Taco Seasoning Without the Junk (Taco Bell Copycat Recipe)

Taco Bell has a hold on many taco-lovers, and it is convenient to use their seasoning packets at home.

But something just irks me about paying a premium for seasoning you can easily make at home with none of the weird ingredients.

This homemade version gives you that classic Taco Bell flavor, but with dried spices you probably already have (and that you can actually feel good about).

RECIPE LINK: https://thatsourdoughgal.com/taco-seasoning-recipe-taco-bell-copycat/

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00-00:31: Intro
00:32-01:23: Mix together seasonings
01:24-01:58: Make ground beef
01:59-02:20: Add seasoning
02:21-03:07: Conclusion

LINKS:
8 ounce mason jar: https://shop.thatsourdoughgal.com/amzn/8-ounce-mason-jar
Mason jar spice lids: https://shop.thatsourdoughgal.com/amzn/shaker-lid-mason-jar
Umami Seasoning: https://shop.thatsourdoughgal.com/amzn/umami-organic

My favorite sourdough tools and supplies: https://shop.thatsourdoughgal.com/amazon/odlj_

Find me on Instagram, where I show all the behind the scenes stuff in my Stories every day: https://www.instagram.com/thatsourdoughgal/

So, if you’re a fan of the Taco Bell seasoning, this DIY version is modeled after it, but it has none of that after taste, that artificial weirdness to it, and the ingredients are just staples that you probably already have in your pantry. So, definitely give it a try. I think it’s delicious. Oh my gosh, it just smells so good. Smelling them side by side is kind of crazy, too. Yeah. Wow. This one just smells so much more fresh. The spices shine through. The ingredients you need to make this seasoning blend are so simple. You probably already have most of them in your pantry. Uh we need 18 g of sea salt, 18 g of garlic powder, 13 g of chili powder, 10 g of onion powder, 10 g of sugar. Coconut sugar would also work in a pinch, 9 g of cumin, 8 g of paprika. Smoked paprika would also be amazing. Seven grams of umami seasoning. And this I find at my Publix in the spice aisle, but I’ll also put a link to it below. Two grams of nutritional yeast. I highly recommend doing this in teaspoons because my scale is not picking up the weight of it. Uh and 7 g of cornstarch. That’s literally it. You just mix all of this together. You can put it in a small mason jar or you can separate it into four little baggies to make your own pseudo seasoning packets. Now, let me show you how to use this. I like cooking ground beef on stainless steel. If you toss some water in it and it beads up like that, it’s hot enough to be nonstick. Then I put our ground beef directly on that hot pan. You don’t need any oil because again, if you heat stainless steel enough, it becomes non-stick on its own. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m so happy that I learned that. Thank you, social media. As that ground beef is browning and cooking through, we’re going to measure out 25 g of this seasoning mix. Again, if you separated it into four packets, you would just need one packet for one pound of ground beef. I’m not typically a huge fan of these one used utensils, but this little meat pounder thing is awesome. It helps you get those really small pieces that I feel mimic the ground beef from Taco Bell. Anyway, once it’s cooked through, we’re going to toss in our seasoning. Letting that seasoning cook with the ground beef for a minute before you add the water allows the seasonings to really bloom and that smell will fill your house. It’ll just make it taste so much better. Then you add 3/4 of a cup of water and cook this over medium heat until all that water evaporates and you have a delicious Taco Bell meat dupe. At the end of the day, this homemade Taco Bell copycat seasoning tastes so much better than the Taco Bell version. When you taste them side by side, the artificial aftertaste of this one is overwhelming. I didn’t notice it at first, but when you taste them side by side, it is so shocking. I had my husband taste them to make sure and he was like, “This one hands down all day, every day.” Like, he didn’t even want this one. This one just has something weird about it. So, I don’t know. Give it a try. Let me know what you think. I can’t wait to hear your feedback. And make sure that you are subscribed to my page if you’re not already. I come out with lots of pantry staple recipes to replace the storebought versions with a healthier, better tasting homemade version. Happy baking.