Treat Your Tortillas Well With a Taco Seasoning Recipe That's Out of this World

A Quick and Easy Introduction to Tacos

A delightfully juicy filling made of ground beef, chicken, pork, fish, or vegetables, seasoned with salsa, onion, paprika, red pepper, and tomatoes, and wrapped in sweet-smelling tortillas. Is your mouth watering already?

Say hello to the taco, a quintessentially Mexican street food, and one of America's favorite dishes. So popular is the taco in the US that 4.5 billion tacos were consumed in a year, according to NationalTacoDay.com.

Some of the traditional taco varieties include the tacos de pescado, tacos de cabeza, and tacos de lengua. The non-traditional ones include soft-shell tacos, hard-shell tacos, puffy tacos, and tacodillas. Tacos can also be cooked in an air fryer, which gives them a distinctly crispy taste.

What makes the tacos unique is the seasoning. The hot and spicy combination of chili powder, pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, cumin, and dried oregano gives the taco a zing that leaves the tastebuds tingling.

However, there's more to the taco than taste. It is a dish that is intrinsically linked with social and cultural evolution and goes beyond borders. The taco wooed diners wherever it went and picked up several local influences along the way, so much so that the original taco would be hard to find.

While there is some lack of clarity about when the first taco emerged, most experts agree that it was sometime between 1,000 BC and 500 BC. The taco was originally intended to be used as an edible spoon!

Taco is the product of a meeting between the Spanish and the indigenous American peoples. This meeting took place in what is now Mexico, following which, the corn tortilla embraced meats, greens, and beans.

As tacos started to become popular, they were served in Mexico's silver mines. The name taco roughly translates to 'light lunch'.

The taco has absorbed elements from different cultures. The K-Mex tacos in Florida and Oregon, for example, consist of bigeye tuna sashimi or Korean fried chicken. Kosher tacos in Brooklyn and Los Angeles contain peppery BBQ brisket pastrami scorched with green salsa. In east Boston, which houses Brazilian immigrants, tacos are influenced by Central American culinary traditions.

What is Taco Seasoning?

Taco seasoning refers to a savory combination that adds a warm, smoky, and spicy flavor to a variety of foods besides tacos, including soups and casseroles. It is a pantry staple.

Taco seasoning may be used in different waysas a dry brine for large meat chunks, a casserole seasoning, and to boost the flavor of chili. It can be purchased from a grocery store or made at home using readily available ingredients. Salt, warming spices like oregano, paprika, chili, garlic powder, and onion powder are all common taco seasoning mix ingredients.

A seasoning mix is made of chili powder, dried oregano, powdered cumin, sea salt, ground paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes, and onion powder.

There is a marked similarity between taco seasoning and chili seasoning. Both of them usually have five to eight ingredients in common. Their main point of distinction is that chili seasoning contains more chili powder and paprika, while the amount of cumin in taco seasoning is usually higher.

What's Better? Store-bought or Homemade Taco Seasoning?

Why prepare taco seasoning at home when you can buy a packet from the grocery store?

When you make your spice blend at home, you know precisely what has gone into it because you are putting it together yourself. You can also tweak the amount of each ingredient, which would be particularly useful if you are looking to control your intake of sodium.

Even if you don't have all of the ingredients on hand, preparing taco seasoning at home will save you money in the long run. A homemade taco seasoning recipe delivers good value for money.

A spice packet may cost anywhere between $0.50 and $2, and while it may seem cheap, it can only be used for a single meal. So, it's not that cheap after all.

Generic varieties of basic spices are available for $0.50 to $1. They are even cheaper if bought from a bulk food outlet. These spices can be used to prepare dozens of meals. For example, a taco seasoning packet priced at $0.50 could be used for a single meal, while $3 worth of spices can be used to prepare over 20 taco dishes. When you multiply it by the various mixes usually purchased, you will have a fair idea of why homemade taco seasoning is better than store bought ones.

Taco seasoning created at home is also more flavorful and healthier. Spice packets are high in sodium, empty calories, and unknown chemicals. Furthermore, when you prepare taco seasoning yourself, you are not restricted to a single flavor, but can customize the flavor according to your preferences and taste. People using seasoning packets often end up adding extra red pepper and oregano to get their ideal flavor.

Easy Steps to Your Own Homemade Taco Seasoning

Here's how to make the best homemade taco seasoning-

Ingredients- One tablespoon of chili powder, one teaspoon of garlic powder, one teaspoon of ground cumin, one teaspoon of smoked paprika, half teaspoon of onion powder, half teaspoon of dried oregano, one-fourth teaspoon of fine sea salt, one-fourth teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, and one-fourth teaspoon of black pepper.

