Easy Homemade Tajin Seasoning Recipe

This easy homemade Tajín seasoning delivers the perfect balance of chili, citrus, and salt with simple pantry ingredients. It’s a quick DIY spice blend that adds bold flavor to fruit, vegetables, meats, and snacks.

I love traditional Mexican cuisine. While most Mexican-inspired dishes don’t lend well to being naturally low carb, I have worked to try to replicate the flavors we know and love from this cuisine.

That inspiration has helped inspire recipes such as this grilled chili lime chicken fajita salad, adobo marinated flank steak, chipotle style ribs, and even my Elote style grilled cauliflower steak.

Because I often enjoy recreating Mexican-inspired meals, I wanted to have a few Mexican seasoning blends on hand to add to these recipes.

While you can easily buy Tajin from your local grocery store, I often find creating bulk blends is actually very easy, cost-effective, and doesn’t contain a lot of added ingredients (preservatives and/or sugar).

Supplies:

• Small Bowl
• Knife & Cutting Board
• Measuring Spoons
• Microplane/ Zester
• Gloves
• Spice Grinder

Homemade Tajin Ingredients:

• Dried Peppers- I used a combination of guajillo, ancho, and sometimes even chipotle peppers (for a little smoky flavor if desired). While you can substitute chili powder or chipotle powder for the peppers, I find using a whole, dried pepper works best.
• Fresh Lime Zest- I use this because it’s the easiest to find and is the least time-intensive. You can always bake the zest off a bit to reduce the moisture content or use dehydrated limes as well. Lime juice will not work as a substitute.
• Sea Salt- Use a coarser sea salt.

How to make homemade chili lime seasoning (Tajin):

This seasoning is very simple to make and takes me maybe 10 minutes max! Here is the process I take to make a bulk seasoning (about 1/2 cup).

1. Start by taking your dried peppers and with a sharp knife, slice them down the middle and remove the stems and the seeds. Wearing gloves during this process works the best to protect your hands.
2. Gather about 1 cup of dried peppers (mix and match to your preference and spice tolerance level). I like to roughly chop the dried peppers into smaller pieces so they fit better in the spice grinder.
3. Zest one whole lime and use this fresh zest. If you prefer it dried, place on a baking sheet or toss in a frying pan on low heat to remove the moisture if desired. You can also use dehydrated limes or citric acid powder if you prefer.
4. Add the dried pepper pieces, lime zest, and sea salt into your spice grinder. Blend or pulse until the mixture is fine.
5. Remove the spice blend and pour into a small bowl or store in a glass jar and use as desired to make this jalapeno popper hasselback chicken or even on these brûléed grapefruit!

(Tajin) Chili Lime Seasoning Uses:

Chili lime seasoning has so many great uses! Here are some of my favorites:

• Mexican street corn everything– Like these Mexican street corn poppers, grilled esquites, this elote pasta salad, and these Mexican street corn fritters.
• Use as a garnish and line the rim of this Smoked Hatch Chili Margarita or on this Elote cauliflower steak.
• Season homemade tortilla chips or low-carb tortillas to add a little extra spice.
• Put on your favorite protein (chicken, salmon, steak, pork) to spice up this Keto Chipotle Chili recipe.
• Pair it with sweeter fruits like mango, watermelon, and pineapple for a sweet, savory, spicy combo or over your favorite roasted veggies.

Storage and Make Ahead Tips

Homemade Tajín seasoning stores well and is easy to keep on hand for everyday cooking.

Store the seasoning in an airtight container in a cool, dry place away from heat and moisture. When properly stored, it will keep its flavor for up to six months.

Before using, give the container a quick shake or stir to redistribute the spices, as settling can occur over time. Avoid introducing moisture into the container to maintain both texture and potency.

More Recipes To Try

• Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad
• Grilled Elote Style Cauliflower Steaks
• Keto Chipotle Chili
• Over The Top Chili (Smoked Chili Recipe)

Easy Homemade Tajin Seasoning Recipe

This homemade chili lime seasoning recipe is a spicy Mexican style Tajin spice blend made of dried chili peppers and a nice touch of lime flavor. Spice up your favorite fruits and vegetables, chicken, fish and more.

4.72 from 21 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Grilling

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Easy Homemade Tajin Seasoning Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 oz.

Calories: 3kcal

Author: Bon Appeteach

Ingredients

• 1 cup Dried Peppers- guajillo ancho, and chipotle, seeded
• 1 Lime zested
• 2 tsp. Coarse Sea Salt

Instructions

• PLEASE NOTE: I highly recommend wearing gloves when working with the dried peppers! This is just a precaution.
• With a sharp knife, slice open your peppers and remove the seeds and stems. I use about 1 cup of dried whole peppers for this recipe which will yield about a half cup ground.
• Run your knife through the dried pepper pieces to help them fit in the spice grinder. Place them in the base.
• Zest your lime and add it into the grinder fresh. You can also use dehydrated lime or citric acid in place of the fresh lime zest.
• Finally, add the salt.
• Once everything is in the spice grinder, pulse the mixture until it’s finely blended.
• Remove and place in a bowl or into a glass jar and store for later.

Video

Notes

If you like a little more heat to your peppers, opt to keep the seeds in!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 3kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Sodium: 291mg