My kids are serious about Taco Tuesday. It has to be Tuesday if we’re going to have tacos that is. I’m not sure why they’re so particular about it, but that’s the groan I hear every time I try to make tacos on any other day of the week.
The thing that’s weird about this is they love tacos. Tacos and pizza are hands down their favorite dinner choices. Ok, they are my favorite dinner choices too.
In honor of our favorite dinner I wanted to share our homemade taco seasoning. It’s taken me some time and a review of a variety of different taco seasoning recipes to figure out the right balance for our family, but I think I finally found it.
We keep this mix in stock in the spice cupboard since we use it all the time. It’s also a quick go to if I want to season some sour cream for dip, add a little lime juice to the mix for fajitas, or sprinkle on scrambled eggs.
The red pepper flakes are optional and you can increase or decrease the amount for your tastes. My preference is to add them in at the amount I suggest for just a bit of heat, but not too much. When I make the mix I leave it out completely though because the kids are known to accuse me of making the tacos too spicy. This is possible because I like the heat, but I question their opinion when I don’t even add the heat to the mix.
If you prefer a thicker taco meat mix sprinkle a bit of flour or cornstarch over the burger when you add the water. My sister always makes her taco meat a bit thicker by using tomato sauce and cooking it down. We’ve tried it but don’t like the tomato in the meat. We’ll stick with our spice blend.

Homemade Taco Seasoning
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes more or less to taste, optional
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.
- Use approximately 1 tbsp mix per pound of ground meat.
- Brown burger, drain oil, add taco seasoning and about 1/4 cup water. Simmer until most of the water is gone.
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