If you’re looking for an easy homemade taco seasoning without added salt, this low sodium taco seasoning recipe is for you! It comes together with a handful of pantry staples, and preparing a large quantity is a breeze and significantly more economical than purchasing pre-packaged taco seasoning.
There’s nothing worse than preparing to make tacos and finding out you’re out of taco seasoning! Not to worry, though; it’s super easy to make at home with a handful of pantry staples. It’s also perfect if you want to make your own without any added salt.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You can customize this recipe to your liking. I’m honestly not a huge fan of cumin and would prefer it if it was not in the pre-packaged seasoning. So, making taco seasoning myself, I can omit the cumin! I can also make it as spicy or mild as I like.
- It uses pantry staples. I literally had every ingredient in my pantry ready to go! It’s so much cheaper to use pantry staples than to run out to the store for taco seasoning.
- It’s low sodium! I’m trying to use a little less salt lately, and the combination of the spices is flavorful enough without the added salt.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- paprika — you can use regular, sweet, or smoked paprika based on how you’d like your seasoning to taste!
- chili powder — some chili powders contain salt, so double-check the ingredients list. I like this chili powder.
- chipotle powder — I love the heat from chipotle powder. You can adjust the amount of chili powder to chipotle powder ratio based on how spicy you’d like the taco seasoning.
- garlic powder — my go-to is the giant tub of garlic powder at Costco.
- onion powder — onion powder adds a sweet and savory flavor to the taco seasoning.
- dried oregano — dried oregano leaves have a subtle earthy flavor.
- black pepper — I like freshly cracked pepper as the flavor is better.
- red chili flakes — this might also be labeled as crushed red pepper flakes. This consists of dried and crushed red chili peppers.
- cumin — in my opinion, cumin is optional lol. I’m not a huge fan, so I do not add it to my DIY taco seasoning.
How to Make Low Sodium Taco Seasoning
- Combine the paprika, chili powder, chipotle powder, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, black pepper, and red chili flakes in an airtight jar.
- Store in a cool, dark place until ready to use.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Chipotle powder is a mildly spicy chili powder made from chipotle peppers so keep that in mind before scooping a giant spoonful in! I will sometimes make this taco seasoning with 1½ tablespoons chili powder and 1½ tablespoons chipotle powder if I’d like a spicier seasoning. Feel free to adjust the two ratios as long as they total up to 3 tablespoons! 🙂
- For a little more heat, you can use a bit of ancho chili powder! It is made with dried poblanos, so it’s spicier than chili powder.
- I recommend an airtight container for the taco seasoning, but you can also use a ziptop bag if you’re in a pinch! Just make sure to squeeze any extra air out.
- While old spices don’t necessarily go bad in a way that is harmful to consume, they can lose their flavor and potency, making them less effective in cooking. The shelf life of this homemade taco seasoning really depends on how fresh or stale your spices are. If you’re spices are stale, I highly recommend replacing them.
A package of store-bought taco seasoning is equivalent to 1 ounce or 2 tablespoons of this DIY taco seasoning.
I use 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning per pound of ground meat!
Recipes Using Taco Seasoning
Low Sodium Taco Seasoning
If you’re looking for an easy homemade taco seasoning without added salt, this low sodium taco seasoning recipe is for you! It comes together with a handful of pantry staples, and preparing a large quantity is a breeze and significantly more economical than purchasing pre-packaged taco seasoning.
Servings: 6 tablespoons
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder, or more chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoons black pepper
- ½-1 teaspoon red chili flakes, or more
- ½-1 teaspoon cumin, (optional)
Instructions
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Combine the paprika, chili powder, chipotle powder, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, black pepper, and red chili flakes in an airtight jar.
-
Store in a cool, dark place until ready to use.
Notes
- Most of the sodium in this homemade taco seasoning comes from the chipotle powder.
- The calorie estimator used suggests this recipe has 24mg of sodium per 1 tablespoon. A packet of Old El Paso has 420mg of sodium per 1 tablespoon.
Nutrition Per Serving
Calories: 14kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 24mg | Potassium: 82mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.3g | Vitamin A: 1032IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg
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