Is it Cheaper to Make or Buy Taco Seasoning?
Taco seasoning is a very useful seasoning to have on hand and honestly, I use it for so much more than just tacos! Typically, you buy taco seasoning in a small packet that has 1-1.25oz of powder in it.
I recently came across larger spice bottles filled with taco seasoning, and I realized that was a much cheaper option than the little packets. This made me wonder if making my own taco seasoning would be even cheaper than buying in bulk. Let’s find out!
How much does homemade taco seasoning cost?
We found a very simple recipe from Allrecipes for taco seasoning and it can easily be done in less than 5 minutes. Grab your measuring spoons and head to your spice cabinet! For full recipe, click here.
| Ingredients | Total Cost | Cost for Recipe |
| 1 tbsp chili powder | $1.00 for 3oz jar | $0.09 |
| 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin | $1.28 for 2.5oz jar | $0.05 |
| 1 tsp salt | $0.67 for 26oz container | $0.01 |
| 1 tsp black pepper | $3.12 for 3oz tin | $0.08 |
| 1/2 tsp paprika | $1.00 for 2.5oz jar | $0.03 |
| 1/4 tsp garlic powder | $1.00 for 3.4oz jar | $0.02 |
| 1/4 tsp onion powder | $1.00 for 3.25oz jar | $0.02 |
| 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes | $1.44 for 1.75oz jar | $0.04 |
| 1/4 tsp dried oregano | $1.00 for 0.87oz jar | $0.04 |
| Total Cost: $11.51 | Total Cost for Recipe: $0.36 |
I have priced out all the spices at my local Walmart, so your prices may vary. If you had no spices in your cabinet, it would cost you a one-time amount of $11.51 to buy all of the spices needed for taco seasoning.
That breaks down to $0.36 for one batch of taco seasoning which makes about 1.25oz total. (That is about the same size as one packet of the premade seasoning.)
How much does a packet of taco seasoning cost?
Now let’s head to the store and see how much taco seasoning packets costs and we will include bulk buying taco seasoning as well.
| Taco Seasoning Packets | Store & Price |
| Great Value 1oz packet | Walmart, $0.48 |
| Kroger 1.25oz packet | Kroger, $0.59 |
| Brookshire’s 1.25oz packet | Brookshire’s, $0.95 |
| Signature Select 1oz packet | Albertsons, $0.99 |
| Casa Mamita 1oz packet | Aldi, $0.49 |
| Old El Paso 1oz packet | Target, $1.09 |
| Senora Verde 1.5oz packet | Save A Lot, $0.59 |
| Old El Paso 1oz packet | Family Dollar, $1.29 |
| Old El Paso 1oz packet | Dollar Tree, $1.25 |
| Food Club .25oz packet | Stater Bros, $0.59 |
| Average Price per Packet: | $0.83 |
We looked at the price of a packet of taco seasoning at 10 different stores. The prices ranged as low as $0.48 at Walmart to as high as $1.29 at Family Dollar.
The average cost of the taco seasoning packets came out to $0.83 per packet.
Now let’s look at bulk buying taco seasoning:
| Bulk Taco Seasoning | Store & Price | Cost per 1.25oz |
| Old El Paso 6.25oz container | Target, $3.49 | $0.69 |
| McCormick 8.5oz container | Albertsons, $8.39 | $1.23 |
| Kroger 19oz container | Kroger, $7.99 | $0.52 |
| Tone’s 23oz container | Sam’s Club, $8.69 | $0.47 |
| McCormick 24oz container | Costco, $8.70 | $0.45 |
| Ortega 6.5oz container | Ralph’s, $6.39 | $0.78 |
| Average Cost per 1.25oz: | $0.69 |
When we looked at bulk buying premade taco seasoning, we saw that the cost per 1.25oz was as low as $0.45 at Costco and as high as $1.23 at Albertsons.
The average cost per 1.25oz for bulk taco seasoning was $0.69.
Is homemade taco seasoning better than store bought?
One of the major benefits of making your own taco seasoning is that you know exactly what is in it! This means you can adjust the seasoning blend to be less salty, spicier, or just omit anything you don’t like.
The other major benefit is that most taco seasoning does have preservatives, fillers, and anti-caking agents. These additional ingredients help give taco seasoning a very long shelf life and from clumping together.
Depending on how much taco seasoning you typically use, you could mix together small batches whenever you need it or make a bulk batch to last a few months.
Since it is unlikely that you will make enough taco seasoning to last a whole year, then you really don’t have to worry about using preservatives or anti-caking agents. As long as you store the mixture in an airtight container or Ziploc bag you won’t need these.
Is it worth it to make your own taco seasoning?
If we are looking just at cost, then making your own taco seasoning is definitely worth it. The average cost of 1.25oz of homemade taco seasoning came out to only $0.36.
The lowest taco seasoning packet was $0.48 and the lowest bulk buying 1.25oz was $0.45. That means making taco seasoning at home will potentially save you 25%!
Plus, most of the seasonings in taco seasoning, we probably already have at home and use for other meals, so the cost of homemade is potentially even lower since we wouldn’t have to buy it just to make taco seasoning.
The average packet of taco seasoning has about 1800 mg of sodium. (Remember that the daily recommended amount of sodium is only 2,300 per person.) If you are trying to cut down on sodium, making taco seasoning yourself and leaving out the salt will be a huge reduction for you!
What about taste? We looked that the reviews for Allrecipes’s taco seasoning, and it has an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 with over 7900 reviews. One of the most common comments was on how much better the homemade version tasted over the commercially made taco seasoning.
It looks like I will go ahead and start making my own batches of taco seasoning for tacos and other meals! How about you?
For more cost breakdowns of buying versus making, check out “Store-Bought vs. Homemade Dinner Rolls: Which is More Budget-Friendly?” and “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Hummus?“
