The Best Chicken Taco Seasoning Recipe
This chicken taco seasoning is made with simple pantry staple spices that will take your chicken from bland and boring to mouthwateringly delicious in no time. Keep a jar of it stocked in your pantry so you can throw together chicken tacos in just minutes on a busy weeknight!
You Will Love This
- The best part about this taco seasoning is that you know exactly what’s in it! It’s made with pantry staple spices that you’ve probably got in your kitchen already. It will stay good for up to 6 months in a cupboard, so you can make a double batch and have it on hand for quick and easy weeknight dinners.
- If you loved this chicken seasoning recipe, be sure to check out my chicken street tacos, easy dry rub recipe, 3 ingredient slow cooker shredded chicken tacos, and cheesy chicken taco spaghetti.
Ingredients
- Cumin
- Chili Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Dried Oregano
- Paprika
- Black Pepper
- Cayenne Pepper
- Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions
Combine seasoning ingredients in a small bowl or mason jar.
Store in an airtight container in a cool dark place (like the cupboard) for up to 6 months. Use to season chicken breast or to create a delicious chicken marinade and enjoy!
Tips
- This recipe makes about 4 tablespoons of the best taco seasoning which is enough for about 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast. Double or triple the recipe so you’ve always got some taco seasoning on hand for when a craving strikes.
- Switch up the ingredients to suit your family’s taste! This recipe is super forgiving so if you know your family likes cumin a lot, add a couple extra dashes. If they prefer things on the more mild side, add less chili powder and leave out the red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Use this recipe as a blueprint and tweak it to make your own family-friendly tacos without the store-bought packet of taco seasoning mix!
- This homemade taco seasoning can be used to season chicken breast (or boneless skinless chicken thighs) for chicken tacos but you can also use it in black beans, burritos, taco salads, veggie enchiladas, chicken quesadillas, chicken spaghetti casserole, chicken chili, sheet pan nachos, or sheet pan chicken fajitas. You can also use this chicken taco seasoning to season ground beef or ground turkey as well.
Making Chicken Tacos
- You can use this chicken taco seasoning by itself to season your chicken breast or add your oil of choice – olive oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil work well – along with some orange juice and lime juice for an easy chicken taco marinade. Either way, pop the seasoned/marinated chicken into the refrigerator for an hour or so to let the flavors marry.
- Cook chicken breast in a large skillet or on a grill over medium to medium high heat.
- Dice chicken and serve inside warmed corn tortillas along with diced red onion and fresh chopped cilantro. Add your other favor taco toppings like lettuce, diced tomato, avocado, sour cream, or crumbled Cotija cheese and enjoy!
- Check out my full recipe for grilled chicken street tacos here!
FAQ
They are very similar and really can be used interchangeably! They contain a lot of the same ingredients but chicken taco seasoning is generally a bit milder since chicken takes on the flavor of the seasoning very easily.
Sure! Feel free to use taco seasoning on your chicken anytime. But, if you have an extra 5 minutes, throw together my easy chicken taco seasoning instead!
Of course! Taco seasoning makes a great rub for your favorite cut of meat. If you’re looking for a more classic rub recipe though, check out my super easy rib rub!
Make-Ahead and Storage
- Make-Ahead: This taco seasoning will stay good in the pantry for up to 6 months so it’s the perfect make-ahead recipe! You can keep this chicken taco seasoning on hand at all times for easy weeknight meals.
- Storage: Store this seasoning in an airtight container in a cool, dark place like the pantry or a cupboard.
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Chicken Taco Seasoning
This chicken taco seasoning is made with simple pantry staple spices that will take your chicken from bland and boring to mouthwateringly delicious in no time. Keep a jar of it stocked in your pantry so you can throw together chicken tacos in just minutes on a busy weeknight!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: about 4 tablespoons of seasoning 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Combine seasoning ingredients.
- Store in an airtight container or wide mouth mason jar in a cool dark place (like the cupboard) for up to 6 months.
- Use seasoning to make my quick and easy grilled chicken street tacos.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- This recipe makes about 4 tablespoons of seasoning which is enough for about 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast. Double or triple the recipe so you’ve always got some chicken taco seasoning on hand for when a craving strikes.
- Switch up the ingredients to suit your family’s taste! This recipe is super forgiving so if you know your family likes cumin a lot, add a couple extra dashes. If they prefer things on the more mild side, add less chili powder and leave out the red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Use this recipe as a blueprint and tweak it to make it your own!
- This homemade chicken taco seasoning can be used to season chicken breast (or boneless skinless chicken thighs) for chicken tacos but you can also use it in black beans, burritos, taco salads, veggie enchiladas, chicken quesadillas, chicken spaghetti casserole, chicken chili, sheet pan nachos, or sheet pan chicken fajitas. You can also use this chicken taco seasoning to season ground beef or ground turkey as well.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 10
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 341.1 mg
- Fat: 0.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.9 g
- Fiber: 0.8 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
So my husband can’t eat any capsasin peppers of any kind so Mexican is always a challenge. I used this recipe but omitted the chili cayenne paprika and replaced it with 1/2 Tbsp of turmeric (I feel like I could have added more) and 1 tsp of fine ground white peppercorn (not related to capsasin pepper so we can use them). OMG it was the best chicken I’ve had on tacos EVER!
YES! I am so glad to hear that, Julia!! This is our go-to taco seasoning also 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave a review – I really appreciate it.
Looks delicious! I might add a little cilantro…
Great idea, Matt! Cilantro is always a delicious addition!
Excellent seasoning. I also used it in my southwestern salad.
This is super! Hubby has to watch salt so I’m very glad to kick this up with extra spice!
Looks like a winner! Is there any reason it can’t be used with ground beef or steak?
No reason at all! This would be delicious with ground beef or steak! Great question, Lyn!