The Allergy Safe Kitchen: Taco Seasoning

I am always in favor of making homemade spice mixes. You can control the ingredients, and adjust the flavoring to suit your family's preferences. I am especially in favor of blending homemade mixes when there happens to be a wide reaching recall underway of a certain ground spice! So I'm sharing my recipe for Taco Seasoning.

We stopped purchasing ready made seasoning years and years ago when my son was first diagnosed with food allergies. I just got to thinking, "Do we really know what the heck is in this little flavoring packet?" I started grinding some of my own spices from seeds (Click HERE to read my Kitchen Tip about grinding spices), and I found great pleasure in creating my own blends.

For this recipe, I am recommending grinding your own cumin!
(Click here for a picture tutorial on grinding cumin.)

By ingredients, this taco seasoning recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, fish-free, soy free, and shellfish-free. As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends! (This recipe is not marked gluten free because certain spice manufacturers have a high rate of cross-contamination. Here's a LINK to more information!)

Steps marked with an asterisk (*) are child friendly!

Click HERE for more information!

This ingredient list contains affiliate links. By purchasing these products through the links, I make a few cents at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting The Allergy Safe Kitchen by purchasing through affiliate links!

Click here for printable version.

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Ground Chipotle Chile Powder
1/2 Tablespoon Ancho Chile Powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin (Grind your own from Cumin Seed)
1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 1/2 Tablespoon corn starch

Directions:

*Measure all of the ingredients into a bowl. (This is a great time to review fractions with grade school children, and emphasize real, daily applications of math concepts! Let them find the correct measuring spoon and learn how to level it off for accurate measurements!)
*Whisk gently to fully combine.
After browning 2 pounds of ground beef/turkey/chicken, drain any excess fat out of the pan.
*To the ground meat, add the entire batch of taco seasoning along with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Be sure to scrape any good brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula, that's where good flavor hides! (Gauge how dry/wet the meat already is, you want to nicely coat the meat with the sauce made from the seasoning and water and drippings. Too little water, and you'll get a grainy coating on the meat, too much water and you'll have taco seasoning soup!)
Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes until the sauce is thickened!
Serve with taco fixings!