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Easy Copycat Taco Bell Taco Mild Sauce

Copycat Restaurant Recipes· CopyKat Recipes· Dips and Sauces· Mexican Food

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When you make Taco Bell Taco Sauce you don’t need to leave with tons of little sauce packets in your pockets, you can make this sauce at home.

3 tacos with homemade Taco Bell taco sauce drizzled on top.

Making Taco Bell Taco Sauce

You can make flavorful taco sauce at home that tastes just like it does in the restaurant. Homemade hot sauces are just as good as ones you get away from home. This copycat recipe is made with common ingredients, you can find at home. Soon you will enjoy mild taco sauce made from your kitchen.

Where Did the Taco Come From?

The taco today is a fast-food staple, but you might be wondering how it came about. The taco was most likely invented by Mexican silver miners in the 18th Century. In those mines, a “taco” was the name of the little charges that were used to excavate the ore. These consisted of pieces of paper wrapped around some gunpowder. These “tacos” were inserted into holes the miners carved in the rock. Actually, if you stop and think about it, a chicken taco with a good hot sauce is a lot like a stick of dynamite!

A bowl of homemade Taco Bell taco sauce and 3 tacos on a wood platter.

The Role of the Taquería

For a long time, taquerías were in the working-class neighborhoods of Mexico City. Industrialization lured migrants from all over the country, and the women brought with them their regional cooking skills. Every region in Mexico has slightly different local foods, so Mexico City became a huge bubbling stew of all these different foods. This cosmopolitan world of dining was not for the rich and Mexican food as we know it today was born.

When Did the Taco Appear in the U.S?

The taco was probably brought to the US in the early 20th Century when the first Mexican migrants were starting to come to work in the mines and on the railroads. Mexican food was seen as street food. It was associated with tamale street carts in Los Angeles, and a group of women called the Chili Queens in San Antonio. Tourists came looking for two things in San Antonio – the Alamo and the Chili Queens. Mexico was thought of as a dangerous place, and the Chili Queens provided a way to sample that danger, but minus the risk of being set upon by bandits. There was a risk though – the food was VERY HOT. People described it as “biting like a serpent.”

3 tacos and homemade Taco Bell sauce on a serving platter.

Glen Bell’s Taco Bell

Glen Bell did not invent the taco. He borrowed all things taco from his Mexican neighbors. What he did do was utilize a U.S. business model called franchising. Mexican restaurants generally don’t put the word “taco” in their restaurants’ names. Thanks to Glen Bell, Mexican food is much-loved food, and more hot sauces are sold each year than ketchup. To read about the history of the taco.

3 tacos and a bowl of homemade taco sauce on a wood serving platter.

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3 tacos with homemade Taco Bell taco sauce drizzled on top.

Taco Bell Taco Sauce

Make your own mild version of the Taco Bell Taco Sauce.
4.5 from 2 votes
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Taco Bell Recipes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 1
Calories: 83kcal
Author: Stephanie Manley

Ingredients

  • 8 ounce tomato Sauce
  • 1/3 cup Water
  • 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon dry minced onions
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

  • Place in sauce pan and stir well, simmer at a very low temperature for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove and cool. May be kept in refrigerator for several days.

Nutrition

Calories: 83kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 2370mg | Potassium: 804mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1585IU | Vitamin C: 15.8mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 4.3mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @CopyKatRecipes or tag #CopyKatRecipes!

About Stephanie

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. marianne wilson says

    5 stars
    excellent!! how to up it to be FIRE sauce. hard to find. Can you please send me what to add to make Fire? thank you!

    Reply

  2. Sue says

    I worked at Taco Bell for 8 years they also made the bell Berger every night I had to bring one to my Daughter very good

    Reply

  4. Mark says

    4 stars
    I made this and added a more chili powder, garlic, cumin, and some more hot pepper to the mix.
    I had some taco bell hot sauce and I did a taste comparison. This recipe doctored up tasted much better.

    Reply

  6. recipe browser says

    For the guy looking for a Green Sauce – doctor up a 29oz can of green enchilada sauce – add spice to your liking – i use Cumin, fresh chopped onion and jalapenos. Bring it to a boil and simmer to infuse the flavors & reduce its consistency. Great on corn tortillas/street tacos with chicken, cheese, and cilantro

    Reply

  10. Elizabeth says

    Stephanie, just for the record, I think you are darn close! 🙂 If you go to the Taco Bell website and look at the Ingredients statements, you’ll find the following:
    Border Sauce – Hot
    Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), jalapeno, vinegar, food starch or xanthan gum, salt, chili spices, minced onion, sugar, natural flavors, maltodextrin, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (P), garlic concentrate (contains soy). Contains: Soy [certified vegan]
    Border Sauce – Mild
    Tomato puree (tomato paste, water), vinegar, food starch or xanthan gum, salt, chili spices, sugar, natural flavors, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (P), maltodextrin, garlic concentrate (contains soy). Contains: Soy [certified vegan]

    The mild sauce does indeed contain both salt and sugar, so your use of garlic salt is not wrong, neither is your use of sugar.

    Just thought I’d let you know, your recipe is very close to the original. I’d call it a blend of the ingredients in the original Mild & Hot Border Sauces.
    PS ~ Keep up the good work.

    Reply

  11. Dasha Smith says

    I liked this sauce a lot just omitted the vinegar. I was thinking that the Taco Bell’s sauce the one that is in the burritos “secret” ingredient, the one that makes us come back there again and again and crave it more are those yeast extract and natural flavors that are hidden words for mono sodium glutamate, a food flavor enhancer that ppl become addicted to.

    Reply

  12. Yumyum says

    Ok, recipe is wrong. There is no sugar in the real sauce. Tomato PASTE is used in the real sauce. The real sauce is very low in sodium (35mg) so the garlic salt is not necessary, just garlic powder.

    Reply

  14. twxMike says

    I found this very close to Taco Bell’s sauce. I will cut back on the vinegar the next time I make it. It was a little too sour for my liking. I also “like it hot” so I used hot, smoked Spanish paprika.

    Reply

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