I really do not enjoy cooking. It is something I do on a regular basis and I would prefer to cook than say, saw logs, but it is far from being my favorite thing to do. So, most of my life I have looked for shortcuts. I especially like to find shortcuts that save me time and/or money. This recipe is both and tastes good to boot.
I make my spice mixes in bulk. I always make them to fit into a quart sized canning jar. It is so simple to grab a jar from the panty, measure out what I need and toss the rest back in the pantry. The jar keeps it fresher than any store bought little package of mix could ever be and it ends up being MUCH MUCH cheaper. As an added plus, chances are good you will already have the majority of the ingredients at home.
Ingredients
3/4 cup dried, mince (or chopped) onion
2 tbs. salt
1/3 cup chili powder
1/4 cup dried minced garlic
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup corn starch
1/8 cup oregano
Place everything into a 1 quart canning jar (or any container that is air tight). Screw on the lid tightly, then shake well. Keep an eye on it as you shake and roll the jar around some if part of the ingredients are not mixing well.
When read to use, shake again.
Brown approximately 1 pound of your favorite ground meat
Add 2 tbs mix and 1/2 cup of water. Simmer on low heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens and its ready to serve.
Worth Mentioning
1 - This recipe will make between 3/4 and 1 quart of mix. (depends on the size of the minced pieces). It will provide about 27 to 30 servings equal to one package of store bought mix, that costs about $1 around here. ($27 to $30) The cost to make this recipe is only about $5 or $6. That is a HUGE savings.
2 - Ever read the package your seasoning mix comes in. Unless you are buying an organic variety, it is filled with chemical names you can't pronounce much less know what they mean.
3 - You can adjust this recipe however you like. Leave out the salt for low sodium, add more chili powder and red pepper flakes for a hotter variety. Leave out the corn starch and reduce the water used when cooking if you prefer to have more of a thin sauce.
4 - Depending on where you live, there is a very good chance you could grow most of the ingredients you need to make this recipe. Then it would be basically free and much healthy that the store bought.
If you like this recipe, please let me know in the comments. I have dozens of other bulk recipes I use and will gladly list them if people want them.
Another great post. Thank you for all the information you provide!
You are very welcome!
My family has tacos about once a week, so we would go through quite a few packets. I’ve been thinking of just mixing our own, since I’m sure it’s much cheaper. Thanks for the recipe. I plan on using it!
You are very welcome. One of these days when I can get all the extra jars moved, I'll have to take a photo of where I store all my mixes and ingredients in canning jars. I rarely buy any pre-packaged spice mixes, salad dressing and things like that. It is so much cheaper to make them yourself. You might want to cut the recipes in 8ths or something the try it, then you can play around with it to make it more to what your family is use to. Take notes and when its a hit! MASS PRODUCE, lol.
I, too, make my own seasoning mixes like taco seasoning. Once I had the pleasure of eating tacos at someone else's house (using pre-packaged mix) and.... well, it was NOT the same.
Nothing tastes better than homemade!
You are got that right. Plus it is just so much simpler. Mix it once and you've got enough for weeks or months to come.
Oh man, this is great! Resteemed!
Thank you very much!
Thank you!
Thanks for the recipe. I’ve been looking for something like this after reading the ingredient list on the stuff at the store.
I already make tortillas, now I can say the seasoning is home assembled too!
Thank you very much and please ENJOY!
I'm gonna try it. Sounds good. Thanks. Upvoted.
Thank you very much!
Wow your tacos look absolutely delicious 😍