Making your favorite foods at home is easy with recipes like this Homemade Taco Sauce Recipe.
My family loves the Mexican Pizzas that I make. Since they are a copycat type recipe, I have been buying and using the taco sauce you buy in a jar at the store. We liked the famous fast food restaurant brand best, so that is what I was buying, and it worked well.
Every time I bought the sauce though, I would think about how expensive and unhealthy the bottled version was. I knew I could come up with a version at home.
I searched for a recipe online, but did not find anything that was exactly like I wanted. I found a few recipes I liked, but none were quite right.
So, I changed some things and came up with a version that turned out really well. I think this sauce is better than anything I can buy. My husband says that it is as good as the sauce you get at the fast food Mexican restaurant type places.
Recipes like my Mexican Pizza are my quick and easy recipes. I like to be able to make them fast. So, when I make sauces like this or my enchilada sauce, I like to make large batches and freeze it in small containers.
This way I don’t have to make up a batch every time I need it. Doing this ends up saving me a lot of time.
This sauce is also great used in ground beef for tacos, on tortilla pizzas and Mexican breakfast pizzas. You could also use this homemade taco sauce in place of the tomato sauce and taco seasoning in my oven tacos.
Homemade Taco Sauce Recipe
Make taco sauce at home with this easy to make recipe. Works great if you are out of taco sauce or want to skip the bottled kind.
Ingredients
- 8 ounce tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (more if you want this hotter)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon of onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
Instructions
- Mix all together in a blender until smooth.
- Pour sauce into pan and cook over med-low heat for 15-20 minutes. Don't skip the cooking part of this.
- You need to heat the sauce up to really blend the flavors together.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 11Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 215mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
If you love making your favorite foods at home be sure to check out my list of Copycat and DIY recipes.
I’m that way too, I prefer to have my own. I also have my own enchilada sauce, taco seasoning and chili seasoning. We don’t really use taco sauce here, but I’m saving this recipe just in case! 🙂
I also make my own Taco Sauce…it’s so much cheaper and you get about 3 times as much! I’ve found the Taco Sauce tastes better the day after you make it, and my brother makes a version of his own Taco Sauce and cans it for later in the year. Thanks for reminding me about it – I think I need to make it again!
This is a great recipe to have on file. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Mmmm – sounds good. I’ll have to give this a try!
Oh wow, I’ve never run across a recipe for homemade taco sauce. I’m definitely going to give this one a try. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
🙂
ButterYum
Love Mexican Pizza, and the sauce looks yummy too!
~Liz
@Liz@HoosierHomemade, Thanks Liz, it is a favorite in our house.
This is a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing. I too am trying to get away from buying processed food and want to make more things at home from scratch. This is a great recipe to have on hand for that!
I made your Taco Sauce and Mexican Pizza’s last night for dinner and had 4-thumbs up! I LOVE when the whole family agree’s on a meal. Thanks for the great recipes!
This was great and better yet my husband liked it. I also made your enchilada sauce and mexican rice…all were great. Thank you for the time you spend sharing your recipes…I am glad you have kitchen adventures and more so that you share them!
Melissa
FANTASTIC! We made this sauce on 1/1/10 to use in some over-baked chimichangas, and we’re IN LOVE! We won’t be buying taco sauce in a bottle ever again, thanks to your wonderful recipe!
I love this recipe, I doubled the batch and froze the sauce in small canning jars.~~Thank You~~I love this website!
Tammy Anderson
@Tammera Anderson, 10 pints done, I added a couple dashes of worchestershire and a pickled Jalepenio to mine to give it a kick. 🙂
@Tammera Anderson, I am so glad that you like this. I love it, but I never thought to can it. That is a great idea.
Lynn, thanks for sharing. Since moving to Rio de Janeiro a year ago, I have a huge difficulty to get my hands on Mexican products, and when I do, they are extremely expensive! If I stock up on green chiles every time I get a package sent from the U.S. from my Mom, I can re-create your enchilada sauce too, which I have been on the search for to make a recipe you might really enjoy for your family…the tortillas are just for garnish, so you can omit them without affecting the recipe and add diced avocado or sour cream on top before serving. It tastes very much like something you’d find in a Mexican restaurant. Enjoy!
https://allrecipes.com//Recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-tortilla-soup/Detail.aspx
@Tricia, I am so glad that you like the recipe. The enchilada sauce is a favorite of ours too. I make a soup similar to that link you gave. I love soups like that, so thanks for the link.
I was considering making this, but how much does this recipe make? If I were to make tacos, how much ground beef would I make with it?
@Matt, This cooks down to about 1 cup which is the same size as most taco sauce jars you buy at the store. So, I use it for 1 or 2 lbs of meat depending on how much sauce you like.
Can this be stored and if so, for how long. Can it be frozen?
