How To Make Homemade Ortega Taco Sauce
Why, Why, Why? Why Ortega Taco Sauce?
I don’t know why, but for some reason people love Ortega Taco Sauce. I mean, it’s good… but not something I’d spend months trying to perfect a sauce over.
Believe it or not, Ortega Taco Sauce is searched for online, thousands of times every month.
People love this stuff.
They put it on everything… eggs, meat, salads, veggies, heck… even tacos!
The reason? I think it’s because Ortega Taco Sauce is sweeter than normal sauces. It has tons of sugar in it. And everyone love sweetness. If you grab a bottle of the Ortega Taco Sauce in the store, the third ingredient listed is corn syrup!
While doing my research for taco sauce recipes, I came across a number of people trying to recreate the Ortega brand taco sauce… It seemed like the perfect challenge.
So, I figured I’ll take a shot at homemade Ortega taco sauce… This is what I came up with.
First, I want to start by breaking this Ortega taco hot sauce recipe down a line item at a time…
To start, the first and biggest ingredient is tomato sauce. Notice, it’s not just regular tomatoes… but tomato sauce. Now, I like the Heinz brand… but that’s just me. Why is this important?
Remember, I said that this taco sauce is very sweet… well, the tomato sauce includes red bell pepper and dextrose… two ingredients that will add a touch of sweetness to the finished sauce.
But that’s not all… we’re going to add an additional 2 tablespoons of white table sugar just to kick the sweetness in this Ortega taco sauce up a notch!
Now to touch on the vinegar aspect…. As you know, vinegar gives all taco sauces a “bite”. But in this case, we only use 2 tablespoons… it certainly keeps the sweetness at the forefront of this taco sauce.
As for heat… we have chili powder and cayenne… good additions, but not enough to really heat this taco sauce up.
We finish with the onion & garlic powder and the remaining spices for flavor.
It’s a great combination of ingredients, but like I said, very sweet for a hot taco sauce.
Give this Ortega taco sauce a try… It’s not exact, but I think it’s close.
Homemade Ortega Taco Sauce Ingredients
1 can 15 ounce tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
Homemade Ortega Taco Sauce Directions
- Add all the ingredients to a blender… and blend until smooth.
- Add additional water to get the perfect consistency.
Refrigerate this hot sauce, use within a few days.
