Craving tacos but committed to a keto or low-carb lifestyle? These Keto Taco Bowls offer a perfect solution: a quick, flavorful, and deeply satisfying meal. This recipe combines savory ground beef, seasoned with a simple homemade taco spice blend, served over a fluffy base of seasoned cauliflower rice. Best of all, you can customize your bowl endlessly with your favorite low-carb toppings.
Why Keto Taco Bowls?
Restaurant taco bowls and taco salads, while seemingly a safe bet on a ketogenic diet, can be surprisingly unhealthy. Often, they include fried taco shells made of grain (a definite no-go on keto) and are overloaded with sour cream, cheese, beans, and rice. This homemade version allows you to enjoy all the flavors of a taco bowl without the unnecessary carbs and unhealthy ingredients.
Ingredients and Customization
The beauty of keto taco bowls lies in their versatility. Here's a breakdown of the key components and how to make them your own:
Base: The foundation of this bowl is cauliflower rice, a fantastic low-carb alternative to traditional rice. The recipe includes instructions for making zesty cauliflower rice, but feel free to adjust the seasonings to your liking. Aim for about 1 cup of cauliflower rice per serving, though you can divide a whole medium head of cauliflower into four equal parts.
Protein: Ground beef is the star of the show, seasoned with a homemade taco seasoning. This recipe conveniently includes a taco seasoning blend, ensuring all parts of the recipe are on one page. You can also use ground turkey or ground chicken. For an extra flavor boost, cook your beef with a little fresh onion. Black olives can also be added near the end of cooking.
Read also: Customize Your Keto Taco Bowl
Toppings: This is where you can really get creative! The possibilities are endless, but some popular low-carb options include:
- Avocado
- Cheese (shaved sharp cheddar, Mexican cheese blends)
- Sour cream
- Fresh cilantro
- Salsa (Pico De Gallo)
- Guacamole
- Cherry tomatoes
- Black olives
- Red onion
- Radishes
- Limes
- Low-carb Doritos or keto tortilla chips for added crunch
- Toasted nuts (pine nuts or almonds) for a dairy-free option
Making the Keto Taco Bowl: A Step-by-Step Guide
Here's how to assemble your keto taco bowl:
1. Prepare the Toppings
Prep your toppings either before you start the cauliflower rice and beef or as you go along. Save time by buying ready-to-eat guacamole and Pico de Gallo from the fresh foods section of most markets.
To make Pico De Gallo: Add all of the ingredients for the Pico De Gallo to a small bowl. Mix with a fork. Refrigerate and allow the flavors to meld.
To make Guacamole: Add all of the ingredients for the Guacamole to a small bowl. Mix with a fork. Refrigerate and allow the flavors to meld.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
2. Cook the Cauliflower Rice
To make the cauliflower rice, add the cauliflower florets to your food processor and process until they resemble rice or couscous. Add the cauliflower rice to a skillet along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn't burn. Taste as you go along to ensure it's the right texture for you. Season with salt & pepper as needed.
Alternatively, sauté the cauliflower pieces in coconut oil on high heat for 5 minutes until softened.
3. Cook the Ground Beef
In another skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the sliced onions and saute until translucent (~3 minutes). Add the ground meat to the pan and cook until brown, breaking it up with your spoon as you go along. I like to drain some of the fat prior to adding the spices, but if you want to keep all the fat to give the cauliflower rice some moisture, feel free to do that. Stir in the taco seasoning and cook for a couple more minutes until the beef is cooked through. Taste the meat.
To cook the beef! Heat up oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add in the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion begins to caramelize (7-10 minutes). Move the onion to the side and heat up a tablespoon of oil, add in the taco seasoning spices (so they bloom briefly in the oil!) and stir everything together. Add in the ground beef and continue to cook, stirring every so often, until the beef is cooked through.
4. Assemble Your Bowl
Assemble your taco bowls by adding the cauliflower rice, beef, and toppings.
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
Optional: Keto Taco Shells
For an extra touch, consider making keto taco shells using cheese wraps.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease 3 small prep bowls or the back of a large muffin pan.
- Place 3 cheese wrap slices on the baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cut the parchment paper into three, dividing the cheese into separate pieces.
- Gently flip the cheese (with parchment paper) over into the bowl, letting the cheese mold into the middle of the bowl.
- Bake second batch of 3 cheese slices and repeat instructions. It is recommended baking in two batches so you have enough time to mold the cheese cups before the cheese cools in the second batch.
Crystal Farms Cheese Wraps are available in Mozzarella and Marble Jack flavors. Because they are made from real cheese, they’re gluten-free, low-carb, and keto-compliant.
Tips and Considerations
- Nutritional Information: Be aware that some recipe blogs omit sugar alcohols or allulose from the nutrition calculation since it does not affect blood sugar. For transparency, include it and calculate the net carbs below. Note that nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners used may have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people.
- Storage: This easy taco salad can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You’ll have the best results with storage if you keep the lettuce and other ingredients separate.
- Flexibility: Feel free to adjust this recipe to your tastes and preferences. The options are endless.
A Note on Ingredients and Dietary Information
Content, including all recipes, articles, and other materials, is for general informational purposes only. This content reflects the personal opinions and experiences of its authors and is not intended to provide professional dietary, medical, legal, or political advice. All readers, visitors, and users of embedded content are solely responsible for evaluating recipes and articles. You must make your own decisions about whether to follow the steps and recommendations provided. The accuracy of nutritional data cannot be guaranteed and should not replace advice from a medical provider.