Thursday, April 23, 2009

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Yum. Mexican food. One of my favorites...along with Italian, Green, Thai, Chinese, Afghanistan, Sushi....well, you get the idea. Anyway, for those who don't know, our daughter is allergic to milk. And you will likely be surprised to know that almost all commercial taco seasoning packets contain milk or a milk product. Who knew?!? So I set out to create my own taco seasoning and it turns out that not only does a homemade mix taste better, but it's also more affordable and time-saving to keep a jar of this stuff in the pantry. You can alter the recipe below to suit your tastes - more or less of any ingredient will just make it "yours". Enjoy!

And if you want a super easy and delicious recipe in which to test out your homemade taco seasoning mix, try my friend Tracy's Crock Pot Tostadas...and check out her blog at http://outnumberedbythekids.blogspot.com/ for her Deal of the Day. Sweet!

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

ingredients:
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried onion flakes
1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
1/2 - 1 cup chili powder (we use 1/2 c.)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin (I love cumin!)
4 teaspoons salt

instructions:
Put all ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid (I like canning jars personally). Shake to mix. Use to taste in whatever recipe you choose - approximately 1/2 cup equals one seasoning packet from the store, but I frequently use less, especially if I add more chili powder to the mix.

Tracy's Crock Pot Tostadas
6 to 10 servings

ingredients:
1 lb ground beef-browned and drained
2 cans refried beans
1 envelope dry taco seasoning mix (or use homemade version above!!)
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
10 tostada shells ( I skip this and use tortilla chips instead)
diced tomatoes
shredded cheddar cheese
black olives
sour cream
guacamole
salsa

instructions:
Combine ground beef, beans, seasoning, tomato sauce and water in crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Crisp tostada shells (or just use tortilla chips, Fritos, etc.). Spread hot mixture on shells and top with remaining ingredients OR scoop hot mixture onto plate, top w/ remaining ingredients and scoop with chips.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Did you ever try out my taco seasoning? There's no flour in it ... I just add a cornstarch slurry to make it saucy. I like it because it makes a smaller amount, so I can just put it in an old spice jar with a shaker for convenience.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Taco-Seasoning-I/Detail.aspx

The only thing I change is add more garlic and salt, and switch out the crushed red pepper for cayenne, and only add *maybe* half as much.