The Best Homemade Taco Seasoning

I’ve got The Best Homemade Taco Seasoning to share with you today! No more buying those packets from the grocery store, you’ll have the BEST right at your fingertips.

A jar with homemade taco seasoning

Easy DIY Taco Seasoning

Taco Seasoning coming your way! I bet you’ve got just about all of these ingredients in your pantry right now. With just 5 spices, you’ll have a jar of amazing homemade taco seasoning ready for your beef, chicken or seafood recipes! It’s actually even really good sprinkled in your scrambled eggs, chicken, beef, pasta and in mac and cheese sauce. Lots of ways to use it!

Be sure to check out my Grilled Taco and Lime Chicken that uses this seasoning too! On Instagram? Be sure to follow Picky Palate on Instagram for sneak peeks on what’s coming next to the blog!

Ingredients for taco seasoning

What You’ll Need

Here are your 5 ingredients you’ll need to get your taco seasoning ready to go. I don’t know about you, but I go through a LOT of ground cumin, so I always have the big bottle at hand from Costco. I make lots of Mexican dishes 🙂

  • Ground cumin
  • Kosher salt
  • Garlic salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Smoked paprika

How To Make Taco Seasoning

Now that you’ve gathered your ingredients, it’s time to make your very own DIY taco seasoning. It will take less than 5 minutes!

Let’s start with the cumin. Right in the bowl! Kosher salt up next.

Garlic Salt and freshly ground black pepper in the bowl. Last but not least, smoked paprika. Loooove this stuff. Make sure you get “smoked.” Makes a big difference.

Look at these pretty spices!! Mix ‘er up 🙂

Place your new taco seasoning in an airtight container and use as you’d like!

Ways to Use Taco Seasoning

Wondering how to use your new spice mix? Here are some of my favorite recipes that use taco seasoning:

You can also mix taco seasoning in with ground beef while you’re cooking it on the stovetop. Use about 3 tablespoons of seasoning per 1 pound of meat.

How to Store

I usually store my taco seasoning mix in a sealed mason jar but a smaller Tupperware works too. It will keep for about 6 months this way.

If you don’t use taco seasoning as often as I do and want to extend the shelf life, you can store it in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 1 year.

The Best Homemade Taco Seasoning

The Best Homemade Taco Seasoning

This is the Best Homemade Taco Seasoning! No more buying those packets from the grocery store, you'll have the BEST right at your fingertips.
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 89kcal
Author: Jenny
Print Pin

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup ground cumin
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic salt
  • 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika

Instructions

  • Place all ingredients into large mixing bowl, stir to combine. Place in an airtight container. Use as desired to taco seasoning on ground beef and chicken breast.  Use about 3 tablespoons of taco seasoning per 1 pound of meat.

Nutrition

Calories: 89kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Sodium: 42259mg | Potassium: 585mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 7005IU | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 5.1mg
Keywords: best homemade taco seasoning, taco seasoning recipe
homemade taco seasoning

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70 Responses
  1. Titan

    Ok, so this is the best taco seasoning mix ever. I HATE, HATE the taste of that packaged stuff ie(like taco bell). This DOES NOT taste that that stuff. And the difference is this has no chili powder in it. Dont get me wrong, I like chili powder when it is cooked within recipes, but not added at the end. We add this to our refried beans,Cheese sauce, spanish rice,fajitas, grilled chicken. You want a killer rcipe, merinade your chicken in pickle juice over night, then coat with this….AMAZING.It is so expandable where you can use it. Someone had said it was way too salty, but not if you use Kosher salt. They must have used table salt in which, yes it would be way too salty. 20 STAR RECIPE

      1. Titan

        Everyones tatse is different. Make another batch and leave the salt out. You could probably mix the 2 together, there you go!

        1. Smalltowngirl68

          Seriously..if 1/4th of a cup of this is salt and your tastebuds dont tell you its wrong..you might have your sodium levels checked.

  2. Candiss

    I am a firm believer of the rule, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. However, I am about to break it. I feel the need to warn others. THIS IS TOO SALTY!!! I blame myself for not reading the comments and for not trusting my instincts when I was adding 1/4 cup salt and 2 teaspoons of garlic salt. Duh! I feel awful for feeding this to my family. It smelled wonderful, but was not.

