This Homemade Fajita Seasoning consists of 8 common pantry spices blended together. Use on chicken, steak, pork, seafood, vegetables or plant protein of your choice. Recipe yields a 1/2 cup or 8 (2 tablespoon) portions.
Once upon a time, Pat and I would make chicken fajitas by opening a bag of store-bought, frozen and previously “grilled” fajita chicken. True story! We’d thaw them in a skillet and fill our soft taco shells with the chicken, shredded lettuce and cheese.
That’s it. Obviously that was way before this little blog of mine took over our lives and we discovered we like lots of different toppings.
These days, I make my own fajita seasoning. Instead of frozen, we grill fresh chicken and we top it with caramelized bell peppers and onions, thinly sliced romaine lettuce, pickled jalapeños, diced red onions, pepper jack cheese and hot sauce. Allthehotsauce.
As you can see, we’ve come a long way and I’m happy to share with you the recipe for the easiest homemade fajita taco seasoning ever.
To Make This Homemade Fajita Seasoning blend You will Need:
- chili powder – Adds flavor and can be mild to moderately spicy.
- kosher salt – Enhances the flavors of the spices.
- paprika – For color and subtle flavor.
- sugar – Lends a touch of subtle sweetness and caramelization when grilled or seared.
- onion powder – Lends bold oniony flavor.
- cumin (ground) – Lends earthiness and warmth, with an edge of citrus.
- garlic powder – Adds flavor that’s sweeter yet milder than fresh garlic.
- cayenne pepper – Adds a spicy kick.
What Are The Best Spices For Making Your Own Seasonings and Spice Blends?
There’s no right or wrong brand. I will first say, buy what you can afford. However, not all spices are created equal as you tend to get what you pay for. Currently I use Morton & Bassett (not sponsored) because I find their spices to be top notch in texture, color and flavor. I love and respect what their company stands for not only with charitable work but also quality control. With that said some other wonderful brands I’ve used over the years are Simple Organic, Frontier Co-op and Penzys.
In a small bowl, or my personal fave a glass jar, add 2 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 3/4 teaspoons garlic powder and 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
Mix it well until thoroughly combined and you’re good to go. Seriously it’s crazy good and just as easy!
I’ve used it to make chicken fajitas or bowls, vegetarian Portobello fajitas and if you have my cookbook then you’re familiar with the steak version.
For more homemade spices and seasoning blends to try click here!
Enjoy! And if you give this Homemade Fajita Seasoning recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Homemade Fajita Seasoning
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1½ teaspoon sugar
- 1½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in an airtight container and store in a dry, dark place for up to 6 months.
- You can also use a few tablespoons of this seasoning blend in replace of a store bought packets.
Buy the Cookbook: Simply Scratch : 120 Wholesome Homemade Recipes Made Easy Now available on Amazon »
THANK YOU in advance for your support!
Laurie, how do you do it all. You amaze me! This looks so good, I love homemade spice blends ; ) xoxox Sheila
Haha {I have no idea!!}! Miss you Sheila!! XOXOXO
Homemade spice blends are always SO much better than the store bought stuff! This sounds awesome!
I’m all about making my own homemade spice mixes, but I need some cute little jars like the one you have pictured! I’ll try your recipe out sometime, sound delish.
xxx
Thanks Jaclyn! It’s actually a little Ball jar I picked up at the grocery store 🙂
I remember when I made fajitas from a bag. WHAT shocking I know!! HAHA Love this seasoning.
I know … it’s crazy!! 🙂
Delicious seasoning! My family loves it. Homemade seasoning are the best and your flavor blend is perfect. Thank you!
Thank you, Alisa!
I never tried making my homemade spice blend before. This is amazing! I think I need to make some inventories of my spices. 😉
Ha! I remember the days of pre-made fajita chicken…really, pre-made everything. I’m so glad I grew out of that. Love this, friend!
Easy and no need to spend additional $$ when you have the spices at home!
Oooo, this looks awesome, Laurie! For how often I cook Mexican food, I definitely need to keep something like this around. Great recipe!
Thanks Georgia! I always make a double batch… we use it THAT often 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Yummy! Fajita seasoning is a must for Mexican cuisine lovers. I loved your fajita seasoning jar: simple, but cute!
Thank you! It’s actually just a small Ball jar 🙂
Nice! Looks very easy, with easy ingredients too. Cute Ball jar:)
I love making my own seasonings, they are the best! I had the best fajita tacos in Austin, need to try and recreate. Maybe your seasoning will be the trick.
