Before I started following my own meal plans we were having ‘Taco Tuesday’. Every week.
The boys loved it. And I loved having an excuse to explore the wonderful world of Mexican flavours.
I first made these taco bowls with some leftover pulled pork that was amazing. However I’m just as happy with this simple weeknight option. Although it does all depend on the quality of your hot sauce.
My favourite is a smoky chipotle that has a bit of sweetness but you could go for tabasco or even sriracha. Just add a little at a time. It’s easy to add more heat but difficult to subtract!
Taco Tuesday Bowls
Ingredients
- 450 g ground (minced) pork , chicken or beef (1lb)
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce eg. Tabasco + extra to serve
- 2 limes
- 1 bunch collard greens or kale OR 1 bag baby spinach
- 1 avocado OR sour cream
- 2 handfuls roast almonds OR cashews, macadamias or peanuts (optional)
Instructions
- Heat a large frying pan on a high heat. Add a splash of oil and the meat and cook, stirring often until the meat is well browned – about 5 minutes.
- Remove meat from heat and gradually season with your hot sauce starting with 1 teaspoon and adding more as needed. Then add 1-2 tablespoons lime juice and some salt. Tasting as you go and adding more of anything as needed.
- Finely slice greens or kale. No need to slice baby spinach. Divide veg between two bowls. Top with the hot meat, avocado / sour cream, lime halves and nuts (if using).
WINE MATCH: A cold Mexican beer or glass of Riesling.
Variations & Substitutions
pantry-friendly – frozen veg. Cashew sour cream.
different greens – baby spinach or any cooked greens will work. Shredded cabbage or grated zucchini are also lovely.
different protein – feel free to substitute any cooked protein for the meat. Pulled pork or my quick pulled chicken work really well and of course there are always the vegetarian options below!
more veg – add grilled peppers, zucchini, eggplant or cooked mushrooms to the cooked meat. And if you have time and can tolerate it, soften an onion in the pan before browning the meat.
vegetarian – cooked beans, lentils or chickpeas.
dairy-free – use the avocado or this cashew yoghurt or Cashew Sour Cream.
more substantial (carb lovers) – warm tortillas or corn chips.
more substantial (low carb) – extra nuts, extra meat, sour cream AND avocado.
Low FODMAP – use sour cream instead of the avo. And use peanuts or macadamias.
family-friendly – I just serve plain cooked meat for the boys and then season the meat with the hot sauce after I’ve served up. But you could use tomato ketchup or your favourite BBQ sauce instead.
no lime – lemon juice is the next best thing.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
minced (ground) pork, chicken or beef – freeze it.
hot sauce / nuts – keep them in the pantry.
lime – will keep in a plastic bag in the fridge for months.
collard greens or kale – will keep for a few weeks in a plastic bag in the fridge. Or for longer if cooked as per the recipe. Can be frozen.
avocado – use for another meal. Doesn’t freeze well.
sour cream – keeps for weeks in the fridge.
Problem Solving Guide
bland – First try some salt. If it needs something else try more lime and more hot sauce.
too dry – drizzle with olive oil. Or add sour cream. Next time use higher fat meat.
Prepare Ahead
Yes! Just cook the meat and season as per the recipe but keep everything else separately. Cooked meat will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks or can be frozen. The fresh ingredients won’t keep that long and shouldn’t be frozen! To serve, warm meat in a pan with a little oil and possible a splash more lime juice to freshen it up. Then serve as per the recipe.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
How many net carbs are in this one? It was very fresh and delicious and I’m going to try some of the variations I’m reading here. Thx!
Sorry Kerry – this is an older recipe before I started calculating carbs. It wouldn’t be more than 20g / serve – and less if you don’t use cashews 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight, using ground beef & fresh kale. It turned out well. My family was curious to try what I was cooking, so I had to go lightly with the hot sauce because they don’t like their food as spicy as I do. Next time, I plan to make this spicy enough for me 🙂
I always have hot sauce on the table so we adults can add more as we need 🙂
Made this today… Renamed taco Friday… and served them we with zucchini tortillas. So 2 simple meals in one. The tortillas are one of our favorites. I always have some stored in the freezer for quick meals.
