a “copycat” recipe (a copycat version of Lawry’s Taco Seasoning mix) in one of my “Top Secret Recipe” books by Todd Wilbur (I have several of his books and LOVE them).
I took his basic “recipe” for the mix, multiplied it by 12 and ended up with quite a nice supply of taco seasoning, which I store in an old spice canister. Since we eat tacos quite often (they’re my FAVORITE), it’s handy to have a ready supply of seasoning mix around whenever I need it.
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
How Do You Season Meat With The Taco Seasoning Mix?
It’s easy, because all you do when you want to use it is to add 2/3 cup water to 3 Tablespoons of the mix and the pound of meat, cook for 7-10 minutes and bam! You’re done… and the meat tastes GREAT!
How easy is that? Sure is great to mix this taco seasoning mix all up ONCE and not have to haul all the spices out of the cupboard each and every time we have tacos! Hope you give it a try. It will save you some bucks and valuable time in the long run (and quite possibly a trip to the grocery store!) My photo is a bit blurry, but it’s the only one I took of the seasoning spices before mixing. Oh well.
How Do You USE This Taco Seasoning Mix To Season Taco Meat?
Add 3 Tablespoons of the taco seasoning mix to browned/drained meat. This photo is using hamburger meat, but the taco seasoning mix is delicious on shredded chicken or pork, too!
Add 2/3 cup of water. Cook the taco mixture for 7-10 minutes, until the water has cooked down and been absorbed into the meat. Now your taco meat is fully seasoned and ready to use!
Use Taco Seasoning Mix On A Variety Of Meals
Ready to eat! This time we used the taco mix seasoning to make the seasoned ground beef for taco salads.YUM!
We use the taco seasoning mix all the time when we fix our tacos! The seasoning on the meat is wonderful, and I’m confident you’ll enjoy it, too.
I hope you will consider making up a batch of this taco seasoning mix to have around YOUR home. Truthfully, I’m pretty sure you will NOT regret it!
Looking For Other SPICE MIX Recipes?
You can find all of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. A couple favorite spice mixes include:
- Homemade Cajun Seasoning (for meats)
- Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix
- Spiced Tea Mix
- Dry Rub Spice Mix (for meats)
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Recipe Source: “Even More Top Secret Recipes”, by Todd Wilbur, published by the Penguin Group, 2002 (pages. 118-119)
**The recipe I am posting is the original recipe for enough seasoning mix for one pound of meat. Multiply it for the quantity you wish to have on hand. I found it easiest to make a whole bunch (for 12 meals) at one time.
↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
- 1 Tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground oregano
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
- To prepare: Brown hamburger meat in a skillet until fully cooked. Drain the grease.
- Add the spice mix (or use 3 Tablespoons if you prepared quite a bit of the mix).
- Add 2/3 cup water to the meat and spice mixture. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low setting and cook, uncovered for 7-10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Remove from heat. Spoon the seasoned meat into warm tortillas, taco shells, or onto a salad.
- Enjoy!
NOTE: Quantity listed is equivalent to one envelope of store bought mix. Ingredients as listed when added to a pound of meat (hamburger meat, shredded pork or chicken) will make enough seasoned meat filling for 12 tacos (3 Tablespoons meat each).
*I multiplied the quantity by 12 to get a large quantity of seasoning mix.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
Sounds great! I’ve been wanting to make my own and am so happy I found your recipe! So, I’m assuming this is the amount that comes in the store-bought packet?
Yes, the ingredients listed in the recipe card will season a pound of ground beef. Have a great day.
Hi
The recipe calls for chili powder. Do you mean ground dried chile peppers or chili powder? There is a difference :-)I bet you mean ground chile. I know, only a chili head would make a big deal out of this. LOL. Thanks for great recipes!
Cheers!!
Hi, Larry. Got this recipe from my mom so long ago, and she always used chili powder, so that is what I still use to this day! Have a good afternoon.