    If you have read all the comments and you still plan on trying it, I would recommend only making 1/4 of the recipe so you don’t waste spices.

        1. Ansa

          How about adding no salt at all and using only garlic powder and later adjusting salt to taste in the recipe. Will that do?

  3. Titan

    This sounds good. Does anyone know does it taste like the taco packet seasoning cause I hate that fake taste. Thanks

  4. Kelly

    I wish I’d read reviews before trying. Way too salty. Was this supposed to be garlic powder instead of garlic salt?? I hate that I wasted all that cumin and paprika because I have to toss this. 🙁

  5. Allan

    Great dish, chicken fajita pasta, very tasty, we halved the quantity of salt in the seasoning and used garlic powder but still too salty

  6. Juliann

    I followed the taco seasoning recipe and made this with Amanda’s Fajita chicken Pasta recipe… but the entire dish came out so salty.

  7. Mary

    Can I substitute garlic powder and salt for the garlic salt, and if so, what would the ratio be? Thanks much!

  8. Dena

    Tried this last night and it had good flavor, but was way too salty. my 11 year old son said it first and he eats tacos like they’re going out of style. Of course I made a big batch of meat. I might make another batch of seasoning w/out the salt and mix it with the rest of this first batch and hopefully it will be okay. was disappointed.

  9. lila

    Oh my gosh. I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt and it was still way overkill on the salt. Something is amiss and needs to be corrected. I just wasted a whole bunch of seasonings. 🙁

  10. Julia

    I also made a batch of this seasoning and it was incredibly salty. I also only used 2 tablespoons for a pound of ground beef, rather than the 3 tablespoons as recommended in the recipe. Ended up throwing out the leftover taco meat and the remainder of the seasoning mix.

    I think if I were to make this over again, I would just leave out the kosher salt entirely, replace the garlic salt with garlic powder, and then add salt to taste.

  11. Abby K.

    I used this to make a Mexican quinoa salad, and it was way too salty for me. I like the spice to the recipe, but next time I think I am going to use garlic powder instead of garlic salt.

  12. Barb

    This is the saltiest seasoning I have ever tried. We were not able to eat the taco meat I created with it. Perhaps it should have been garlic powder rather than garlic salt…but honestly no matter how you look at it, it’s just too much salt. Threw away the meat and all the rest of the seasoning mix I made. Think this one needs revision!

      1. Kim

        Did anyone ever figure out what the mistake was in the recipe. I made it and it was very strong and over powering and salty.

  13. Mary

    Do you think garlic powder would work instead of garlic salt? I am also watching my salt intake. I can’t wait to try it, my son has tacos weekly!

  14. Karen

    I make my own taco seasoning too. This looks like a good recipe. I have to make mine without salt…for my husband. I know, I know…..the spice combination looks good though.

  15. Heather Christo

    love this great easy seasoning! how convenient to have some homemade seasoning on hand all the time!

  16. Alexandra

    Hey there! Would you use water with the seasoning like you would if you used a packet? If so how much? Thanks! 🙂

  17. Karen @ On the Banks of Salt Creek

    I used to make taco seasoning. I just buy Penzy’s now but I also don’t make tacos as much. Maybe I should get back to it as tacos are one of my guys favorites.

  18. Stephanie

    My husband loves Ortega, but I have just been looking into making my own taco seasoning and enchilada sauce. Thanks!

  19. Amanda

    Love how quick and easy this is! So great to always have on hand. The flavors are SPOT on!! 🙂

  20. Erin @ Miss Scrambled Egg

    I bet that I would save a ton of money making this from scratch. It would be a great gift in a Mexican gift basket as well. 😀 I’m going to a wedding on Cinco De Mayo, so this would be a great addition to the newlyweds’ present.

  21. Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain

    Alright, you’ve convinced me! I’m jumping on the homemade taco seasoning bandwagon! xoxo

  22. Naomi

    I totally need to get on this. I’m always patching it all together when I need it–having it all made just makes so much more sense.

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