Homemade Taco Sauce

All of these sauces can be tweaked to suit the individual. Here's what I did to make it suit my taste: Make that two tablespoons of chili powder. Forget the onion an garlic powder, add the real stuff by putting all of the ingredients in a blender plus 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 onion. The secret thing to make this sauce even better is to simmer it for at least an hour to bring out the flavor of the fresh onions and garlic.

Really good flavor. I'll never buy taco sauce again !! Recently went to a friends house where they were having tacos and noticed a "Honey Chipotle" name brand sauce, came home tweaked this recipe . Can not tell the difference between the two.

Really good, made it twice now. I usually only have tomato paste on hand so I add water to get the right consistency and just skip the water listed in the recipe. Also, I've used red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar because it's all I had and still tastes great.

A great tasting sauce without having a prominent vinegar flavor as some major brands do. The sauce wow factor can be changed by adding or subtracting the amount of cayenne. This has a mild spiciness as per ingredients so next time I will double the cayenne. This has a good consistency that will hold well on your tacos or even as a dip.

Excellent flavor, easy to alter so that it isn't too spicy. Much better than store-bought. Thanks.

I made this today. It’s good. I think it’s a little too tomatoey for taco sauce.

Why aren't there more reviews on this sauce? This stuff is amazing - far superior to anything in the store.

This was really good! I love the fact that I had the ingredients in the house & didn't have to go to the store (my whole reason for making it homade). The family love it, thanks for sharing!

Love this! I was looking for an alternative to overly processed store bought options and this fit the bill.

Never knew you could make your own taco sauce till tonight when we realized we didn't have any. I had all ingredients on hand-whipped it up in no time. It was a hair runny for my liking so will reduce the water next time. It tasted like store bought-probably would be better after 24 hours in the fridge.

I was making my standby Burrito Pie from this site, and didn't have any taco sauce. In an effort to avoid going to the store, I came upon this recipe and was thrilled to find out I had everything in my cabinet. This taco sauce was very tasty and we loved the Burrito Pie we made with it. It will be my new go-to taco sauce recipe, and I will never buy storebought again!

Terrific Taco Sauce! We like a little more heat to our sauces, so I added a small serrano pepper (seeded) then blended the sauce before the simmering stage. Loved it!

i cant wait to try this recipe it sounds really delicious thank u soo much

Dude, this sauce is delicious. That said, I had a 15oz can of sauce and just added a splash of water, as it seemed it's only duty was to cook out. I simmered a bit longer, maybe a 1/2 hour & then let it cool on the stove for an hour or so. I transferred to a squeeze bottle & refrigerated a few hours. The 1/2 tsp of Cayenne gives it a healthy heat, but not "hot" to someone that likes spicy food. If you're not a big fan of the spicy food, reduce it.

Love this taco sauce! I make a gallon can at a time and freeze it. My family loves it!

I am not a fan of overly processed food, so love having an option for homemade sauces too. This one is soooo good!! Everyone loved it! I have made this one a ton of times, and am always happy with the results.

Holy cow, I am so glad I Googled this! I am making some bean burritos and I was like "man, I want some chili sauce like a Taco Bueno" and THIS IS IS. I love that you really can adjust to taste, I double the chili powder. Next time I'll prob leave out the sugar and the vinegar cooks down sweet enough for me. Thanks for posting this, it seriously is so easy!

Very easy to make, but pretty spicy. Be sure to decrease the amount of peppers used if you want a more mild sauce. This sauce gets better after it sits in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Excellent recipe! I will make this again!

I followed all of the directions, but for some reason, mine had a high tomato flavor. So it turned out the be a cross between taco sauce and pizza sauce -- which was actually perfect for us this time -- because I made it to use on taco pizza, lol! I'll do this as is each time I make taco pizza. But as a straight-up taco sauce, I think I need to tweak the spices a little more. But overall, I love have this recipe instead of the canned stuff. Like others have mentioned, it's great having all the ingredients on hand as well!

Made this tonight for tacos and it was great. Much better than what's available in my regular supermarket. Based on other reviews I was worried it would be to tomatoey, but it seemed just right to me. I froze half for next time and will definitely be making this again.

This is so easy and so good. I didn't even have to go to the store for ingredients. I love it!

I did follow another reviewer's approach - subbing 1/2 an onion & garlic cloves for the dry - putting all in a blender then simmering for awhile. I also reduced the water to 1/3 C.

