Homemade Taco Bell Sauce Clone (now why didn't I think of this before)

For our 4th of July BBQ, my husband made Santa Maria Style Tri-tip.  I made a side-dish that required taco sauce on the ingredient's list.  I don't buy taco sauce, and I actually don't use it much for myself.   I decided to scour the internet, and sure enough-- I found a recipe for Taco Bell Sauce on Recipezaar.com.  Breathing a sigh of relief, I realized that I had every single spice. I even had minced onion on hand.  This sauce was whipped up in no time at all.   It really does taste like Taco Bell Taco sauce!  Except, that there aren't any preservatives. I like that! Here's what you need:

Cumin,  instant minced onion (bought mine at Costco), white vinegar, garlic powder, garlic salt, paprika, sugar, and cayenne pepper.  In case you're wondering, I use the minced onion for bread baking. I especially love using it for onion hamburger rolls.  So, now you need two more ingredients, and I'm sure you have them:

That's all you need...

In a saucepan, add the spices and vinegar to one can of tomato sauce. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool. Keep refrigerated for a week.  Today, I  made some homemade jam, and I'll bet I could make a batch of this and water can it. 

The next recipe that I will post uses this ingredient.  I thought I'd post this sauce separately, for those of you who do like taco sauce.  If you do toss a bottle or two in your shopping cart, I hope you'll consider this recipe. I'm sure it's more cost effective, and YOU know what's in it.  For a printable recipe, keep scrolling to the bottom of this post.

 Santa Maria Tri-Tip-- grilled to smoky perfection with garlic, kosher salt & pepper only. My husband cooked it perfectly! (Gotta love my horse apron.)

Today was my last day of summer vacation.  Tomorrow morning, I return to work-- only at a new school site, and I'll be working with adults instead of high school kids.  Wow, a whole new adventure!