Switch up taco night with these four different ways to make Low Carb Tacos!
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Tacos are one of my families favourite meals. Zoey loves to help by bringing all the little dishes of chopped up veggies to the table, and Addie loves to eat the shredded cheese… 🤷♀️
Either way, we do taco night a lot around here.
There are 4 different ways I like to do Low Carb Tacos. Sometimes I do one, or a combination of a few! No matter which way I choose, I always start with a delicious base: my Homemade Low Carb Taco Seasoning and some ground beef. I hope you love these ideas and enjoy your next Low Carb Tacos!
Homemade Low Carb Taco Seasoning
This Homemade Low Carb Taco Seasoning is super easy to whip up. There is an option to make a single batch, or if you are like me, a big ol’ jar of the stuff, because what is the point of only making one single batch?
Just simply mix it all together and keep in an air tight container, a jar with a tight fitting lid or a ziploc bag. When it’s time to make tacos, fry the ground beef until cooked through, then mix in 2-3 tbsp of the low carb taco seasoning with some water and mix well. Simmer until the desired consistency is reached.
Low Carb Tacos Option 1: Hard Shell Tacos
These hard shell tacos are made with nothing but cheese! To make them, heat your oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment or a non stick baking mat.
Shred some cheddar cheese and place in 1/4 cup piles on the baking sheet, 2 piles per baking sheet, to allow the cheese to spread. Bake for 7-8 minutes until the cheese has fully melted and has started to crisp.
While the cheese is baking, set up two glasses per taco shell. You’ll want a thick serving utensil to rest on top of the two glasses so that the cheese can hang over the utensil to form the hard shell.
When the cheese is fully baked, pull the baking sheet from the oven. Allow the cheese to cool for no more than a minute, then using tongs to grab the hot cheese, place the cheese over the utensil to that it hangs in between the two glasses.
*If the cheese hasn’t baked long enough, it will be hard to remove from the baking sheet because it will super melty. Just stick it back in the oven for another minute or two until it it firm enough to work with.
Let them cool for a couple of minutes until hard. Now you are ready to fill them with your cooked and seasoned low carb taco meat and whichever additions you desire! Scroll to the bottom of this post for the taco meat instructions.
Low Carb Tacos Option 2: Burritos
Do you like burritos? Me too! I like to buy low carb tortillas to make burritos with, or you can always make your own low carb tortillas like these Almond Flour Tortillas. The brand I like is Mama Lupes low carb tortillas. Is there a certain brand you like?
To make Low Carb Tacos – burrito style, follow the recipe card instructions at the bottom of this post to make the seasoned meat, then load up the tortillas with your additions of choice.
Low Carb Tacos Option 3: Lettuce Wraps
I love using lettuce wraps for low carb tacos! For one, lettuce isn’t as filling so I can EAT more.. 😉 Second, there isn’t anything to soak up all that delicious flavour produced from the taco seasoning and additions.
I prefer to use butter lettuce, but in my house it tends to not go very far, so I often use head lettuce. Here is a trick to maximize the leaves you can get from a head lettuce:
Cut the core from the base of the lettuce, then submerge in cold water. Gently pull the edges to allow more water to get inside the leaves. The outer leaves will start to pull away from the head, allowing you to gently pull them away. Pat them dry and then they are ready to use!
Add the cooked taco meat in the recipe card at the bottom of this post and any additions you like.
Low Carb Tacos Option 4: Taco Salad
This is an excellent way to do tacos, in fact I always squirrel away some taco meat for the next day so I can make myself a big taco salad for lunch the next day.
To make a taco salad, chop up some head lettuce and add any additions you like such as avocado, diced tomatoes, peppers, cheese, green onion, jalapeños… whatever your heart desires.
Add either cold taco meat or warm it up before tossing with sour cream, salsa, or a combination of both. How about some cheese crisps to top that beautiful salad with?
To make cheese crisps:
Heat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with a non stick baking mat. Add a coupe of pieces of sliced aged white cheddar cheese, on opposite sides of the sheet, to allow for spreading.
Bake for 7 minutes or so, until the cheese has become completely orange. This is when you know it has baked long enough. Remove from the oven and transfer to a paper towel. Allow to rest for 1 minute, then chop into slices. Garnish salad once cool.
Optional Additions
There are loads of additions that go great with Low Carb Tacos! Here is a list to get you started:
- Shredded Cheese
- Hot Sauce
- Low Carb Refried Beans
- Sour Cream
- Salsa
Veggies
- Avocado
- Tomato
- Bell or jalapeño peppers
- Cilantro
- Green Onion
- Shredded lettuce or cabbage
- Black Soy Beans
Mexican Scrambled Eggs
How about low carb tacos for breakfast?
This is one of my favourite ways to use up leftover taco meat and other additions I have leftover from taco night. Check out this Mexican Scrambled Eggs recipe!
You still want MORE?!
How about a Taco Pizza?
Here are some other recipes you may like:
Instant Pot Low Carb Chicken Taco Soup
Prosciutto Bocconcini Stuffed Low Carb Burgers
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Low Carb Tacos – 4 ways to do tacos
Ingredients
Taco Meat
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2-3 tbsp Homemade Low Carb Taco Seasoning
- 1/4 cup water
1. Hard Shells
- 1-1.5 cups cheddar cheese shredded
2. Burritos
- 4-6 low carb tortillas
3. Lettuce Wraps
- 1 head butter lettuce or head lettuce
4. Taco Salad
- 2 cups head lettuce chopped
Optional Additions
- sour cream
- salsa
- shredded cheddar
- hot sauce
- Low Carb Refried Beans
- avocado
- diced tomato
- bell or jalapeno peppers
- cilantro
- green onion
- shredded lettuce or cabbage
- black soy beans
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Skillet
Directions
- Heat a skillet on medium heat and one hot, add the ground beef. Cook until no longer pink, then mix in the taco seasoning and water. Stir well then bring to a simmer. Reduce until the desired consistency has been reached. Use whichever way you like!
Hard Shell Tacos
- See the Hard Shell Taco section in the post above for instructions on how to make hard shell tacos. Let them cool for a couple of minutes then fill them with the cooked taco meat and whichever additions you desire!
Burritos
- Load up low carb tortillas with the taco meat and any additions of choice. Wrap up and enjoy!
Lettuce Wraps
- Use your favourite lettuce to wrap up taco meat and whichever additions you like for this extra healthy version of tacos. See post above for details on how to get the most from head lettuce.
Taco Salad
- Load a plate up with chopped head lettuce, cooked taco meat and any additions. Try sour cream and/or salsa for the dressing!
- Check out the taco salad section in the post above for instructions on how to make cheese crisps to garnish that beautiful salad with!
They all look to die for Aleta!! I’m in love with the way you made the hard taco shells out of melted cheese. 😮 And that taco salad will be calling my name all day! Yummmmmmm!