We've all been there: Your family needs a quick meal on the table, and you succumb to the allure and promise of a quick dinner from the brightly colored packet of taco seasoning. Pretty much everyone knows the drill: Brown the meat, breaking it up as you go, sprinkle the taco seasoning over it, and add a specific amount of water, simmering and stirring until thickened. As the water evaporates away, you wonder, hey, what does that water really do, and is it necessary? Turns out it's essential for giving the proper consistency to the taco meat because those seasoning mixes contain cornstarch, which requires water and heat to create a sauce.
What you're doing when you add water is helping the cornstarch create a smooth sauce flavored with the spices. The heat then activates the cornstarch, thickening the mixture. Without it, the meat would be very dry and crumbly, and it could spill out of your taco shell instead of holding together, an issue you've probably noticed if you make your own taco seasoning blend.
While either cornstarch or flour can be used to thicken a mixture, cornstarch is the popular thickening agent when creating smooth, translucent sauces.Flour-thickened sauces tend to be opaque, like gravies. It also doesn't take as much cornstarch to thicken a sauce, making it ideal for including in a taco mix packet. The amount of flour needed would make the packet unwieldy. However, because cornstarch needs to be dissolved in liquid, you have to add water when cooking. Luckily, cornstarch is a forgiving substance that dissolves relatively easily, though you must not skip the cooking step because it needs high heat, just below boiling, to thicken.
Some taco mixes contain modified corn starch, which is not a genetically modified ingredient. Modified starches have the same effect as traditional starches, but they work faster. They can thicken quicker and are often used in sauces that need a specific temperature to thicken or are considered instant. This means there is less user error with a modified starch.
How To Make Your Own Taco Seasoning
If you've ever made your own taco seasoning mix from your stash of cabinet spices, you might have noticed that the resulting cooked meat is less cohesive. This is because most recipes do not include the addition of cornstarch.Now, you can create your own blends with a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and other spices -- depending on the flavor you are looking for and what region you want to emulate. Once you have the flavor you want, add some cornstarch to the blend of spices. Just be aware that a little cornstarch goes a long way. A typical 12-servingtaco seasoning mix recipe uses about 1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch.
If you want to skip the cornstarch in your homemade seasoning to use it for other purposes, just sprinkle ⅓ to ½ teaspoon of cornstarch per pound of browned, spiced meat before adding ¾ cup of water and heat until thickened.
Turns out it's essential for giving the proper consistency to the taco meat because those seasoning mixes contain cornstarch, which requires water and heat to create a sauce. What you're doing when you add water is helping the cornstarch create a smooth sauce flavored with the spices.
Once browned, drain off any extra grease. Then add in the taco seasoning, salsa or tomato sauce and water. Bring to a light simmer. Add more water as desired.
1️⃣ Let the meat rest (yes, even if it is over cooked; if you cut right away, any juices escape). 2️⃣ Cut into slices. This exposes more surface area. 3️⃣ Spoon warm chicken broth over the top.
Typically when cooking taco meat, we add water to help activate the powdered seasoning mix from a taco packet. But instead, we're going to use our fifth ingredient, milk. Using milk instead of water helps to play on the natural creaminess you'd expect from ranch which adds a really nice mouthfeel to the taco meat.
The heat then activates the cornstarch, thickening the mixture. Without it, the meat would be very dry and crumbly, and it could spill out of your taco shell instead of holding together, an issue you've probably noticed if you make your own taco seasoning blend.
The practice is most commonly used for fresh chicken and is also used in frozen poultry products, although other meats may also be plumped. Poultry producers have injected chicken (and other meat) with saltwater solutions since the 1970s, claiming it makes for tastier, juicier meat.
Store: You can store your seasoning mix for ~6 months. That's why it's nice to make extra up and be ready for taco night any night of the week! 1/2 cup water: After you've browned your meat, add in 1/2 cup water with 3 tablespoons of the taco seasoning mix. Stir to combine and mix all together.
Cooking ground beef at moderate temperatures will reduce shrinkage and help retain juices and flavor. Overcooking draws out more fat and juices from ground beef, resulting in a dry, less tasty product.
Salt draws out moisture, drying the meat and creating steam while it cooks, preventing it from browning properly. Season the meat towards the end. Don't overcook the meat. For tender and moist ground hamburger, cook until no pink remains, and promptly remove from heat once it's done.
The basic formula that I use whenever I'm converting a dry spice or seasoning into a paste for cooking is quite simple: equal parts spice, oil, and water. This helps bring out both the water- and oil-soluble flavor compounds for you to build on.
Third is to drain the meat of any fat after it is cooked. Put the meat back in the pan, add your seasonings with a little water or tomatoes and let it simmer a few minutes to incorporate the flavors. Use lean ground meat or grill chicken breast meat and shred. Both could be lean choices and still flavorful.
We prepare it much the same way you prepare taco meat at home: after simmering, it is drained of excess fat and pre-seasoned with our signature blend of 7 authentic seasonings and spices. It is then packaged with added water to lock in the flavor and for added moisture, and then shipped to our restaurants.
How add thickness: Most premade taco seasoning packets have a thickening agent in them and you add in a little water to make the taco meat a little saucy. If you are looking to recreate that add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to the taco seasoning mix. Add 1/2 cup of water to the meat when you add your taco seasoning.
It's as easy to make as cooking ground beef, optionally along with onions, before sprinkling on some taco seasoning along with water and cornstarch to create a thick sauce that coats the meat.
Also, meat ground too many times will become “mushy” or if the meat has warmed above 37 degrees F. If you must stuff off a grinder using a stuffing tube, grind the meat first through a kidney plate (2 or 3 hole plate).
Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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