Enjoy this cheesy beef taco skillet recipe which doesn't require any high carb tortillas. It's an easy one pan low carb dish that cooks up quickly.
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Do you love Mexican flavors? I sure do. We used to have a lot of taco nights, but I haven't done one in a while. That needs to change, especially after I've made my own low carb tortillas.
While browsing the internet, I found a cheesy nacho beef recipe at Pillsbury.com. The recipe calls for a couple high carb ingredients like rice and corn, but I turned it into a beef taco skillet recipe.
It really wasn't difficult to adapt the recipe into a low carb version. I just replaced the rice and corn as well as leave out a couple other carb adding ingredients.
The original recipe used a jar of roasted red peppers which I left out. And, I didn't use the taco seasoning mix because it has added starch. Instead, I used the seasoning blend from my Mexican Zucchini and Beef recipe.
The original recipe calls for two cans of diced tomatoes. I used this amount at first. But, after calculating the effective carbs per serving, I decided to cut the amount in half.
Although tomatoes are low carb, they are a fruit and contain sugar carbs that can add up. So, there's only one can of diced tomatoes with green chilis in this low carb cheesy beef taco skillet recipe.
This is also a great recipe for using up leftover cauliflower rice. You do get a lot of cauli rice out of one head of cauliflower so I end up more than I can eat. My husband ate this taco skillet dish and he doesn't like cauliflower.
With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner, I'm thinking this easy skillet dish will be perfect for celebrating. I may even make some tacos and throw a low carb party.
For this cheesy beef taco skillet recipe, you can use any style of cheese you like. I used an 8 ounce block of Colby Jack cheese that I shredded in the food processor.
You can make your own Mexican cheese blend by combining Monterey Jack and mild Cheddar. Just be careful of the pre-shredded cheese blends. They often add unnecessary starch.
Although it's easiest to use a food processor for grating cheese, you can do it buy hand. All you need is a box grater or hand held rotary cheese grater.
Did I mention how quick and easy it is to make this beef taco skillet dish? You should be able to have it on your table within 35-40 minutes after you start.
Most of my ground meat recipes use venison burger. But I chose to use grass fed beef that I got from ButcherBox instead.
It's debatable whether grass fed meat is healthier than standard grain finished beef. A study on ground beef shows little difference to justify the extra cost of grass fed.
My husband hunts deer regularly which provides us with a low cost source of game meat. And eating wild meat is just about as organic as you can get!
Next time, I'll try making this dish with some venison burger to see how it compares. The one good thing about ground venison is that it's very lean and doesn't require draining off fat.
I know a lot of people say that low carb should be a high fat diet. That is true if you are in a maintenance phase. However, if you want to burn fat, you need to watch your fat intake.
I've always found that the weight comes off better if I cut back on fat while eating low carb. It does make sense as you want to burn the stored fat and not fat you are consuming for energy.
Why have you turned to a low carb lifestyle? Is it for weight loss or other health benefits? Most people start out to lose weight, but continue off due to the health benefits.
Other Low Carb Skillet Dishes
I hope you and your family enjoy this simple skillet dish. Need some more easy recipes to make in a cast iron pan? Check out these others:
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Recipe
Cheesy Beef Taco Skillet Recipe with Cauliflower
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 cups cauliflower rice
- 10 ounces diced tomatoes with green chilis canned
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 8 ounces colby jack cheese freshly shredded
- 3.8 ounces sliced black olives canned
- shredded lettuce optional
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in 10 inch ovenproof skillet. Drain.
- Prepare cauliflower rice, if needed. (Leftover is perfect for this recipe)
- Add diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and onion powder to ground beef.
- Stir in the cauliflower rice, then cook until boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 7-10 minutes more.
- Stir in black olives and 1 cup of the shredded Colby Jack until cheese melted. Sprinkle on remaining cheese. Place skillet under oven broiler until top cheese is completely melted. Serve immediately. We like to top each serving with shredded lettuce.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
Additional Info
Notes on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Copyright
© LowCarbYum.com - Unauthorized use of this material without written permission is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes. Single photos may be used, provided that full credit is given to LowCarbYum.com along with a link back to the original content.
APRIL
Looks interesting and I'm going to be trying it. I do wonder, how do you get cauli rice out of a head of cabbage? LOL. Just a fun typo in your write up. 🙂
"You do get a lot of cauli rice out of one head of cabbage"
Lisa MarcAurele
LOL! Thanks for catching that type. Fixed. 🙂
Sue white
If I use frozen riced cauliflower do I need to microwave it first? Or thaw it?
Lisa MarcAurele
I would just microwave it first.
Brenna
Oh boy - is this some good stuff!! Thank you for this pan of yum!!
Jeni
I was so hopeful with the great reviews, but had my reservations when I read that you were supposed to further cook already cooked cauliflower 7-10 minutes more. I didn't throw my cauliflower back in until the last couple of minutes, and it was still a bland mushy eyesore. I threw it out before wasting the cheese and the olives.
