Years ago, I finally stopped buying those pricey little taco seasoning packets, mostly because I found myself adding so many of my own spices that it became silly to me to be using the mixes. If I’m adding all of my own spices anyways, completely “doctoring it up”, then why in the world am I buying these overpriced “flour packets” full of nothing but a pinch of chili powder and gobs of salt – – right? 😉
I tried a couple of recipes that I found online at different websites and cooking sites, but nothing was quite what I wanted. So this is a conglomeration of tried recipes and many personal changes and additions that has, over the years, morphed into what I call just plain simply the best taco seasoning mix!
Now, no two taste buds are the same thank goodness! (Or what a boring world we’d live in!) So feel free to make this once, then play with it to create the perfect blend for your own taste buds and family needs. Prefer it hotter? Up the cayenne, use hotter peppers, and exchange the hot bbq sauce for your favorite hot sauce for starters! 😀
But before we get to the tacos, they have to be able to go in something! I decided to try to bake soft white corn tortillas that I normally save for fish tacos, wanting a hard shell taco for once. (I usually like mine in flour tortillas that I lightly blacken on my gas stovetop, but this time, I really wanted something different!)
Placing a few white corn tortillas between damp paper towels and microwaving them to soften and steam made them pliable enough to work with. I then just sprayed them with butter-flavored non-stick spray and draped them over my oven rack. I did place a foil-lined pan below them “just in case” the oil from the spray wanted to drip and I was glad I did! I highly recommend doing this or you could end up with a little mess and a lot of smoke. 😉
They really bake up beautifully! Just make sure that you store them airtight if you’re in an area with a lot of humidity so that they keep their crunch and don’t get tough and chewy. You can break them up, too, and make nachos out of them which is also very good!
Now onto the tacos! 😀 I’ve found that it also just doesn’t pay to buy the less expensive ground beef and have found that the 93% blend seems to be the best buy. It’s not that much more, and there’s SO much less waste of fat (and water??) added. Like the saying goes, “You get what you pay for”. This recipe is also KILLER GOOD using cut-up pork loin or even diced chicken, too, if you prefer!
If you prefer shredded meat tacos, you can always do this in the crock pot. Cook meat with peppers and liquid such as a mixture of beef broth and beer until extremely tender, drain and shred, place back into crock pot and add seasoning mix and rest of cooking ingredients, and continue cooking on high with the lid off until simmering and thickened! 😀
Then just fill taco shells with the taco meat mixture and top with your favorite ingredients! If wanting to use cheddar or a Mexi-Blend cheese and you want to melt the cheese (and reheat the meat to hot again), just place meat and shredded cheese-filled taco shells into a 13×9 or appropriate-sized pan to hold them straight up, and just simply melt in a preheated oven! Then they’re all done at once! Place onto the table and let everyone grab and top their own the way they want them with all of the toppings you need set out on the table. This works extremely well for large families and Game Day parties! 🙂
Otherwise, you can skip the melted cheese and top them with a nice crumbly Mexican cheese such as queso fresco, queso blanco, cotija or chihuahua! These cheese are very mild and have a nice saltiness to them and are popularly used in Mexican cuisine! I prefer them cold or room temp, but you can also heat these cheeses as well. They pretty much hold their shape when heated, and are just as good heated as they are “as is”! 😀 They also lend a more authentic Mexican flavor experience!
We really enjoy all of the traditional taco toppings, sometimes even including black beans and Mexican rice, but you can go crazy and add anything you’d like! I’ve heard of people adding things like bacon, shrimp, sautéed spinach, grilled corn, fried squash blossoms, tzatziki sauce, hot mustard, blue cheese, coleslaw, sauerkraut, shredded jicama, cheese popcorn, and even fried potatoes and scrambled eggs! So go for it if that’s your thing! 😀
But no matter what you add on top, you’ll never have to buy “those packets” again! This is a solid recipe for some darned good tacos! 😉 Your Tuesday Taco Night will taste a whole lot better, that’s for sure! And the only thing missing? All those additives! 😉
So plan on this one for your next Taco Night or Game Day Sunday Party! Your family and guests will love them! 😀 And be sure to stop in tomorrow to see the unique appetizer/side dish I created to go along with these! 😉 Take care all, and enjoy the last of the summer weather! 😀
*This recipe is also fantastic with cut-up pork loin or chicken breasts or thighs! Simply trim fat from 2 lbs. pork loin chops or boneless skinless chicken pieces, cut into small bite-sized cubes, and sauté with peppers continuing with recipe.
Best Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix (Plus Baked White Corn Tortilla Tip)
Ingredients
Taco Seasoning Mix (for 2 lbs. Ground Beef):
Rest of Ingredients:
Toppings to Choose From:
Instructions
Notes
**Variations: Omit regular salt or seasoned salt, and beer. Dissolve 1 Tbl. beef base in 2 cups boiling hot water and use that instead. Or just omit the beer and dissolve 2 tsp. beef base in 2 cups boiling water.
PaulaG
Tuesday 12th of August 2014
Loved the idea of baking the taco shells. I long ago stopped buying those expensive seasoning packets. I agree homemade is so much better.
Kelly
Tuesday 12th of August 2014
Thanks, Paula! I had bought those tortillas for fish tacos but the only pkgs. they had were huge! Trying to get more use out of them. And yep, me too, on the homemade is better! I stopped using those packets almost 15 years ago now. SO glad I did! :D Thanks for stopping by!! :D