Introduction: Healthy Homemade Taco Sauce

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About: Army Vet. I love learning & being creative. I am back!

I love tacos! I could eat them everyday - several times a day. But, without a good taco sauce, it would be bland and boring. This taco sauce is bursting with an unexpected depth of flavors - it's so delicious and also easy on the stomach. I used to always use Ortega's taco sauce - but I'm trying to stay away from the high fructose corn syrup. Although anyone could enjoy this sauce - the recipe was created special for people who are suffering from stomach problems - such as IBS, fructose malabsorption, inflammatory stomach problems or just unexplained stomach issues. This recipe is also for those on the low-FODMAP plan. FODMAPS are carbs (sugars) found in foods and they are difficult to digest and can cause bloating and other problems. So for our recipe we avoid those - and that unfortunately includes garlic and regular onions (my two favorites). I never thought I could love tacos without those two things - but this recipe is so good that I don't miss them!

Let's get started!


***Note: If you aren't dealing with a sensitive stomach, then feel free to add garlic and regular onions into the mix! The taco sauce is excellent either way!

Step 1: Ingredients for the Taco Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 Pint of Grape Tomatoes
  • 5-6 stalks of Green Onions Chopped (only the green part)
  • 1/2 Cup of Cilantro
  • 1 1/2 Teaspoons of Cumin Powder
  • 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar
  • 1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon of Chili Powder (1/2 if you like it spicy)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 Jalapeno (1/2 a Jalapeno makes it fairly spicy)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon of Lime Juice
  • Ice Cubes
  • Blender
  • *Small amount of Sugar or Stevia (Add in the very end, and taste as you add it)
  • *Cayenne - add according to taste preferences - depends on how spicy you want it

Step 2: Preparing the Tomatoes - Removing Skins

First, take out a medium-sized bowl and fill it up with some cold water and add ice to it. Then, in a small saucepan, bring a few cups of water to a boil. As that is heating up, you should take out the pint of tomatoes. With a sharp knife, score the ends of the tomatoes (opposite the stem-side) with one slice or a cross of two slices.

Once the water is boiling, place a decent amount of the tomatoes into the water. You only need to have them in there for about a minute, then remove and place in the ice bath. From there you'll take each one out and pull the skin off. It should slide off very easily. Once that's all done you will be left with a heaping bowl full of skinned tomatoes.

Discard the water that you were boiling as you'll need the saucepan again for cooking down the ingredients in the next step.

Step 3: Throwing It All Together

Throw all the ingredients into the saucepan (except for the sugar - add that in last) and put it on medium to medium-high heat. You'll want it to simmer and for the first 10 minutes you might want to leave it covered. After that, remove the cover and let some of that liquid simmer away as the flavors blend together. This may take another 10 minutes or so. See last image to see how mine looked when it was done cooking on the stove.

Now just set it aside to let it cool off. If you're impatient, you could put it in the fridge or freezer to speed up the cooling process. You need it cool enough to allow you to put it in a blender or use an immersion blender.

Step 4: Blend It & Done

For the last step, you'll need to take the cooled saucepan mixture and pour it into a blender or use an immersion blender. I used my Ninja blender to pulverize the mixture into a nice smooth taco sauce! The color isn't super bright red as there were a lot of greens mixed in with it - but it still looks appetizing. The taste is incredible and packed with flavors!

Finally, taste your taco sauce and feel free to add: Sugar or stevia (low-FODMAP), salt, cayenne and lime. You are done!

The taco sauce can be stored easily in the fridge for a month more or less - a good mason jar would work well. Or it can be frozen and last longer. I really hope you make it and enjoy this. I love it!