Ortega Seasoning Mix, Taco Seasoning, 4.3 Ounce

Kids usually want "Taco Night" once a week around here, and usually I just add packet seasoning with no particular brand loyalty. The packets call for one pound of meat; since sometimes I am cooking with less or more, I figured this shaker would be a convenient way for me to season as needed (including making things milder or not).The shaker says you need 4 tbsp powder to one pound of meat; so this is about equal to 3.5 store-bought packets. That makes this product a reasonable value for me. As for the flavor, I wouldn't say it's noticeably better or worse than other packet brands (it might be a little bit "weaker"). Notice that the only "spices" on the label are salt, paprika, and garlic---and salt is the #2 ingredient.

This product works well at replacing the envelopes of taco seasoning you buy one at a time. The instructions are the same as the individual envelopes. You brown the ground beef, drain it, add water, and one tablespoon of this product. The beauty of using this is that you can customize the spice level to your tastes. I like that you can taste more than one spice. So many Southwestern products overload on cumin. Not that cumin isn't good, but I want to taste the other spices too. I would say this product is on the mild side. I use extra. I have also added this product to Taco Soup and an omelet. I am also thinking it will be good added to ground beef to make Southwestern hamburgers or added to salad dressing to make taco salad.

I was so glad to find Ortega taco seasoning available!!If you have a pressure cooker, pop in 2 lbs. of pork tenderloins with a cup of water and cook them to fork tender. Once you've used a pair of forks to separate the pork into "pulled pork" status, add 1/4 cup of this seasoning (you may need to add another 1/2 - 1 cup of water) and cook for another 10 minutes.Be prepared to have the best pork tacos you've ever had!! I won't even bother with beef/chicken as a taco protein after having the pork tacos.

I can use this with flour tortilla shells and make soft shelled tacos or beef, refried bean, and shredded cheese quesadillas so quickly that no one can say the words Taco Bell before I'm done. This is a money saver. I don't have to buy the kits - though the kits are delicious, we prefer soft shelled to hard shelled tacos. I can get the same great flavor and use in a multitude of quick and easy recipes, such as tostados, without breaking out all sorts of spices and measuring. Great for a busy mom.

Better than the packet you get and you can add as much or as little as you like.It could use some instruction on it for those who haven't used something like this before. If you use a meat that is very low in fat you don't have anything to mix the powder with to have it saturate the meat. I added a tbsp of water to my ground turkey and it worked great.

I can easily make tacos with my own spice blend, but my kids prefer this, flavor isn't bad for a premade seasoning, I can do better, but kids just love this stuff

I usually buy Taco Bell or Old El Paso taco seasoning mix. This was my first experience with Ortega taco seasoning mix and I was unimpressed. I followed the instructions and added 4 tablespoons to one pound of ground beef and it was very bland. I added one more tablespoon and it still wasn't much. Finally I added a bit more and some other seasonings that I had on hand and it was very good. In the end it simply isn't worth it unless you like your taco meat very lightly seasoned.

As a person who makes tacos/burritos/refried beans all the time and is usually too tired to make my own seasoning mix, I was glad to see I could buy a large shaker of the stuff rather than having to buy individual packets. My one complaint is the label doesn't have any kind of chart showing how much mix to use per pound of beef/turkey/lentils. I've been just guessing by eyeballing it and it's worked out so far, but it seems like it would be easy to misjudge and under- or over-season your food.