When You Add A Packet Of This To Roasted Potatoes, Bland Spuds Turn To Flavor Bombs

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Roasted potatoes always start out with such promise. Before you've even washed and properly dried them (so they crisp up successfully), or cut them down to size, it's easy to imagine their shattering exteriors giving way to fluffy, tender centers. But how you're meant to season them is more of an open question. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a shower of salt and pepper is a great start, natch. But when you want to shake up your flavors and make your side dish more aromatic, a packet of taco seasoning is just the thing.

An average pack of taco seasoning typically includes the salt you'd use under any other circumstances, plus things like powdered onion, garlic, paprika, and chiles — all items that go perfectly well with potatoes, which, to be fair, are a pretty plain, versatile veg to begin with. A quick whiff will give you a sense of the somewhat smoky, warm, earthy notes that taco seasoning brings to the tubers. Add the spice blend to your potatoes the same way you'd use any other seasoning, tossing them in your preferred fat with about a tablespoon of the spice mix per pound of spuds. You might even have enough left over to give your meatloaf a taco-seasoning upgrade, which you could serve with these same roasted potatoes.

Roasting potatoes and garlic cloves together is a classic move, and both are ready in about 30 minutes after mingling in a 425-degree-Fahrenheit oven. The fresh alliums will, of course, accentuate the pulverized kind in the taco seasoning. Unless you buy something like Siete's Spicy Taco Seasoning Mix, expect the heat level to be fairly mild to please most grocery store or supermarket shoppers' palates. However, you can amp up the spice by slicing fresh jalapeños and tossing them in the pan with the potatoes about halfway through cooking, or waiting until the spuds are done and garnishing them with pickled hot peppers for a similar effect.

Many taco-seasoned dishes just don't seem complete without some cheese, and potatoes are no exception. Shredded cheddar is great for melting, and a couple of generous handfuls spread over the potatoes will get nice and gooey in about 10 minutes. (You should start checking in five if you've distributed a thinner portion.) Dollops of sour cream will further evoke taco night, as will guacamole and spoonfuls of salsa. Beyond taco-seasoned meatloaf, these babies also make a solid companion for things like baked crispy beef tacos and classic entrees like chiles rellenos.