Being Frugal with Mixes

One way to be frugal is to try and find substitutes for some of your favorite mixes. What I'm referring to are a few the usual suspects that come in pretty handy when making other meals: such as onion soup mix and taco seasoning. Both of these mixes can be pretty pricey at the store, but if you can find a good substitute recipe, you can save a good deal of money. However, the problem comes in trying to find a good recipe.

What I would like to do today is share two of the recipes I've discovered that seem to be fairly close to the originals. I cannot take credit for creating the recipe, so I will include a link to the original site.

First up, here is a great copycat recipe for mixing your own Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. I've tried this one myself and it is really close to the store-bought variety. As you know, this is a salty soup, so if you want to decrease the sodium, I would go for a low-sodium beef bouillon powder. Since I made ours using the regular beef bouillon powder, I do not know how the low-sodium variety will affect the taste, if at all.

What you need...

• ¾ cup of minced onion


• _1/3 cup of beef bouillon powder


• 4 tsp. onion powder


• ¼ tsp. crushed celery seed


• ¼ tsp. sugar

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar and mix well.

recipe courtesy of... recipezaar.com

Next, I would like to share a copycat recipe for Taco Bell Taco Seasoning mix. I have used this recipe for well over a year and my family just loves it.

The measurements for this recipe is for use with one pound of ground beef.

What you need...

• 1 Tbs. flour (I substitute powdered sour cream for this ingredient)


• 1 Tbs. corn starch


• 1 Tbs. dried minced onion

• 2 tsp. chili powder


• 1 tsp. beef bouillon powder


• 1 tsp. garlic salt (to reduce the sodium content, I substitute granulated garlic, instead)


• 1 tsp. ground cumin


• 1 tsp. paprika


• ½ tsp. onion salt


• ¼ tsp. sugar

Again, I use a jar to mix and store this mix.

recipe courtesy of... Robbie's Recipes

For even more recipes, please visit these sites, because there is a wealth of information there. By spending some time on these and similar sites, you can discover even more to help you live a more frugal life.