Taco Bowl Recipes

Taco Bowl Recipe: Easy and Delicious

Taco Bowl Recipes are nothing more than a make-it-your-own, nutritionally dense version of your standard taco. This dish has all the components of tacos, from ground beef to a slew of veggies and on top, rice, what more could you want in a bowl? You’ll learn how to make taco bowls at home, including how to customize ingredients and choose actually good toppings, also make these taco bowls ideal for meal prep or family dinners. These bowls are perfect for a number of things, whether it be healthy taco bowl recipes or gut-bomb meals that bring the party straight to your table.

Taco Bowl Recipes
Taco Bowl Recipes

Why Choose Taco Bowls?

Then there are taco bowls, which allow you to indulge in all the same classic taco ingredients but don’t require a tortilla, unlike their more traditional counterparts. Especially for adding taco rice bowl ingredients like rice, black beans, and protein all in one meal. Also, taco bowls are customizable—perfect for those on a low-carb, gluten-free, or vegan diet.

Why Taco Bowl Recipes are a MUST Make:

Can be customized — make taco bowl recipes with beef, chicken, or even vegetarian

Healthy: Veggies, lean proteins, fiber, and beans are a cinch to throw in.

  • Meal Prep Friendly: As a great meal prep food for lunch or dinner.
  • Less(Spill) Mess–No tortilla makes for fewer crumbs and drips!

Taco Bowl Recipe, Easy and Delicious

Taco Bowl Recipes Ingredients


First, before we get into all the different types of taco bowl recipes you can make, let us warm up with the essential components that go into a traditional Mexican taco bowl.

  • Protein: Ground beef, chicken, shrimp, or veggie base Options: rice, quinoa, or a low-carb lettuce mix— Fruits and vegetables: such as bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and avocado For the protein: Add black beans or pinto beans for fiber + texture•
  • Cheese: Use real cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese— The Taco Bowl Toppings: Sour cream, salsa verde, jalapeños and cilantro

If you want a detailed explanation of these ingredients, check out these healthy recipes.

How to Make Your Taco Bowl Recipe.


Are you ready to build your taco bowl work of art? In this post, we will help you out with step-by-step instructions on how to prepare taco bowls featuring beef (but the protein can easily be swapped out).

1. Prepare the Base

Pick any rice of your choice such as taco bowl rice or you can use a low-carb option like cauliflower rice, or lettuce mix. Use Mexican rice or Cilantro-lime rice for a true flavor sensation.

  1. Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe— 1 cup rice with a sprinkle of salt (cooked)– After cooking stir in 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tbsp lime juice, and just a hint of cumin.
  2. Alternative Bases: Switch to shredded lettuce or riced cauliflower for a low-carb option.Quinoa for some additional protein and texture

2. Cook the Taco Meat

Next, prepare the ground beef for your taco bowl recipe. A delicious flavored classic taco filling for ground beef.

  1. Ingredients:
    • 1 lb ground beef1 envelope taco seasoning (or 2 tablespoons commercial-style taco seasoning mix, such as cumin, chili powder, paprika)
    • 1/4 cup diced onions
    • 1 tsp olive oil
  2. Instructions: In a large skillet, add some olive oil and sauté the onions until soft.
  • Pour in the ground beef, and cook it while breaking it into pieces.
  • Add taco seasoning, mix, and cook beef until thoroughly browned.

3. Add Beans and Veggies

Textural and nutritional elements are the veggies, beans, and corn are traditional taco bowl components

  1. Beans:
  • Black beans (or pinto beans) — 1 can, drained and rinsed
  • Sprinkle with cumin, garlic powder, and just a bit of salt.
  1. Veggies: Dice tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeños for crunch and heat.
  • For sweetness, include corn (fresh or roasted)
  1. Optional Veggies:– Zucchini sautéed any which way, sweet potatoes roasted to a crisp, or even mushrooms grilled and stuffed inside!

Need some inspiration, check out Eat with Clarity’s ground beef taco bowls


4. Choose Toppings and Garnishes

Here are the toppings you need to finish a taco bowl. Taco Bowl Ingredients Some common toppings for a taco bowl include:

Cheese: Two or more from cheddar, Monterey Jack or queso fresco

  • Sour Cream: Provides creaminess and a slight tang–Salsa; pico de gallo or slightly chunky tomato salsa.— Avocado/Guacamole: provides healthy fats and creamy textureChopped fresh cilantro to add some freshnessLime Wedges: Squeezing just a bit of lime juice brings acidity to balance the richness of everything else.

