Taco Mayo seasoning mix recipes for tatter tots?

July 13, 2016 9:36 AM

Any ideas for a homemade dry barbecue/taco seasoning? I love the seasoning on Taco Mayo's Potato Locos. I received a small sample and it's great on roasted chicken or on other microwaved vegetables. I've used a brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder mix, but it's not quite the same.
posted by TrishaU to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Salt, cumin, Mexican oregano, chili powder. Try smoked paprika if you've not used it before.
posted by rtha at 9:41 AM on July 13, 2016 [5 favorites]

I would add a little cayenne to the mix rtha describes unless you buy chili powder that is already hot enough from its own cayenne. Most supermarket chili powders are impossibly bland to me. In fact, you could skip premixed chili powder and use straight smoked paprika and then amp up the cumin and oregano just a bit more.
posted by briank at 9:46 AM on July 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

This recipe is my go-to straightforward taco seasoning. I think the regular chili powder is necessary to provide a certain depth of flavor, but it definitely doesn't contribute much if any heat... that's where the cayenne or red pepper flakes come in.
posted by usonian at 9:55 AM on July 13, 2016

I don't know about this particular seasoning mix, but cumin, in general, is pretty helpful to taco seasoning. I remember reading something once that cumin "is what makes a taco a taco".

When I make nachos, I just dump a ton of cumin, a little chili powder, some garlic, and (if I'm only making them for myself and my wife isn't having any) some cayenne pepper.
posted by kevinbelt at 10:04 AM on July 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Al pastor is a set of flavors.
posted by Oyéah at 10:29 AM on July 13, 2016

When I make tacos I do:

salt
cumin
garlic powder
chili powder
oregano
cinnamon (just a dash)

It's every bit as tasty as a store bought seasoning mix, with about a billion percent less salt.
posted by cakelite at 10:44 AM on July 13, 2016

I've been using Alton Brown's taco seasoning mix for years now (although you'd probably want to omit the cornstarch).
posted by General Malaise at 10:55 AM on July 13, 2016

My taco seasoning recipe, which I mix up and give out for Christmas to general approval:

- 3 Tbsp chile powder (I do half ancho and half chipotle. Hatch is also good if you can find it.)
- 2 Tbsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder + 1 tsp salt /or/ 1 Tbsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
- 1+ tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your desired heat level)
Optional:
- 1 Tbsp dried onion (powder, minced, whatever)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
posted by fifthpocket at 11:01 AM on July 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

Is it possible that their seasoning mix contains MSG in some form? For example, Goya Adobo is mostly MSG. If you're not sensitive to MSG, you might try adding that to see if it rounds out the flavor for you.
posted by cabingirl at 7:09 PM on July 13, 2016

My mix is close to fifthpocket's

4 parts cumin
4 parts granulated garlic
3 parts ancho chile powder
2 parts chipotle chile powder (this gets the smokiness in there)
2 parts oregano
1 part coriander
salt and black pepper to taste

If this is going to be grilled, I tend to add 1-2 parts brown sugar to the mix, which could also be pretty nice on tater tots.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:22 PM on July 13, 2016