Best Homemade Taco Seasoning

We love this homemade taco seasoning recipe! Stop buying packets of taco seasoning mix and make this easy, homemade version instead.

We love homemade spice blends. We have already shared our recipe for chili powder. It tastes better than what you can buy at the store and is adaptable based on your tastes. This homemade taco seasoning is no different. Use this blend for tacos, burritos, roasted vegetables, and more. Let me show you how to make it.

How to Make Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning is simple to make at home. In fact, you likely have most of the ingredients sitting in your spice cabinet right now. Here’s the spices you will need:

• Chili powder — We recommend our homemade chili powder. Your favorite store-bought chili powder works, too.
• Ground cumin — This adds an earthy, smoky flavor. It is common in Tex-Mex, Mexican, and curry recipes.
• Hot smoked paprika — This adds a hot, smoky flavor. Chipotle chile powder is a great alternative.
• Ground coriander — This adds a light, citrus flavor.
• Cayenne pepper — This adds heat. Add as much or little as needed for your desired spice level.

Besides the spices, we add two secret ingredients:

Cornstarch — Store-bought taco seasoning packets include some kind of thickener. When cornstarch is mixed with liquid and heated, it creates a sauce for whatever you are using your taco seasoning for like ground meat or vegetables. It also helps the seasoning stick to whatever you are cooking.

Dried mushroom powder — I know this seems like it came out of nowhere, but it’s delicious. Trust me. Here’s an article talking all about it! We use mushrooms a lot in our cooking. They add a savory meatiness to dishes — even when those dishes don’t have any meat. Adding mushroom powder to our taco seasoning guarantees incredible flavor.

Have you ever heard someone talking about umami? It’s considered the fifth taste: there’s sweet, sour, salt, bitter, and umami. Umami is the taste that makes you smack your lips. It even translates to “delicious” or “yummy.” Mushrooms naturally add umami. Which is why we include the mushroom powder in our blend. It makes it taste better.

Make Taco Seasoning Better with Mushroom Powder

You can buy mushroom powder. Or, you can make your own. We’ve even shared this essential mushroom powder seasoning you can make at home. Here’s the basic process for making your own:

Start with dried mushrooms — any type of mushroom will work. We particularly love dried porcini mushrooms. They are sold in larger or specialty grocery stores, or buy online. Throw the dried mushrooms into a blender and blend until ground. Store in a spice jar and use to your heart’s content.

Now that you have mushroom powder, you can add it to your homemade taco seasoning.

Storing Homemade Taco Seasoning

Throw your homemade taco seasoning into a spice jar, shake it up, and store in a dark pantry up to six months.When you want to use it, add based on your taste. For 1 pound of meat (we usually go for turkey or pork), we add 1 to 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning.