Taco Seasoning

[smlewis00]

I am making tacos for dinner tonight. While browsing through my kitchen to make sure I have all the ingredients I need, I came across my taco seasoning.
I make my own taco seasoning and love it! I make a large batch of it and store it. My sister however tells me it is not worth it to make your own taco seasoning. She said it is cheaper to buy packets of it at the store and buy it as you need it. She says you can then avoid the hassle of making it and storing it. I don't find it to be that big of a hassel.
What do you think? Is it personal preference? Do you make your own taco seasonings or do you just buy the packets? What are your thoughts?

 

[crimsonghost747]

I always buy the premade ones at the store. It's obviously the easier way and seeing as I really do enjoy the taste, I don't see a reason to start making my own. If you prefer the taste of your own then go ahead, but in other cases I'd recommend sticking to the premade ones.

 

[sillylucy]

I have always bought pre-made, but really don't like the long list of ingredients on some of those packets. It freaks me out! I think it's great that you make your own. More power to you!

 

[Tara]

It's probably cheaper to buy the pre-made stuff, but I don't. The pre-made seasoning has a lot of salt and other things that I don't watch to eat.

I saw Tyler Florence ( I believe that's his name) make homemade taco seasoning on the Food Network. I gave it a shot and never went back.

 

[OhioTom76]

It depends on where you are buying your spices. Aldi sells large containers of spices for only $1 each. They have all the spices you would need to make a taco seasoning and you could make many packets worth off of them. Let's assume your taco seasoning it Paprika, Cumin, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Chili Powder (and Salt and Pepper if you choose). For 5 bucks worth of spices, you could make a bunch of taco seasoning packets, certainly much more than 5 of them. Now considering they sell for usually $1.50 - $2.50 each (at least where I live), you can quickly see where it is cheaper to make your own. Plus many of them also include fillers like Corn Starch, and are not as concentrated with real spices.

Another option would be to simply buy the taco seasoning in bulk instead of those little packets. I've seen it for sale at restaurant supply stores in larger containers.

 

[Chris_A]

I would go natural and make my own taco or chili seasoning. I do not really trust those producing companies at all, and while they inform you on the back of the pack about the ingredients they use, who knows what else they pack in there. Also, natural seasoning tastes much much better in my opinion.