Okay, when I read cornstarch in a spice blend I was like….Whoa! What is going on? That is totally a good idea! Who woulda thunk it? Thanks for the idea…gotta make this spice mix now….:)
I think I could eat fajitas every ding dang day of my life.
Totally have all that I need to make this at home… which means we’re having fajitas soon! Wooot woot.
Isn’t it funny when you look back and think about how you use to cook before you started your blog?!?!?! Dustin and I ate mostly frozen chicken sticks, fish sticks and frozen pizza. It’s probably been years since we have touched any of those because I have to make it from scratch! Love this fajita seasoning and the cornstarch tip is awesome!
I know it’s baffling! 🙂
If I have powdered chicken bouillon could I just add it to the mix? How much would you recommend? Thanks! Looks like a great recipe.
So I’m really curious and have yet to find the answer. I have cayenne -powder-, is that the same at the pepper or totally different?
I would say it’s the same… I think companies just label things different. 🙂
I’m going to use this for a company dinner, but on pork. If it’s good I’ll take all the credit for it. Thanks!
Go for it!
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My husband and I made fajitas last night using this recipe for the spice mix. Simply perfect! Thank you!
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This recipe looks great, but can I use it for beef too?
I don’t see why not… But I’ve yet to try it
Just tried this on shrimp & pepper fajitas (minus the cayenne, sadly, as my kids abhor all things spicy) and the flavor was spot on! Only thing was, I think there was a tad too much cornstarch. That may simply be a product of using shrimp vs chicken, though. Next time I’ll just reduce the amount of cornstarch. Thanks!
When I put cornstarch in my DIY seasoning,I use it to help thicken up the juices. Instead of “coating” the meat,I throw some seasoning in a pan,add water then throw the meat in to cook then whatever veggies. That way,you have seasoned meat w/some seasoned gravy/juice so the other food like onions,bell peppers,etc. gets coated with the seasoning too. Hope that made sense.
Hi Ali! Yes! I do the same thing with my taco seasoning… In fact I’ll add that bit to the instructions!
Fajitas are my favorite, been looking for some recipes, thanks for sharing, sounds yummy.
Simon
I know this was posted quite a while ago, but just wanted to thank you. This is an awesome blend to have on hand. Worked SO well! We added red pepper flakes because we like the heat.
Hi Laurie, nice looking recipe. I just had a question about the “2 packets Liquid Bouillon”. There are a variety of different packets and concentrations available so just wanted to know which ones you recommend?
Hi Brian! I use a natural one my major supermarket has. But Knorr I think would work. Sometimes I just mix the seasoning with 1/4 cup of olive oil and the juice from 1/2 a lime.
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Hi! I plan on making your spice blend tomorrow but I’m just confused about something: are the garlic powder and onion powder part of the blend? The ingredients list says yes but the picture instructions don’t include them. Thanks for clarifying!
Hi Stephanie! Yes it sure is! Sorry for the confusion 🙂
Made this today. Worked and tasted even better than I expected. Thanks!
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This is taco seasoning not fajita, you do know the difference right? I would drop the cornstarch it might be GMO. And if you can’t get your spices to stick to meat, then you probably shouldn’t be cooking. And any bouillon is not needed as it drives up the salt and could contain harmful ingredients. But, as I tell anyone I give a recipe to, modify it
to your own liking.
Very happy with this seasoning! The cornstarch is an awesome ingredient…gives it flavor beyond juuust the spice. Thank you 🙂
I’m so glad, Sal! 🙂
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Thanks I’m going to try it. I’ll get back you to let you know everything went.
Enjoy!
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Can you use arrowroot powder in place of the cornstarch? I can’t eat corn products.
Hi Susan! Great You can omit the cornstarch altogether
I really like this spice blend…very good!
I’m so glad!!
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Why don’t you use cornstarch any more? I had just heard it might work to keep spice from clumping.
Hi Sandra! Great question! There’s a few reasons: but mainly is that my family and I didn’t like the texture of it when grilling chicken or sautéing beef. I use it so often that it doesn’t clump but if it does, I just grab my tiny whisk or a fork and stir it up. Hope this helps!
This is really, really good!! I just made it yesterday, 6/24/21 & used it on my chicken & steak fajita’s tonite, made them on the grill!! This is my new favorite recipe to use!! Tyvm for giving us this!