This keto taco salad is a super simple recipe. It contains ingredients you would usually put inside a taco shell, but are instead served as a salad. Just think… no more mess when the taco breaks in your hands!
Sour cream is your friend in this recipe. It helps to make the ingredients taste fantastic, binding the separate textures of the lettuce and cheese into a mixture of creamy Mexican-style salad.
Keto Salad Recipes
As the temperature starts to warm up in the Northern Hemisphere, I bet you’re just drooling over fresh, lighter options instead of stodgy casseroles.
Don’t get me wrong, those meals are great when it’s cold, but if it’s 100 degrees outside, nobody likes getting the “meat sweats”.
What is Beef Mince?
Here in Australia, we call ground beef “beef mince“. Beef mince is a cheaper alternative to full cuts of meat like steak and loins, but the fat content makes it more appropriate for a ketogenic lifestyle.
Make sure that when you purchase beef mince (or ground beef) for this recipe, that you always get the full-fat version. 70% or 80% fat works perfectly. Higher fat beef is usually cheaper and higher in calories (which is actually a good thing) than other varieties. High protein meals tend to be low in caloric content in contrast. Many of the essential vitamins and minerals come from fat and must be absorbed by being bound to fat.
Please note, grass-fed is much better than normal mince. It usually contains six times more of the essential amino acids and vitamins than grain fed beef. Don’t worry, though, if you can’t afford it.
Is Grass-fed Beef All That It’s Cracked Up To Be?
Grass-fed doesn’t always mean that the meat is hormone free. Beef cattle are given a large number of hormones to speed up the growth process from calf to fully grown livestock.
Try also to purchase hormone free, organic beef. The extra cost is definitely outweighed by the benefits.
Taco Salad Dressing
This taco salad uses sour cream as a dressing. Sour cream is delicious and gives the dressing a zesty taste that ordinary heavy whipping cream wouldn’t achieve.
- However, if you’re dairy-free, you might want to try coconut yogurt mixed with a little cumin and lemon juice.
- You might also want to give the dressing a Middle Eastern feel by adding garlic to it or by substituting the sour cream with Greek yogurt. The options are endless!
Taco Salad For A Crowd
To make this for a crowd, I would double the recipe and place it into a large serving bowl.
The lettuce would go in first followed by the toppings to ensure that the best parts don’t just float to the bottom.
Low Carb Taco Salad Toppings
There are multiple toppings you can put on a keto taco salad:
- Guacamole (mashed avocado with cilantro, lime, chili, etc.)
- Jalapeno peppers
- Pickled jalapenos
- Plenty of fresh cilantro
- All types of cheeses
- All types of creams
- Yogurt dressings, as mentioned above
Other Taco Recipes
Keto Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 450 g Ground Beef 1 lb
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups Lettuce chopped
- 1/2 cup Cheese grated (100 g / 3.5 oz)
- 1 whole Avocado sliced
- 1/2 whole Lime sliced
- 2 tbsp Red Onion diced (optional)
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream 115 ml / 4 fl oz
Instructions
- Set a frying pan set over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and olive oil to the pan, and cook until golden brown.
- Add the paprika, cumin and water; simmer for 5 minutes.
- Slice up the lettuce and grate the cheese. Slice the avocado and lime, and chop the red onion. Toss the lettuce with the avocado, lime and red onion in a large mixing bowl. Divide between 4 plates.
- Top each salad with the ground beef mixture and garnish with the cheese and sour cream.
