These Diabetic Friendly Beef Tacos with a Cheese Shell are made with perfectly seasoned taco meat. Easy to make 1 ingredient cheese taco shells everyone can enjoy, even your pickiest eaters!
Made with a homemade taco seasoning which is so much better than store bought. One cheese taco shell with the taco meat is only 2g net carbs.
If you're a taco lover like me you will enjoy these tasty keto beef tacos.
I make these low carb cheese taco shells at least once a week. I would love to eat them every day but sometimes I need variety.
The leftovers in this recipe also doubles as a taco salad, just toss everything in a bowl with a chipotle ranch dressing. See the Leftover Taco Salad recipe.
Ingredient Notes
The taco shells made with marbled shredded cheddar and the ground beef is seasoned with chili and garlic blend of seasonings.
- Cheese: baked cheddar cheese works for the tacos, perfectly shaped and strong enough to hold the seasoned taco meat and toppings.
- Ground Beef: simply seasoned with a homemade taco seasoning with chili and garlic powder, salt and pepper with big flavours.
- Chili Powder: a spice blend made from ground dried chiles and a number of other spices like coriander and cumin.
- Garlic Powder: nutty but a little sweet and less assertive than fresh garlic
Steps by step instructions
How to make diabetic friendly cheese taco shells?
STEP 1: To make the cheese taco shells shred 4 ounces of cheddar to make one cup shredded cheddar, I used marbled cheddar. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper and form two 6 inch diameter circles with the shredded cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 6-8 minutes.
STEP 2: remove from oven and let rest on the parchment paper for 2 minutes. Then blot any grease with a paper towel.
Rest cheese shells over a rolling pin or a wooden spoon handle to shape them into tacos. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Let's make the seasoned taco meat.
STEP 3: brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Once browned add the seasonings and mix through, then add the water and allow to simmer over low/medium heat until all the water is evaporated. Stir every couple of minutes.
STEP 4: Remove the low carb tacos from the wooden spoon and fill with the taco meat. Top with your favourite toppings like shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa and guacamole.
Recipe tips
Taco Holder: having a taco holder makes filling the tacos so much easier. If you don't have one, do what I did and use an egg carton.
- Serving: serve the keto tacos with a side salad, guacamole and low carb tortillas and a low carb margarita.
- Storage: store the taco meat separately in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Wrap the individual cheese taco shells in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Frequently asked questions
Shredded cheddar, marbled cheddar or monterey jack is great to have as a taco topping. However you can use just about any cheese like queso, manchego or mozzarella to name a few.
These tacos are diabetic friendly since we don't use traditional corn or flour tacos for this recipe and use a cheese taco shell. Making the cheese shell with the taco meat only 2g net carbs.
Since each taco cheese shell with the taco meat are roughly 2g net carbs, it is likely to fit into a ketogenic or low carb diet.
Diabetic Friendly Beef Tacos with a Cheese Shell
Equipment
Ingredients
Cheese Taco Shell
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
Taco Meat
- ½ lb ground beef
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Cheese Taco Shell
- Shred 4 ounces of cheddar. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper and form two 6 inch diameter circles with the shredded cheese.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 6-8 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let rest on the parchment paper for 2 minutes. Then blot any grease with a paper towel.
- Rest cheese shells over a rolling pin or wooden spoon handle to shape the tacos. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Taco Meat
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Once browned add the seasonings and mix through, then add the water and allow to simmer over low/medium heat until all the water is evaporated. Stir every couple of minutes.
- Remove the tacos from the wooden spoon and fill with the taco meat. Top with your favourite toppings like shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa and guacamole.
This recipe card provides the basic details to make this recipe. For more information, questions or variations please review the content above the recipe card.
Updates and Revisions
If conflicting information between the video and recipe card, the recipe card will always have the most up to date information, ingredients and instructions.
Nutritional Information
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooked food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more food guidelines
CMZ
We made these tacos tonight and the cheese shells were a HUGE hit. My husband LOVED them and asked me to make them again. Thank you for helping us keep healthy!
Oscar Chimenti
Glad you liked them, they are a fav of mine.
Marysa
What a neat idea for taco shells. I would love to try this, and I'm pretty sure my kids would really like these.
Sara
These tacos look healthy and delicious, and they would be the perfect weeknight dinner when we don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. I can’t wait to make this next week!
Jeannie
You got me with cheese shell, a must-try recipe indeed. Happy to find a recipe that is diabetic friendly too.
Rob
The cheese shells for these tacos are such a great idea! These tacos are super tasty , and no one missed the traditional shells.