Check out Sprinkled with Balance’s beef taco bowl recipe for more topping ideas.


Your Healthy Taco Bowl Recipes Variations

Taco Bowl Recipes
Taco Bowl Recipes

Taco bowls are customizable so you can mix flavors and modify them as needed to meet dietary requirements.

1. Low-Carb Taco Bowl

For a healthy taco bowl recipe, do a few easy swaps to go lower in carbs:

  • Try cauliflower rice instead of regular rice: This fluffy, light option acts just like rice with a fraction of the carbs.
  • Veggie It Up: Use romaine, baby spinach, or kale as the bulk of your bowl.

2. Vegetarian Taco Bowl

To make this plant-based, you can use black beans or roasted sweet potatoes for the stuffing.

  • Black Bean Taco Bowl:
  • Cook black beans on the stovetop with taco spices serve with avocado, salsa & a generous sprinkle of cheese or vegan cheese for extra creaminess.

As a fast and easy plant-based meal, check out these black bean taco bowls from Umami Girl.


Taco Bowl Recipe Meal Prep

Taco Bowl Recipe
Taco Bowl Recipe meal plan

These taco bowls are perfect for meal prep and an ideal go-to for lunches throughout the week.

Meal Prep Instructions

  1. Step 1 — Prep Your Base: (cooked rice OR fried cauliflower rice, make a big batch of either and store them in containers)
  2. COOK AND MEASURE PROTEIN: Cook ground beef, chicken, or tofu and measure it out into equal portions.
  3. Chop Your Vegetables — Dice your tomatoes, onions, and lettuce, storing them separately so there is no moisture.
  4. Top on the Day Off—Things like avocado, cheese, and salsa are best added fresh (just before eating or serving).

Taco Bowl Flavor Combos You Need to Make

That is the beauty of taco bowls, you can throw so many different flavors to meet whatever craving or dietary approach needs to be met.

1. Spicy Shrimp Taco Bowl

A taco bowl with seafood would also work well — season up some shrimp with taco spices and grill them up.

  1. Instructions:
  • Add chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder to flavor the shrimp.
  • Cook on both sides for 2-3 minutes and serve over a bed of cilantro lime rice.

2. Steak Taco Bowl

Buffet lover, this one is for you. Cook steak to medium rare, slice it up, and serve it over rice with the usual toppings

  1. Instructions:– Lime, garlic, and Mexican spice marinated steak
  • Cook it to the doneness you desire slice it up thinly and add it to the top of your bowl.

You can get more steak taco inspiration at Taco Bowls from Carlsbad Cravings.


Weekly Taco Bowl Meal Prep

Start eating taco bowls weekly, and set yourself up with a simple 5-day plan to change it up.

  1. Day 1: Breakfast Hash Taco with Ground Beef, Black Beans and Salsa
  2. Day 02: Low-Carb Chicken Taco Bowl and Cauliflower Rice with Guacamole
  3. Day 3–Shape Up Shrimp Taco Bowl with Cilantro Lime Rice and Mango Salsa
  4. Day 4: Veggie Black Bean Taco Bowl with Sweet Corn and Queso Fresco
  5. Steak Taco Bowl with Rice, Grilled Veggies, and JalapeñosDay 5*

Common Taco Bowl Recipes “FAQs”

To help you out with making the best Taco Bowl Recipes, here are some common questions:

  • **How do taco bowls become crispy? **November 11, 2009: You can also bake tortillas over an oven-safe bowl to form crisp taco-chip shells great for taco salads.
  • **Can I freeze taco bowls? **
  • Can this be made ahead of time? Yes, but keep the ingredients separate or they will lose freshness. Do NOT freeze fresh toppings such as avocado.
  • What type of rice should you use for taco bowls? **Other possibilities include Traditional Mexican rice or Cilantro Lime Rice, but you can also use brown rice or cauliflower rice.

For complete instructions on how to make ground beef taco bowls, visit the post from Eat with Clarity here.


Final Thoughts

Tacos in a bowl—that’s the easiest and funniest way