I add more some fresh onion and garlic as well as the powders, more chili powder and a little ghost pepper because we like it hot, but this is a great recipe with the flavor of the bottled taco sauce without the corn syrup. I've been making this for a couple of years now.

I omitted the cayenne, some in my family doesn't like the heat. But very tasty! This will be another go to recipe on taco night!

Great! I made it as written except skipped the paprika, and doubled the cayenne for extra spice. Super easy to make, and inexpensive too! Thanks!

this was very easy to make. It was also very good

We added a little cilantro, best color sauce ever! I dont think I'll be buying store bought again!

very easy to make as i had all the ingredients at hand. just the right amount of spice. it is a bit heavy on the cumin, but i like cumin. i imagine it will only get better with time. going to freeze the whole batch.

This sauce is simple and tasty. you have all the ingredients in your pantry.

Very good and easy to mix it up and make it spicier.

I made this taco sauce today and it is so good. I used it for my Mexican stuffed jumbo shells recipe. I should mention that this sauce also cleared my stuffy nose *lol* so thank you for a great recipe.

This sauce competes with store bought options very well. Only modification I made was an extra dash of cayenne for some extra heat. My only complaint is that the sauce was slightly too "tomatoey" for my tastes, but nowhere near enough to call it bad. Don't think I'll ever have to buy taco sauce again!

So good. One more thing I'll never buy in store again.

I've made this multiple times by now, an I normally don't change a thing. Occasionally I won't have onion powder, but it's not a problem to leave it out. But this sauce is fantastic as taco salad dressing!

Terrific taco sauce recipe

Make this a day in advance...It’s ok right off the stove but it’s really good after a night in the fridge! I had to sub chipotle pepper since that’s what I had on hand, and I added a splash of Worcestershire sauce based on another couple of reviews - other than that I followed the recipe as written. Keeper recipe!

Thanks for sharing. I made it because I had every thing in the house.

I love this recipe. Made as is and will definitely make again.

Just the taste I was looking for !

This sauce totally saved dinner. The nearest store is 10 miles away and it was a make or break situation. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!!!!

I must say this taco sauce is the best!! I have made it a number of times. So easy to make and freezes well. Can be used for appetizers and/or other meals as well. Will not purchase package again. Thank you for your submission.

I’m making this right now for the 4th or 5th time. I will NEVER buy this in the store again! I don’t typically use garlic salt, only garlic powder, so I use 1 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and 1/2 tsp salt. I also cut back on the cayenne, so I can chop a few fresh jalapeños into my taco salad...I love this stuff! Freezing the leftovers is great!

Used apple cider instead of white vinegar, 2 big dashes Worcestershire sauce, 1 full tsp. chili powder, 2 packets Splenda and no cayenne. It was perfect for us! Thank you!

I thought this sauce was amazing. Just like brand name taco sauces. This recipe is a keeper.

Oh my gosh this taco sauce is amazing!! Sometimes I will try a recipe and it doesn't quite taste like what I thought it would and I know that just goes by the individual. But I am with everyone else...I will never buy taco sauce again! I don't like chunky sauces so this is amazing! My husband loved it too and it's so easy!!

My wife can't stand spicy foods but she loves this. Go figure!

Skipped the water and put it in a slow cooker with the lean ground beef. Worked well!

Perfect sauce! Added a couple dashes of Texas Pete hot sauce for some added fire.

Fantastic! I use this for tacos every time and we love the sauce!

Excellent, just enough heat.

Made it exactly by the recipe. Loved it!

I had to tone it down just a little-added a little more tomato sauce, but froze the other half I didn't use!!

My family LOVED this recipe and they are not easy to please!!

This is so good. It tastes JUST like Taco Bell's Red Sauce!

I edited it a bit myself, having a mentor of cooking of about 25+ years suggest some alternatives to the ingredients here since I didn't have any of them. However, it turned out amazingly well! My friends loved it during our taco potluck get together! :D

An easy recipe with the right amount of spice. Fantastic!

Perfect sauce! Added a couple dashes of Texas Pete hot sauce for some added fire.

Great recipe. I mix the leftover taco sauce and hamburger meat and add some canned black beans to create an instant and tasty chili con carne.

Excellent recipe, great base that can be easily experimented with.

Made this last night to go into a casserole. Sauce is so good. Inexpensive to make and much better than the bottled stuff in stores. This is a keeper recipe for me.

