Taco Bell Style Taco Sauce

Now that you have made your All-American Tacos (see link below), you need some of that fast food taco sauce to go with them. You know the kind, the sauce that comes in the small foil packets that are littering the floor board of your car, the ones served at Taco Bell, Taco Bueno, and Taco John's just to name a few.

Now, I have been making this taco sauce for a long time and use it not only on tacos but it is pretty good on enchiladas and burritos. The base recipe for this taco sauce actually came from Todd Wilbur who does a series on 'clone' type recipes on his website 'Top Secret Recipes' (see link below). I happen to have added a few additional spices that I think rounds out the recipe quite nicely, but I cannot take the initial credit for this sauce. The great thing about this taco sauce recipe is that it is quick, easy, cheap to make, and tastes just like the Taco Bell sauce..

Cost Analysis

I do not want you to get the wrong idea here, I am not beating up on Taco Bell, they just happen to be the most common and or popular Mexican fast food restaurant here in the United States. To be honest, I like their crispy tacos and their mild taco sauce, so I am only going to compare prices on my homemade taco sauce versus that of the Taco Bell brand sold at my local Walmart. The price for the Taco Bell brand of 'Mild' taco sauce is $1.28 for a 7.5oz bottle (17.4 cents per ounce). Total cost of my homemade taco sauce is 68.7 cents for 30 ounces (2.29 cents per ounce). That means ounce for ounce, it is 87% cheaper to make your own Taco Bell style sauce at home than it is to buy it at your local grocery store. That is pretty amazing!

The Ingredients

No surprises here as you can imagine, making your own taco sauce gives you creative license on the ingredients that you use. Not a lot of difference in the main ingredients, but as always, the commercial preparation contains the necessary preservatives to keep it shelf stable. Looking at the ingredient list below, I know which one I would rather feed my family.

Taco Bell Sauce – Water, Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Vinegar, Contains Less Than 2% of Salt, Chili Pepper, Spices, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Benzoate As A Preservative, Potassium Chloride Maltodextrin, Yeast Extract, Datem, Natural Flavor.

Homemade Taco Bell Sauce – Water, Tomato Paste, Vinegar, Cornstarch, Chili Pepper, Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and red (cayenne) pepper.

Homemade Taco Sauce

3 cups water

2 teaspoons cornstarch (0.2oz = 1.8 cents)

1 6oz can tomato paste (6oz = 46 cents)

3 tablespoons white vinegar (1.5oz = 3 cents)

4 teaspoons chili powder (0.4oz = 9.2 cents)

2 teaspoons salt (0.2oz = ½ penny)

½ teaspoon onion powder (0.05oz = 1.2 cents)

½ teaspoon garlic powder (0.05oz = 1.4 cents)

½ teaspoon red pepper (mild) (0.05oz = 5.6 cents)

In a small saucepan, dissolve the cornstarch in water. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks or place in small jelly jars and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

NoteL If you like your taco sauce hot, then use 1 teaspoon red pepper (cayenne), for fiery hot sauce use 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons. As always, adjust the ingredients to suit your taste, what is hot for me may be mild for you and your family.

Conclusion

Making you own taco sauce to go with your All-American Tacos (see link below) is simple and easy and it is 87% cheaper than buying it at your local Walmart. Can I say that again 87% cheaper, heck I do not think we have made any recipe on this blog that saves you as much over the commercial brand as this one does. After looking at the price breakdown and tasting the sauce, I cannot imagine anyone wanting to buy the pre-made Taco Bell sauce ever again. As always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us on friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.

References:

Tacos: The All-American Mexican Food http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Tacos

Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Taco-Bell-Mild-Border-Sauce-Copycat-Recipe.html