Mexican Taco Casserole (Low Carb)
A cheesy, meaty layered taco bake that is low carb is sometimes all you need after a long day. This Healthy & Low Carb Mexican Taco Casserole is filling made with ground beef, salsa, cauliflower rice, taco seasoning, cream cheese, and soft flour tortillas layered in a casserole dish! Your entire family will love this hearty, healthy dinner with just 5g net carbs per servings
Servings: 9
Calories: 417kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ lbs ground beef
- ¼ medium yellow onion
- ¼ medium bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup beef broth
- 3 oz cream cheese
- 10 oz riced cauliflower, steam bag
- 3 tbsp taco seasoning (click for recipe) (Make your own or use a packet)
- 1/2 cup salsa
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3 Mission tortillas, low carb
- 3 cups Colby jack cheese, shredded
- 1/2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9 x 9" baking or casserole dish.
- Brown ground beef in a skillet with onion and green peppers. Saute until the meat is browned. Then, drain the ground beef. While doing that, steam the riced cauliflower in the microwave following package directions.
- Add the ground beef back to the skillet with the cream cheese. Use a wooden spoon to 'cream' the beef and cream cheese together until it melts. This will ensure your meat sauce is nice and smooth without chunks of cream cheese.
- Over high heat, add riced cauliflower, whipping cream, beef broth, taco seasoning, 1/2 cup salsa, and pepper, then bring ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer with the lid on for 5 minutes.
- Remove lid. If the meat mixture has a lot of liquid, let it simmer on low until more moisture evaporates, and it thickens up with the lid off.If it has already thickened, take the skillet off the heat. If it seems TOO thick, simply add a bit of broth! You'll want it a bit saucy as the tortillas will absorb some of the moisture to keep the casserole from being dry.*Every stove cooks differently so you will need to be the judge. You want it to be a bit saucy to moisten your tortillas.
- To assemble the casserole, spread 1/3 of the taco meat mixture (approx 1 cup) on the bottom of the casserole dish.Follow with 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Then place one of the low carb tortillas in the middle of the dish. Use a pizza cutter, or knife, to cut one tortilla in pieces and use half of those pieces to cover the corners of the casserole so that all the taco meat mixture is covered with tortillas.Repeat the steps above for the second layer. The recipe video in this post is very helpful for a step-by-step visual.
- Finish the casserole with the last of the taco meat mixture and a final layer of cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle parsley (or cilantro) on top and serve warm.
Video
Notes
Tip: If you prefer not to use low carb tortillas, there are homemade options if you are strict keto and prefer using grain-free gluten-free tortillas. Here are two recipes for homemade keto tortillas. One is made with coconut flour, and another made with almond flour.
* Use less taco seasoning or my homemade taco seasoning linked in the post to further reduce the carbs.
* You can prepare this ahead of time! Just assemble as stated above and refrigerate covered until ready to reheat. Keep in the fridge for no more than 2 days before baking.
* Freeze this casserole for up to 3 months and allow to defrost in the fridge overnight before baking.
Nutrition
Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 30g | Fiber: 6g