The Best Taco Seasoning You'll Ever Eat

I love to cook. I love food and I try hard to make our dinners as delicious as possible...and, well, there's my husband. The man who loves Mexican food but ended up marrying a German girl (with a crazy attitude and temper) who had little exposure to Mexican or Tex-Mex cooking.

Our first few “Let's try Mexican food” nights ended usually with me not liking dinner, crying over Jalapenos or starving. I just simply didn't like it when we'd try it in restaurants.

So, what changed?

I learned how to cook it myself. I experimented with spices and recipe ideas, I had a Mexican neighbor who helped explain to me the basics and taught me a trick or two. Now I love it and Mexican dishes have become a regular part of our dinner plan that we all look forward to.

As I learned to prepare meals myself, I never learned to like the store bought Taco Seasoning packets. To me it just tastes super salty and is either flavorless or the flavor is unsatisfying.  The ingredients list doesn't exactly make it more appealing either.

One day I got so annoyed with it that I spent hours over hours researching the ultimate Taco Seasoning Recipe, I pinned a ton of pins on Pinterest and wasted a ton of spices by trying them all out.

The realization of the day was that taco seasoning is basically Chili powder, Cumin, Black Pepper, Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Oregano (optional) & Crushed Peppers (optional), and you somehow have to carefully balance them all to create a delicious seasoning.

What I also realized in my research was that the quality of your spices is something very, very essential for a good seasoning mix.

I need to admit that I am a real spice snoop and a lot of times I make my granny send me spices from my favorite spice store in Bamberg, Germany.  Oh the memories I have of going there and blasting all my money on pure, delicious, organic spices. (I know, I know, I am insane and should get help, working towards it lol)

But don't worry if you only have the regular McCormick seasonings or cheap store brand alternatives at home, it will still create something delicious and so much better than the seasoning pack blends.

After all that research and trial, I honestly just threw a whole bunch together and tried it. And liked it!
It just became a thing of feeling the amount of each that is needed, but for you guys I took the time and tried to measure it all out as accurately as I could :)

Here's the recipe that (hopefully) will change your life (because Tacos are Life - just ask my husband).

Taco Seasoning Mix

4 Tbsp Chili powder
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Onion powder
1 tsp dried Oregano
2 tsp paprika (used smoked paprika if you want a more rustic flavor)
6 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp sea salt, fine
4 tsp ground pepper (I prefer a mix of black, white and rose pepper but regular ground pepper will also do)
2 - 4 tsp crushed pepper flakes (optional, for a little spice kick)

Just mix them all up and put them in a mason jar or zip lock bag. This mix makes approximately ½ pint jar full of seasoning.

Use 2.5 Tablespoons for each packet you'd otherwise use - but one of the advantages of getting away from the packets is that you can decrease or increase the amount as you prefer.

Let me know in the comments below how you liked that recipe and if you ended up changing it a little bit to fit your taste buds!