Brenna
Really? Mine was absolutely delightful! I'm actually considering another serving right now. Sorry you didn't have the same luck.
Olive I VanDeWalle
Lisa, all your recipes are awesome. You have the best low carb site. I have all the ingredients on the counter ready to make for supper tonight. Love watching the recipes on My Story on Facebook. Congrats on your new book. Hope to buy it.
Lisa MarcAurele
Thanks so much Olive! Hope you enjoy this easy taco skillet dish!
Karen DeBolt
We loved this! I had some leftover grilled Carne asada in the freezer so I threw a 1/2 lb of that in after dicing it up. So delicious! Thank you for this!
Taryn
Awesome! Thank you!
Donna
LOVED this! Made about 50% more and added some Jalapeño cheese and Rotel diced tomatoes w/habaneros to the recipe. Added a dollop of sour cream on the lettuce and it was awesome!
Cheryl
This was super good, super easy and super economical to make. It's a keeper! Thank you for sharing.
Samantha
My new favorite recipe! This is so delicious. Next time I will add grilled jalapenos and a little more cauliflower rice! Thank you!
Lisa MarcAurele
The jalapeños will be an awesome addition to the taco skillet dish!
Sherryj12
It looks pretty runny, is it possible to add a little arrow root to prevent that?
Lisa MarcAurele
You can add a little arrowroot powder if you'd like. Just be careful as it does add carbs.
Zelda Pierce
Yum!
Krista
What if I don't have diced tomatoes? Can I just cut up a fresh tomato?
Lisa MarcAurele
Fresh tomato is fine to use. The diced tomatoes are skinned, but you don't have to skin fresh ones if you don't want to.
Jenn
This recipe completely saved me from giving up after almost a month on keto. It is SO good!! I made this just as the directions stated, I just added lettuce leaves to make it like a taco. It was ahhh-mazing!
Lisa MarcAurele
Great idea serving the taco skillet dish with lettuce! Thanks for the tip. Glad the recipe helped you stay keto.
Annmarie Weeks
I have never riced cauliflower. For this recipe, do you put it in raw or cook it first?
Lisa MarcAurele
I rice the cauliflower raw and then cook it.
Julie
Can’t wait to try this! Signed up for Butcher Block ?
ST
Loved this! Yummers. Aldi has riced cauliflower in the freezer section. I just added it in frozen. Definitely a keeper.
Lisa MarcAurele
Good idea to use the frozen riced cauliflower. I keep it in the freezer for quick meals. Glad it worked out in this recipe.
Maggie Unzueta
This dish looks incredibly good. I wish it were on my plate!
Candi
I loved it I used more salt and cumin. Topped it with sour cream and hot sauce! Delicious!
Lisa
Thanks for sharing your feedback Candi!
Terri
This was so yummy! I left the cheese out of the recipe and served it on the side since I am allergic to dairy and my family isn't. I also served it with avocado, green onion, and lettuce on the side. I actually didn't microwave the riced cauliflower, I just let it cook in the meat mixture a little longer and it turned out fine for me. This will definitely be a repeat meal for me! Thanks!
Lisa
Thanks for sharing! Great idea to make the cheese optional.
Lisa maraschiello
I like to make meals ahead of time. I made this recipe this morning and stole a taste. This came absolutely delicious! I have never made a recipe on here that I didn't like!!! If I get to eat like this, and be healthy, who needs carbs!! Thank you again for another fantastic recipe!! Most definitely five stars !! Will be eating this regularly!!!
Lisa
Thanks so much Lisa! I agree 100% that there's no need to go back to high carb foods.
Lauren
Maybe the 3rd time around my comment will pot...Do you microwave the riced cauliflower first?
Lisa
The other comments posted. It is microwaved first.
Lauren Gonzalez
Do you just rice the cauliflower or microwave it first?
Lisa
I like to microwave the riced cauliflower in a covered dish for 5 minutes first.
Lauren
do you just rice the cauliflower or go ahead and microwave it as well?
Lisa
Yes. I shred and microwave the cauliflower first.
Becky
Just made this! So so good! My son did not know it was cauliflower in it ?. Glad i doubled the recipe so i can freeze some
Linda
Is this considered Keto friendly since it has sugar in it?
Lisa
The sugar comes from the tomatoes. You could cut back on them for keto.
Jenni
Serves 6 ppl and 7 net carbs
per serving.
Jen
What is the serving size?
Lisa
It's a large cup size (over one cup measure).
Brian
You wouldnt know how many grams per serving would you?
Lisa
The calculator I'm using doesn't calculate that, unfortunately.
Heather H.
Great recipe! We topped it with shredded lettuce, guacamole, & hot sauce!
SO good! Thanks again for a great recipe. 🙂
Lisa
Yum! I love guacamole and hot sauce!
Jen Harpole
Made this for dinner tonight.....thumbs up from all four of us!! Thank-you!
Lisa
Yeah! So glad you all enjoyed the dish. 🙂