I followed the directions and it came out very good! It was quick and simple and I will make it again.

Delicious and easy!!! Will be making regularly

I used my own tomato sauce. I followed recipe as written otherwise. I am set! I have 2 containers in freezer and this recipe when I need more. Really good!

Honestly I was skeptical, but this turned out great! I had limited time & this turned out to be perfect for our tacos. Next time I will simmer longer to see i it's less 'tomato forward' I made 1/2 the recipe & added a scant 1/4 tsp extra of the cayenne to give it some extra spice.

It’s still simmering and I can already taste it’s a winner. I did not have garlic salt so I used 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt as a substitution. Also, doubled the cayenne because I like it HOT!

I will never buy taco sauce again! We love this recipe!

My husband loved this. We live in the Middle East and could not find any taco sauce to buy so I made this. It turned out great for our homemade Tex mex tacos.

I can't believe that it has never dawned on me before to make this and not just buy it. It was super simple and delicious. The only change I made was substituting salt and a bit more garlic powder for the garlic salt, which I don't usually keep on hand. I am ridiculously and (not so secretly), proud of having made my own taco sauce. I will make this again!

Amazing. This made quite a bit for me. I'm very impressed. If you like taco sauce, you're missing out if you don't try this.

Great sauce and so easy!

Excellent. Great recipe

Perfect. Tastes just like Old El Paso without all the sodium. Thank you, this will be in my fridge forever.

Easy to make

It was too tame for my taste as is. I added a lot more heat, more garlic salt, more chili powder, and a dash of Worcester sauce (enhances the vinegar/sugar taste). Afterwards it was great. ;)

Great taco sauce.

The only changes I made were to double the amount of chili powder and cayenne to make it a bit hotter. Loved it! Used it on top of the Chicken Enchiladas I recipe found on this site. Great combo!!

Great sauce. I was a little short on cumin though, and I'm sure when I make it again with the full amount it will be even better.

amazing, just amazing

Started out with the recipe as posted. Very close to our favorite store brand, but had just a little too much vinegar for our taste. Added another 8 oz. tomato sauce, bumped up the water to 1 cup, onion powder to 1Tbsp, garlic powder to 1/2 Tbsp, sugar to 1 tsp, chili powder to 1 tsp, and reduced the cayenne to 1/4 tsp. I let it simmer for over an hour, and it was great!

Best taco sauce.

Super goood. Perfect as is.

I forgot to take a pic. Quick, easy and smelled great. I didn’t have taco sauce for the burrito pie recipe . This worked well. Will definitely make ago vs the store bought.

Great sauce

My rating may go up to five; I haven't really used it but have tasted tested it, and so far, I like it.

easy, tasty, and way better than store bought !!!

This was a delicious sauce that could be used with so many Mexican dishes, and it could be tweaked for taste preferences. Perfect as is, though.

This sauce is the bomb. There’s nothing more to say!!!!!!

Followed exactly . Impressed. It's great with no far out ingredients to buy. Perfect texture. Fraction of store bought price and tastes better. Makes a nice wet burrito red sauce too. This one made the favorites list. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent on tacos-freezes well

Really good! I find with these types of sauces, using beef or chicken broth makes them that much better. I was out of cayenne, but that's ok, it was for people who don't like heat and this way, I really tasted the other ingredients in the sauce! Next time I'll try the suggestions I've read about using apple cider or red wine vinegar, fresh garlic cloves and onion. (Although I usually save the fresh onion for the dish this tops).

It’s just ok for me as written. Needed more spice to it. There was too much tomato flavor. I’ll tweak it next time.

It adds great flavor to tacos! Made it for my family and they loved it.

After the sauce thickened, I added cilantro. I used all of the sauce for my spinach Enchiladas. Very good

Way better than the processed stuff. Thanks for posting!

Soooooo easy and delicious. You also know what is inside.

This is great. Didn’t want to use store bought sauce anymore and now I don’t have to! Made as written except for less cumin and more cayenne ( personal preference). Thanks for the recipe!

Made as directed. We served it immediately and was underwhelmed the first time. Tried it again a few days later and loved it. It was a near clone of my kids favorite Mexican style fast food place. Next time I’ll be sure to make it a day ahead to let the flavors mingle before serving.

Made it exactly as written and love it!

Easy to make. It's better than store bought.