My goal was to come up with an all in one taco seasoning. No need to saute onions and fresh garlic beforehand or doctor your mixes with something that wasn't in the store packet.

I started using the google results from "taco seasoning," only to find that most of those recipes resulted in dry, mealy taco meat that tasted more like chili beans than tacos. I grabbed a few packets of pre-made seasoning from the store and began tasting and emulating the seasonings. After I had the "taco" profile down, I added a few of my own touches. I found that using a fresher, redder ground chile powder, along with tomato powder preserved the fresh chile taste and gave a nice red taco meat. The seasoning also includes lime powder which I needed to adjust the acidity and was a key difference between chili beans flavor and taco flavor. I've added extra heat using cayenne, hot chile flakes, and smoky chipotle powder to my mix, as they're usually too mild in the store for my taste. Finally, using finely ground corn flour (maseca) instead of wheat flour didn't dull the flavor but still thickened the sauce.

I used weight equivalents so you can easily scale up the recipe and store the seasoning in mason jar for later use. In case you don't have a scale, I've also included approximate volume measurements for a batch. It makes a little more than enough for a pound of beef, so I'd still recommend measuring out the mix after you've added all the ingredients, lest the seasoning be off. As a general rule, I've found 33 g or 1 ounce of seasoning (the same amount that's in a store taco seasoning packet) is approximately 4 tablespoons, and this is enough for about a pound of ground beef. Otherwise, use as you like to add to other things like rice, fajitas, or anything taco-y.