• Who doesn’t love taco night? Around here it is one of the more popular things that I make for my family to enjoy for dinner. Maybe it’s the fact that my kids get to dish themselves up and decide what they want on their tacos. Maybe it is because there is an abundant amount of cheddar cheese. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because tacos just taste good!

    Making your own tacos is generally pretty easy, especially if you purchase a seasoning packet. However, due to the amount of sodium and other unpronounceable ingredients I opt to make my own taco seasoning.

    I think that it tastes much better than what you buy at the store, and it does not take that much more effort. My favorite part about it is that I can control the amount of flavors for our dinner. I control how spicy it is, as well as how strong the flavors are.
    Most likely you have all of the needed spices in your pantry already.

    This recipe was adapted from Alton Brown. My main changes were to add some garlic powder, and to use water instead of beef broth when making my taco meat.

    Here is what you do.

    2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
    1 Tablespoon of Cumin
    2 teaspoons cornstarch
    2 teaspoons salt
    1 1/2 teaspoons hot paprika
    1 teaspoon coriander
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne
    2 teaspoons garlic powder

    Mix all of the spices together. Smell it’s taco-y goodness.

    To make your tacos brown 1 1/2 pounds of ground meat. Ground beef, pork, and/or ground turkey work as well. I imagine even ground chicken could work too. I’m a traditionalist, so I shoot for the beef or pork. When your meat is browned all the way, drain it. Return it to the pan.

    I sometimes add a diced onion at this step. When the onion is done cooking, throw in your taco seasonings and 2/3 cup of water. Again, you can use beef broth, but I don’t find it to be necessary.
    As it cooks the sauce will thicken and stick to the meat really well.
    That’s it! You have made your tacos. Use hard or soft shell taco, cut up your vegetables, put out the shredded cheese and load it up to capacity as you normally would.