The Major Flavors

• Start with your favorite commercial or homemade chili powder for your taco seasoning. This provides a base of well-balanced flavors, and can make up 1/3 to 1/2 of the total. Add equal parts onion and garlic powder, to make the mixture more savory. Combined, they can range from 1/2 the chili powder's volume to an equal volume. Cumin provides the remaining major flavor. You can use a lot or a little, depending how much you like its taste. It's often useful at this stage to cook a pinch of the powder with a morsel of ground beef, and taste the mixture.

Tweaking the Flavors

• If you find the flavors too intense, mellow the seasoning mixture by adding good-quality paprika, or a mixture of regular and smoked paprika. Once you're happy with its balance, you can customize the mixture with modest quantities of cayenne, ancho, chipotle or other hot peppers, or with dried oregano or thyme. Some recipes call for salt, but it's usually best to add that separately for better control over the finished product. If you want to mix up a large batch, add a small spoonful of cornstarch or arrowroot to your spices to help keep them from caking in storage.