Homemade Taco Sauce
You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to make this delicious Homemade Taco Sauce!
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Is there anything better than Summer? Nothing puts me in a better mood than the warm air and green leaves! Granted, that means that I have to mow the grass and weed the garden, but I’ll take it. For us, summer means lots of fresh veggies and herbs from our garden. Speaking of the garden, I planted kale for the first time this year. I’ve planted lettuce in previous years, and it didn’t grow all that well for me. I’m hoping that my kale experiment works out well…stay tuned! Of course, summer around the Spiced house also means spending lots of time out on the back deck. And the back deck means the grill!!
Homemade Taco Sauce
Homemade Taco SauceI have no idea why, but I crave tacos in the summer. Yup, tacos. Grill up some delicious chicken, pile on the fresh herbs, and douse that sucker in homemade taco sauce. Taco sauce has always been a staple around our house on Mexican food nights, but it wasn’t until I made my own that I wanted to pour taco sauce all over everything. I seriously think I could drink this stuff! I might not feel so great later, but I still think I could do it. If you’ve never made your own Homemade Taco Sauce, then you need to make a batch. Tonight. Trust me on this one!
You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make a big batch of this Homemade Taco Sauce. In fact, you probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry. It’s basically tomato paste, water, and a bunch of spices. I actually like to freeze this taco sauce in 1 cup batches, and then I’ll pull out a batch whenever we make Mexican food. It’s simple, easy, and this homemade version beats the heck out of the store-bought stuff!
Looking for more tasty Mexican-inspired recipes? Check these out:
Grilled Mexican Street Corn
Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Slow Cooker Carnitas Quesadillas
Shrimp Fajitas with Corn and Bell Peppers
Chicken Enchilada Soup
Homemade Taco Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup tomato paste a little less than a 6-oz can
- 1½ cups water
- 2 Tbsp white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp minced dried onion
- 2½ tsp cumin
- 1½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan; whisk together until well combined.
- Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
- Allow taco sauce to cool before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Thanks for making my dinner menu for me! Can’t wait to try this tonight on a taco salad!
Oh, now I want a taco salad tonight! I think I need to make that happen…thanks for the idea, Lisa!!
I adore summer too – and I adore homemade sauces! Never made homemade taco sauce though – and this is such a simple, quick and delicious recipe – yup, think I could drink a shot or two of it and chase it down with a slice or two of that summery strawberry cake of yours! 🙂
Hahaha! For the record, I do not recommend drinking this sauce and chasing it with strawberry cake. But if you do that, I’d love to hear the story! Seriously, though, homemade taco sauce is like crazy easy…and crazy delicious!
Thinking about this, I actually eat more tacos in the summer. Hmmm!! Never thought of that lol! I have not made homemade taco sauce before. I must try this!!
I know! What is it about summer and tacos? I mean we can totally make tacos in the winter! Or maybe just forget the tacos and make a batch of this taco sauce. I’ll eat it with a spoon for dinner. 🙂
Taco sauce that not only looks delicious but it’s also vegan and paleo…what can I say? Good job my friend!
#WolfPackEats
PS Go Netherlands!
Heck yeah! Go Netherlands! And I was totally channeling your #WolfPackEats vibe when I was making this!
I’d love to grow some kale and spinach. Maybe next year 😀 This taco sauce looks fantastic…now I’m craving tacos! Pinning 😀
I know! I’ve been craving tacos all day, too, Cindy! I think I need to make tonight a taco night in the Spiced house. 🙂 Stay tuned for the kale update…I’ve got my fingers crossed!
Yumm! Summer makes me crave tacos too! Part of me thinks it’s because I also want a margarita! 😉
This sauce looks super easy and flavorful!
Haha! I think that is a totally legit reason to crave tacos. Now I’m craving a margarita. Thanks a lot, Lindsey! 🙂
My lettuce is growing crazy, but kale not so much – I’ll be trying again for a fall crop. We love any kind of tacos and I make them at least once a week, but I’ve never made a taco sauce before! It looks awesome and how easy!
Hey Sherri! My kale is looking a bit sad, too. Well, the two plants I have look great…but that’s all I’ve got. 2. The rest of the seeds just never came up. Oh well, it’ll be a delicious salad when it happens, right? 🙂 And yes, this taco sauce is crazy easy…and crazy delicious!
Has anyone ever canned this recipe?
Hey Lyndsey! I know I haven’t personally canned this recipe, but I would think it would work just fine. Since it’s pretty easy to make, we usually just make a fresh batch whenever we are in the mood for salsa. Perhaps another reader can offer some advice if they’ve canned it, though?
I tweaked this a bit and canned 8 , 1/2 pints today. I subbed fresh tomato puree in place of water, and increased this recipe by 5 times. I ended up adding a bit more of each of the spices as well as a bit of sugar to suit my own tastes. I also needed far less tomato paste. maybe a 1/4 cup, and it was plenty thick. I poured in into hot sterilized jars, then water bathed it for 15 minutes.
Thanks for letting us know the changes, Katie! I haven’t ever canned this recipe, but I might have to give it a shot now. I really appreciate the comment! 🙂
ooooooooh be careful canning stuff… botulism kills and there are ratios… that is what brought me here… seeing if I can just freeze some yummy sauce. I’ve spend hours researching canning salsa etc…. Ill save the cans for pickling, that’s safe… anything other than pickling, and you better know what you’re doing. 🙁
Hey Joy! I totally agree…you’ve really got to know what you’re doing before jumping into the canning world. I have yet to make that leap myself because I’m afraid I’ll mess something up! As far as freezing, I don’t see why you couldn’t freeze some of this taco sauce. It should work I’d think! (And then you’d have taco sauce on hand whenever you want it!) Thanks for the advice!
If you can it properly and clean,wipe rims with vinegar after filling the sterlized jars lids and rings, then you wont put botulism in it. Theres like 12 ppl a yr that dies from bad home canning. all the other botulism cases are from store bought items. You are taking more of a risk eatting store bought foods than by canning it properly at home.
As I was preparing tacos for dinner tonight I realized we were out of taco sauce. I found your blog and it completely saved my dinner! Not only did I have every ingredient needed, it was delicious, thanks!!
Wow! Thank you so much, Renee! Somehow I missed this comment the other day…but I am so glad this taco sauce turned out well. We eat a lot of tacos around our house, and this is our go-to recipe. I’m glad you enjoyed it! Happy Holidays! 🙂
I found this on Pinterest, and must thank you personally.. this is an outstanding taco sauce, thank you!
Wow, thank you so much for commenting, Steve. I really appreciate that! And I’m really glad you enjoy this taco sauce…we almost always keep some of this in the fridge. Enjoy! 🙂
It look like taco sauce that I ‘ve been looking for
Thank you so much…this is a really tasty taco sauce, and we use it quite often around here. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! 🙂
Wow a very nice sauce.. hanging for a midnight burito I had no hot sauce and found this recipe. I had no garlic or onion powder so I just used fresh diced almost to a paste (probly put half the garlic next time) and a couple fresh hot birds eye chillies instead of cayenne for an extra kick. Im not sure if it tastes the same as yours but im loving it, thanks heaps.
Awesome! Nothing beats a midnight burrito…but you really have to have some taco sauce for it. Glad this one fit the bill for ya, Luke! And you know what? Even if your version doesn’t taste quite the same, it doesn’t matter. Cooking is all about having fun and creating something delicious! I really appreciate you coming back and leaving this comment. Have a great day…and I hope there’s more burritos in store for you soon!