Make your own Taco and Chili Seasoning

I recently taught a cooking class about the magic art of making chili. We talked about all of the regional specialties and the combinations that you can make at home. You can do the easy "open the can and dump" quick cooking recipes or you can labor over the chili pot browning chunks of meat and cooking dried beans for days. I also explained that you can use pre packaged chili seasonings or you can make your own. Both options have their merits and are totally acceptable. Packaged chili mixtures are inexpensive and easy to use. The only drawback is that the seasonings can have a dull flavor and contain fillers like flour and potato starch.

Making homemade chili and taco seasoning is easy to make and has big full flavor that will be great for most styles of chili. Look in your spice cabinet and you will find that you probably have most of the ingredient already. You can add anything you like to your chili, just remember that every spice has a job and will create different flavors to your recipe.

To start out you want to get some basic ground chili pepper. This will add an overall "chili pepper" flavor to the seasoning without adding much heat. The next ingredient will be cumin. This will add the classic "taco flavor" to your spice mix. Ground onion and garlic are base spices that will enhance the overall flavor of your mix.

Let's say you want to heat up your chili; you can do this with a little cayenne pepper, but remember to handled with care because a little goes a long way. Oregano will add some herbal flavor while a little salt will enhance the flavor of the spice mixture and the dish as a whole. Black pepper will add a little spiciness on your tongue and a nice pepper flavor. Lastly, you should add a little sweet paprika. This will add a little smoky action to your recipe.

You can experiment with your spice mixture by using different chili peppers and warm spices to make your chili recipe one of a kind. Remember to keep your spice mixture fresh by storing it in an airtight container and enjoy!

Homemade Taco and Chili Seasoning

4T Chili Powder

3T Ground Cumin 1t Onion Powder

1t Garlic Powder

½ t Cayenne Chili Powder

2 t Oregano

1T Salt

2t Black Pepper

2t Paprika

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and store in an airtight container in your spice cabinet.