Make Your Own Chili Powder!

Ever need a ingredient and simply don’t have it around?  That’s exactly what happened to me when I needed a heap of chili powder for a recipe last month and refused to go back to the store.  I had been once already- which was one more time than I had even wanted to go already, so the store was simply not an option (I usually love going to the grocery store… it’s somehow therapeutic to me, but this was just not one of those days).  So I started experimenting.  I took a little bit of this, a little bit of that, did a wee researching, and dabbled away until I found the right blend.  {It just dawned on me that this, by far, is the easiest blog post I have ever written… it’ll take you at least ten times less time to make this chili powder than it will take me to write this post.}

All you need is a few basic spices and herbs… cayenne pepper, paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, and oregano (or marjoram).  You can modify the amounts depending on how you want the seasoning blend to taste, but for a basic go-to chili powder, I found these ratios to be just right…

You’ll see that oregano and marjoram can have stems sometimes (pictured below)… you can either pull them out with your fingers or buy the herb more finely ground (I just pulled out the few I saw).  🙂

Measure out the amounts of each spice and herb on a large plate or bowl

Get a funnel (or funnel-like device of some sort)

to help get the ingredients into a small jar

(I don’t have a funnel, so I roll up parchment paper into a funnel shape)

Mix all of the seasonings together with your fingers and discard any stems or clumps

Then pour the seasoning into the jar!

Easy right?!

Enjoy it in your favorite soups, on chicken, in tacos, or with whatever else you may want a quick and easy chili blend for!!