Oh yay for Zucchini Tortillas Sandy – I need to make a batch soon 🙂
Meal #7 was Taco Tuesday! What a great tradition to add to our meal planning, Jules. I used minced turkey and added a jalapeño pepper from our garden while it was cooking and didn’t need any hot sauce. So yummy!
Nice one Sherrill – lucky you having fresh jalapenos 🙂
Quick and easy Tuesday dinner. Chilli from freezer stock, chopped some spinach, carrot, avo, quickly pan fried some red capsicum, threw in some cherry tomatoes a bit of sour cream, so yummy. Tues Taco Bowls will be a permanent fixture in our weekly meals. Quick, tasty & healthy – gotta be happy about that! 🙂
Love it Deb!
We had these for a quick Monday night supper – I included an onion & had some taco seasoning & tomato paste. So am gettin’ creative. We ate with wraps as #welovecarbs which was probably too hearty for me but partner loved.
Yay for gettin creative Emma!
And glad you’re enjoying your carbs 😉
Tried this for day 2. Love, love, love tacos. Will break out the masa harina flour and make some cornbreads to go with the leftovers for the weekend.
Yay for tacos Anna!
Hi Jules. I chopped cabbage and cauliflower and layered with taco-seasoned ground pork. I sprayed canned coconut oil on a couple of corn tortillas and toasted them, then crumbled on top with shredded cheddar cheese. I drizzled with ranch dressing, and I’m happy to say it turned out quite decent. Not much resembling your recipe except the bowl, but I’m grateful for the inspiration and the video company while I prepared my lunch. Blessings to you for your wonderful program. I’m so happy to be a lifetime member.
Wonderful Mira!
So glad you’re enjoying your membership 🙂
Such an easy tasty and healthy meal! We’ve made it part of our games night routine which has been ramped up since lock down returned here in Melbourne. I also had it for lunches!
We’ve been having family games as well Helen – so fun!
I Loved this for day 2 challenge dinner. I had some left over coriander hot sauce from your fish tacos recipe and used that. I was delicious. Added some smoked almonds and used a whole bunch of tuscan kale but I sauteed it in oil before serving. Another winner Jules. And just as great for lunch today
Aren’t smoked almonds great Martina – I need to buy some soon!
Day 2 challenge dinner – very tasty and we didn’t miss the taco shells at all.
Wonderful Michele!
This was Tuesday night’s dinner. I love taco filling and use it for all manner of meals – omelet filling, burritos, over pasta or Mexican riced cauli, as a filling for stuffed peppers. But back to this recipe: I had a pkg of soy Chorizo crumbles (vegetarian) and half an onion I sauteed together, then added a thinly sliced zucchini and a clove of grated garlic. Covered and simmered until the zucchini was tender. Stirred in lime juice, my homemade mexican seasoning and rolled up in a low carb tortilla – out of greens. Spread with sour cream, cilantro and guac. Awesome!Made enough for several more meals so I portioned and froze. I love ready to heat and eat meals.
Brilliant Linda – love all your additions and substitutions – I didn’t know you could get vegetarian chorizo crumbles. And love the idea of taco filling in an omelette – definitely stealing that one!
The veggie chorizo crumbles are soy based, non-GMO and made by Morningstar Farms. I’m in the states, in TN; I don’t know if they are available where you are. Their veggie beef crumbles are good, too.
I made this tonight with minced turkey and kale.
I have a nightshade intolerance so I substituted a nightshade free sazón seasoning for the hot sauce.
This was tasty
Ooh good to know there’s a nightshade-free hot sauce out there Cat.
And a good reminder for me to include a nightshade-free variation for my recipes. If you need help with substitution ideas just ask!
Taco Tuesday – super simple and tasty. I added a tin of black beans and accompanied with mashed avocado and baby spinach leaves.
Yum Deveri!
This was my day 2 challenge dinner.
Had planned to stick to the actual recipe but we didn’t have the pork mince in the freezer so I went with a ‘choose your own canned fish adventure’ . Sardines for me, tuna for my Irishman and mackerel for the boys.
Serve the tuna in cans with lime, Tabasco and avocado and used cos lettuce from the garden as our greens / tortillas.
Even quicker and easier than the recipe given there was no cooking and surprisingly satisfying to have an essentially cold meal on a chilly Winter evening.