Homemade taco seasoning is made by mixing 1 tablespoon chili powder, ¼ teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano, ½ teaspoon paprika, 1½ teaspoons cumin, 1 teaspoon each salt and black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper. Store in an airtight glass jar and shake before each use.
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Have you actually flipped over a taco seasoning packet and read the label lately?
I did, and here’s what I found: corn starch, maltodextrin, vegetable oil, silicon dioxide, citric acid, sugar, and “flavor.” Notice what’s missing from that list? Actual spices. That’s mostly filler.
This kicks off our new Feeding Your Family Well series, where we’re spending the next several weeks on simple swaps that get real food back on your table without adding hours to your week. And there’s no better place to start than the seasoning packet sitting in half of America’s spice cabinets.
What’s Really in a Store-Bought Taco Seasoning Packet
A little of what’s in those packets makes sense. Citric acid and sugar show up as preservatives — fine, understandable. But vegetable oil, silicon dioxide, and maltodextrin in a seasoning packet? That’s harder to justify.
A lot of packets also include MSG (mono-sodium glutamate), a flavor enhancer that’s specifically designed to make food more addictive — the same reason you can’t stop drinking a certain soda or eating a certain fast food fry. MSG can also be an allergen for some people, and once you start reading labels for food allergens, you start noticing something else: how much gluten and soy sneak into seasoning blends that have no business containing either one.
Why This Swap Is Worth Five Minutes
The good news is taco seasoning is one of the easiest things to make at home, and most of the spices are already sitting in your cabinet. No special trip to the store required.
I mix up a batch about the size of a standard spice jar and use it as we cook. We eat tacos and Mexican food often enough at our house that it’s never sat around long enough to start caking.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a bowl or jar and mix well. Store in an airtight glass jar. Shake before each use, and apply as much as you’d like when browning your meat or seasoning your dish.
My family likes a stronger cumin flavor, so I usually add a little extra to the batch — don’t be afraid to adjust any of these to your own family’s taste.
How to Store It So It Doesn’t Cake
An airtight glass jar is the key here, especially if your spices live near the stove like mine do. Heat and humidity are what cause seasoning blends to clump. My jar holds about two batches, and I layer them in rather than dumping the second batch on top, which makes mixing easier when I go to use it.
How long does homemade taco seasoning last?
Stored in an airtight glass jar away from heat and moisture, homemade taco seasoning stays fresh for several months. If it starts to clump or lose its aroma, it’s time for a fresh batch.
Can I double or triple this recipe?
Yes — this recipe scales easily. Just keep the ratios the same and store the extra in a second airtight jar, or layer it into the same one like I do.
Is homemade taco seasoning cheaper than store-bought packets?
Once you have the base spices on hand, homemade seasoning costs less per batch than buying individual packets, and you get far more use out of a bulk container of each spice than you would from single-use envelopes.
Buying Spices in Bulk Makes This Even Easier
Once you start making your own seasoning blends, you go through spices faster than the tiny grocery store jars can keep up with — and those little jars get expensive fast for what you actually get.
This is exactly why I buy most of our spices through Azure Standard. Buying in bulk means I’m never digging through an empty cumin jar mid-recipe, and it works out to a fraction of the cost per ounce compared to the grocery store spice aisle.
A Small Swap With a Real Payoff
This is a small thing. Five minutes, ingredients you likely already have, and a permanent goodbye to reading a filler-and-additive list every time you make tacos. That’s really what this whole series is about — small, doable swaps that add up to feeding your family better, one recipe at a time.
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