Simply Organic Southwest Taco Seasoning

So we had taco salad for dinner last night.

I never remember whether we have taco seasoning packets so I have a ton of them in my cabinet. Since making a commitment to eat less food with chemicals and organically when possible, I found this taco seasoning at Whole Foods by Simply Organic.

Out of curiosity, I put the Simply Organic next to the Ortega. I wanted to check out the difference in ingredients and calories/carbs/sugar.


Here’s what stood out for me:

The Simply Organic has less sodium but a few more calories than Ortega

The Simply Organic has no added sugar (though it does have added maltodextrin, which is a starch made from sugar). I am curious about whether maltodextrin is gluten-free though. I’m hoping my GF friends will chime in here.

Simply Organic contains something called silicone dioxide. This sounded scary to me so I looked it up. Apparently it’s used to keep the spices from clumping together. A preservative, really. I found this article – and I have to say, I’m not too pumped about this ingredient.

Whereas Simply Organic is mostly spices, Ortega only has two identifiable spices on their ingredients list.

Taste: I wasn’t in love with the flavor of Simply Organic, but I’m not a fan of overly spicy foods. It was very flavorful but just a bit too heat-spicy for me.

So now I’m convinced I just have to make my own taco seasoning. How hard can it be?