Paleo Taco Sauce

     As a (mostly) paleo household, we allow ourselves a few non-paleo meals per week. Three meals, to be exact. I am always looking for ways to paleo-fy those meals if possible, or at least as much as I can. Every Tuesday is "Taco Tuesday". We go back and forth on whether we have tacos or fajitas or enchiladas, you get the idea. Sometimes we go full on pigfest with cheddar cheese, corn tortilla chips, flour tortillas, crunchy corn taco shells, etc. Sometimes, we behave ourselves and have taco salad or use lettuce for taco shells. Even if we eat the non-paleo stuff, we still try to eat whole/clean foods. Our last regular grocery store holdout was Ortega taco sauce. We ate half an 8 oz bottle between the three of us, once a week! 

     My husband and I were both raised on the Standard American Diet and Ortega taco sauce was a household staple of my childhood. The three of us can't have taco night without it. Sadly, the third ingredient listed on the label is corn syrup. Corn syrup is a major no-no when it comes to eating clean. It also contains cornstarch which is not caveman approved. So I set out to come up with a recipe for taco sauce that tastes as good as (and similar to) Ortega taco sauce but is made from natural ingredients.

Behold! Here it is.

 Start with organic tomato paste plus 3 cans water (18 oz)

Add salt, dehydrated minced onion, chili powder, cumin, paprika and garlic powder.

Next, whisk in white vinegar and honey. Add crushed red pepper flake or cayenne pepper to taste. Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover and reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 15 minutes.

Cool and pour into jar to be stored in fridge.

This is actually what was left after tonight's taco feast!

Paleo Taco Sauce

6oz can organic tomato paste

18 oz water

2 teaspoons minced dehydrated onion

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon mild honey (local is best)

1/8 teaspoon (pinch) crushed red pepper flake or cayenne pepper

Whisk together all ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium-low heat and cover. Cook 15 minutes. Cool before storing in a glass container in fridge. Makes about 16 ounces.

*Feel free to add more or less of anything to taste, but be sure to maintain the cooking time to reduce the sauce and marry the flavors.