Homemade Taco Seasoning

I am fairly picky on the seasonings I use when cooking. If I am going to use a prepackaged seasoning, I like to see what the ingredients include. Should it include any Partially Hydrogenated Oils...it's out. If there is too much sodium...it's not the one either. Back in Arizona I had a favorite, Low Sodium (extremely low compared to all others), Organic taco seasoning I would buy, try & keep a couple extra on hand & use when we made tacos or other Mexican dishes. Ever since we moved to Colorado, I have been on a quest to find the same seasoning. I have come up empty handed and I've been to almost a dozen grocery stores. Last week when I was planning our menu, I decided to make Ground Turkey Tacos for one night. We were at the store and the one thing I left off the list and forgot to buy was Taco Seasoning. Not a loss in my opinion since I haven't found one I like here. Of course it's not like I planned it this way, I truly forgot the seasoning. Forgot it all the way to that night when I started making the tacos, literally I was browning the meat when I realized missing the seasoning. Thankfully I went online and started searching for homemade taco seasoning recipes. I found one. Not only was it spicy (we love spicy foods) but I had all the ingredients necessary in my cabinet of spices. This was starting to become a win-win.

The recipe was a hit that night. I actually need to adjust next time to make it not so spicy. Jeff even thought of it to be possibly a bit too spicy...so I'll work on that next. I am going to share the recipe. My idea is to decrease the spiciness is to slightly decrease the Chili powder and Cumin, which may help.

Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (I sauteed and used real garlic instead)
1/4 tsp Onion Powder (substituted with fresh sauteed yellow onion)
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
**Now the original recipe called for 1/4 tsp salt, I omitted this as I very rarely use salt**

I doubled the above and we had 1.25 lbs of ground turkey breast.

Add all ingredients in a bowl & mix
Add taco seasoning to cooked meat
Add 1/2 c. water (add additional water as needed to help mix)
Mix all together and cook on low 5-10 minutes to let flavors set in

Serve & enjoy!!