@Mike, I store this in the fridge for about a week. It does freeze well, but it does come out a little thinner after being frozen. I hope that helps.
Tryed this sauce last night, and it was great well done on creating the recipe
thank you
Nice recipe. Tried it .
Lynn,
When making this recipe, I could just smell all the amazing flavors as they were blending together. It has just the right amount of spiciness our family loves. Thanks for sharing!
I am glad that you enjoyed it.
I have tried a couple of recipes that I found online, but there was always something missing. Just got done making a batch of your recipe and I love it. Getting ready to make another batch because this won’t last long. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks I am glad you enjoyed it!
I love to cook as much from scratch as I can, and I love the Fast food Mexican Restaurant (we all know which one:) which serves mild or spicy taco sauce but when I bought a bottle at the store, the ingredient list was way too long with all those preservatives, and additives, so I was delighted to find your recipe here. It was perfect! I made 2 substitutions tho, I used my own canned tomato sauce, and I used organic apple cider vinegar instead of the white vinegar. It was really really good. I think I’ll can up a few jars for Christmas presents.
Thanks Lynn! This is cooking now and smells delicious. I am always trying to make these things from scratch as well – so much better.
Hiya
Could you please tell me about the can of tomato sauce? Here in Australia, we call ketchup ‘tomato sauce’ and I’m guessing this recipe doesn’t call for 8oz of ketchup!!! So what exactly is in the tomato sauce? I would love to try your recipe 🙂
Ta
Kylie
You are right it is not ketchup. Tomato sauce here is like pureed tomatoes in a can, but it is different than what we call tomato puree. Here is a link to what we call tomato sauce. https://www.hunts.com/products/tomatoes/tomato-sauce I hope that helps.
Thanks very much – I think that is called Passata here 🙂
yummy!
Thank you very much for posting this recipe.. it came really handy when my guest asked for taco… i didnt have taco sauce in the pantry but i know that I had Mexican ingredients in my covers… sure enough without hesitations, I courageously made this sauce… I had to pound the cumin seeds (thats all i had)… i turned out to be great!!!! My guest loved it so much that he ended up eating 10 tacos at one shot!!!… great!!
I am glad you enjoyed it and was able to make it work with what you had on hand.
Hi Lynn,
This was fabulous! Thanks so much for the recipe. In my quest to be healthier this year, I’m trying to make many things homemade. This was a bit spicy for my children however they still liked it. We’ll just do a pinch of cayenne next time and not the full 1/4 teaspoon! Delish and simple!
Thanks for letting me know they enjoyed it. I think you could easily cut down on the spicy and have it still be really good.
Hello!!
I would like to thank you from the bottom of my stomach (and taste buds) for this taco sauce recipe.
Never tasted anything better than is delicious salsa!! I am sooo happy I finally managed to make my own and something tasting so good!! Thank you!!
thanks for this – quick and tasty and you know what’s going into it!
Hi, I just found your site, and tried this. It was great! Thanks for a good recipe! 🙂
thank you. i think it’s easy to make specially for a really “no-cook” talent like me 🙂
it’s the first time i’m going to make it and i hope my family will like it
Thanks for posting this recipe for taco sauce. I made it today, and it was great. I will be browsing through your site to find more gems!
I am glad you enjoyed it!
very good, thanks family loves it
Very good sauce :)!
I make a Rachel ray recipe for Mexican lasagna that calls for taco sauce. As you mentioned taco sauce can be pricey, and I do prefer making my own sauces when possible. It ends up being a better taste and you know exactly what is going in it! This sauce has so much flavour and is delicious! I usually have a lot of cans of organic tomato sauce in my pantry from Costco, and just make my own sauces, using different seasoning depending on what recipe I am making. Thanks for sharing 🙂 I much prefer this one to the store bought alternative.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Thanks. I am glad you enjoy it. We love Mexican lasagna, so I will have to try Rachel Ray’s version!
I’m going to try this recipe – my son is allergic to onions and finding Mexican foods without them has been a nightmare. I can leave the onions out and we’ll be able to use this. Thanks so much for coming up with it!
I hope you enjoy it!
Hi Lynn!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I’ve been using your enchilada sauce recipe for a couple of years now! It has been enjoyed by everyone who has tasted it! Thank you for this one!
I just made this dish but used some whole-wheat rotini pasta and didn’t realize I needed taco sauce until it was too late—it was still excellent! Next time, I’ll whip up some of your taco sauce first. Thanks for the recipe, Lynn.
Do you serve this warm or refrigerate it before serving? Thanks.
It depends on how I am using it. You can use it right away or store it in the fridge for a few days before using.
sauce is excellent. I add a little more chili powder and red chili flakes.
I am glad that you enjoyed it!
I have really bad acid reflux and have to be very careful. I know I would eliminate the chili powder onion, and red pepper. Would you add anything for omission?