In as long as it takes to measure a few tablespoons of things, you can have the best Chicken Taco Seasoning you’ve ever tasted. Not does it make the best chicken tacos, but use it beyond taco night on grilled, roasted, and air fryer chicken to boot!
Instead of reaching for expensive store-bought packets, whip up this fiesta of flavour spice blend to have on hand for busy weeknights to use in your favourite chicken recipe or taco meat.
You can sprinkle this spice mix well beyond Taco Tuesday over chicken breasts, boneless skinless chicken thighs, ground chicken, on taco salads, and taco shells. No need to confine it to chicken; sprinkle over ground turkey for turkey tacos or refried beans or ground beef for big flavour without too much spice!
Homemade seasonings blends can be the difference between amazing and alright. When you make your own seasoning at home , you are able to use the freshest spices and herbs and that makes an impact you won’t believe until you taste it.
It takes mere moments to measure all of these herbs and spices and whisk them together. Store them in an airtight container like a clean mason jar and enjoy the benefits of five minutes work for meals to come!
Chicken Taco Seasoning Recipe
This is all about the freshness of your spices, so it’s good to have new bottles when you mix this up. It’s important to make sure you’re grabbing the right stuff, too.
Chili powder can be purchased with salt or salt-free. The only time I recommend salt-free chili powder is when it is medically necessary. A little salt makes everything taste better!
There are several things out there labeled as “chili powder” you want to be sure to get American chili powder which is a blend of several different chiles, herbs, and spices in addition to the aforementioned salt, normally. Ancho chile powder, chipotle chile powder, and so on are more powerfully spicy being cased off of a single chili pepper.
This isn’t a bad thing. But the recipe I’m sharing today is milder by design and makes use of American chili powder instead of one of the “single source” chiles.
One more note on the pepper front: if this is too mild for you, please feel free to ratchet up the heat as much as you’d like by increasing the crushed red pepper flakes or adding cayenne pepper to the party.
Ground cumin and paprika are pretty ubiquitous. You can find them in even almost all of the smallest grocery stores these days.
Once again, I’m going to beat the drum for granulated garlic and onion instead of garlic powder and onion power. The granulated form is more easy to control -flavourwise- and not as harsh tasting as the powder.
In addition, granulated garlic and onion have a longer shelf life than garlic powder and onion powder. If that wasn’t enough, powder has a tendency to clump whereas granulated disperses nicely through sauces, spice blends, and other things.
I only use granulated garlic and onion and haven’t bought “powdered” garlic or onion in years.
If you do opt for garlic powder and onion powder, reduce the amount by half. Powder is much more finely milled than the granulated making it stronger.
Because chicken tends to shed more liquid and is in more danger of drying out than beef as it cooks, I’ve included a little cornstarch or potato starch to capture that moisture. The starch will keep the liquid from evaporating and thicken it up a bit in the cooking process.
Either cornstarch or potato starch is equally effective in our chicken taco seasoning. Use whatever you have on hand!
This big batch of our own taco seasoning will season up to 4 pounds of ordinary chicken, shredded chicken, diced chicken,
Your chicken taco seasoning will last for up to 6 months in the cabinet.
Salt Free Chicken Taco Seasoning
You can most certainly make this recipe into a salt free chicken taco seasoning. Simply use salt free chili powder and omit the salt!
This is the blend for you if you have to reduce or omit the salt from your diet! It’s so tasty!
Where do I buy fresh spices?
Well, I buy them from either a local Amish bulk foods store or Amazon. Here’s a comprehensive list of the herbs and spices needed in this recipe. I’ve included links to purchase them from Amazon if anything is unavailable at your local grocery..
Stock your spice cabinet with fresh spices and taste the difference in your home cooking!
crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper or more to taste
Chicken Taco Seasoning
For the best homemade chicken taco seasoning recipe ever, whisk all of the ingredients together. Store in an airtight container in a cabinet for up to 6 months. Use 2 tablespoons per pound of meat.
Store for up to 6 months in an airtight container in a cool dark place.
Chicken Taco Seasoning
Rate RecipeEquipment
- 1 whisk
- 1 airtight container 8 ounces or larger
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon sweet or hot paprika
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt optional
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch or potato starch
- ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper or more to taste
- ¾ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk all of the ingredients together and store in an airtight container in a cabinet for up to 6 months. Use 2 tablespoons per pound of meat.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
Make sure to tag @foodiewithfam on Instagram and #hashtag it #foodiewithfamily so I can check it out!
Comments + Reviews