Instructions- Combine all the ingredients. The ingredients are then to be added to a small jar. Shake the jar until the ingredients are evenly combined. You may either use the seasoning mix immediately or store it for future use. This homemade taco seasoning recipe makes use of American-style chili powder. It is actually an amalgamation of spices and is distinctly different from cayenne and several other chili powder varieties that are sold in the international market.

How to Store Your Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning mix can maintain its peak quality at room temperature for two to three years. It has to be stored properly. Keep the package closed tightly at all times to extend its shelf life. Storing taco seasoning mix in the refrigerator would keep it in good shape.

However, it is best to consume homemade taco seasoning within around six months. This is the time till which it can retain its peak freshness. Keep the taco seasoning you made at home in an airtight container. Store it in a dark and cool place.

How to Use Your Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning may be used to infuse ground meat and other ingredients with a range of flavors. It's also a fantastic addition to stews, soups, dips, casseroles, and so on.

Taco seasoning may be used as a meat rub. Here's some food for thought- cornstarch is a key ingredient in a large number of packaged taco seasonings. It thickens the grease and juices of browned ground beef and acts as an anti-clumping agent. This is especially useful when you use taco seasoning in the form of a dry rub for meats because the cornstarch helps the spices stick better by combining with the natural moisture of the meat. A thin film of starch that turns hard when browned is also created.

Taco seasoning may also be used to make a sour cream dip or yogurt more flavorful. When a little taco spice is added to sour cream or yogurt that has been sitting in the fridge, it transforms into taco dip. It's great to be used with tacos or nachos as a sauce or dip, or as a baked potato topping. You can eat it right away, but allowing it to rest for 30 minutes after mixingeither in the fridge or at room temperaturecreates a thicker and flavorful instant dip.

Finally, taco seasoning can be used to spice up crispy chickpeas or tater tots before roasting. It's a great garnish that is also kid-friendly.

How to Make a Great Taco

Tacos can be made using beef, pork, fish, and chicken. The Food Temperature to which they must be cooked depends upon the type of filling that is used.

According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which is an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), ground beef should be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature of 160 F. Beef, pork, veal, and lamb are to be cooked to 145 F and allowed to rest for at least three minutes. Similarly, fin fish should be cooked to 145 F or until the flesh turns opaque. Poultry products should be cooked to 165 F to render them safe.

To Food Prep taco meat, take two tablespoons of chili powder, one teaspoon of onion powder, one teaspoon of garlic powder, one-fourth teaspoon of crushed red pepper, one teaspoon of cumin, one teaspoon of oregano, one teaspoon of paprika, half teaspoon of black pepper, one teaspoon of kosher salt, half cup of water, and three pounds lean ground beef.

Blend all the spices in a bowl and stir them to combine. Brown the ground beef in a large pot or skillet over medium-high flame, breaking it up with a spoon. Remove any extra fat. Then the spice blend has to be added and stirred to combine. After that water needs to be added and brought to a boil. Let it simmer for ten to fifteen minutes, till most of the liquid evaporates. Use right away, or divide into three portions and store in quart-sized freezer bags with labels.

It's quick and easy to make this taco meal. It has a prep time of just five minutes and a cooking time of 15 minutes.

Many taco-filling items such as keto taco meat, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, avocado, cheese, and sour cream are low carb, but when it comes to the taco shell, things get a bit problematic.

If you are concerned about carbohydrates, choose a keto-friendly taco shell or tortilla recipe, or make a taco salad. Most taco meat is keto-friendly and low in carbohydrates. However, always double-check marinade recipes to ensure they don't contain any breading or sugar.

Some keto taco shell options are keto almond flour tortillas, keto cheese taco shells, fresh jicama tortillas, low-carb paleo tortillas, and lettuce wraps.

One may also have low-carbohydrate taco soup. If you are not pushing for a low-carb diet, you may add black beans or a can of drained corn to your taco soup. Taco soups are typically made of ingredients similar to those used to make a taco.

Conclusion

Taco Bell eateries serve about one billion burritos and two billion tacos of all kinds each year. Here's a staggering fact- According to NationalTacoDay.com, the number of tacos consumed in the US last year would have amounted to 490,000 taco miles, a distance long enough for you to fly to the moon and back.

According to research by TOP Data, there has been a 12.8% rise in taco consumption in the US since the Covid pandemic started. It found that one in five Americans eat at least one taco every day, and 21.4% of the respondents consume 24 tacos or even more a month.

Taco is, without a doubt, one of the most popular fast food choices of Americans, so much so that America even has a National Taco Day. This day is celebrated on October 4 every year. And the seasoning is the soul of the taco. Done right, seasoning would ensure that diners simply can't get enough of this Mexican delicacy, and Restaurant Sales would rise by leaps and bounds.

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