My family loves the Mexican Pizzas that I make. Since they are a copycat type recipe, I have been buying and using the taco sauce you buy in a jar at the store. We liked the famous fast food restaurant brand best, so that is what I was buying, and it worked well.

Every time I bought the sauce though, I would think about how expensive and unhealthy the bottled version was. I knew I could come up with a version at home. I searched for a recipe online, but did not find anything that was exactly like I wanted. I found a few recipes I liked, but none were quite right.

So, I changed some things and came up with a version that turned out really well.  I think this sauce is better than anything I can buy and my husband says that it is as good as the sauce you get at the fast food mexican restaurant type places.

Recipes like my Mexican Pizza are my quick and easy recipes. I like to be able to make them fast. So, when I make sauces like this or my enchilada sauce, I like to make large batches and freeze it in small containers. This way I don’t have to make up a batch every time I need it. Doing this ends up saving me a lot of time.

Taco Sauce

• 8 ounce tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (more if you want this hotter)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon of onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Mix all together in a blener until smooth. Pour sauce into pan and cook over med-low heat for 15-20 minutes. Don’t skip the cooking part of this. You need to heat the sauce up to really blend the flavors together.

For more recipes and frugal ideas see Life As Mom, Grocery Cart Challenge, and Foodie Fridays.

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