Keto Mexican Beef Bowls

Keto Mexican Beef Bowls are filled with riced cauliflower, delicious seasoned ground beef and a quick homemade salsa. Top them with crumbled queso or cojita cheese and a zesty lime mayo for even more flavor. These bowls come together in just 30 minutes and are low carb, keto friendly and gluten free.

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One of the biggest issues that I had when I attempted to follow a ketogenic diet the first time around was feeling like all I could eat was meat, cheese and butter. I let myself fall into that belief and my entire outlook on the diet made me absolutely miserable. It’s no wonder I majorly failed.

I knew I had to make some changes with the way that I plan my meals and decided that I needed to prepare more ahead of time.

I spent weeks researching what foods are allowed on a strict keto diet and which aren’t. Then, anytime I’d eat something that I typically really enjoy eating, I’d start thinking about ways I could modify it to be keto-friendly. 

This lead to me getting excited about taking on a super low carb diet again and have since been enjoying the challenge of transforming recipes. And that my friends, is exactly how this recipe for Keto Mexican Beef Bowls was developed!

One of the recipes that came in a Blue Apron meal kit box were these really flavorful Mexican Beef Bowls. I absolutely loved them and recreated the recipes a few times in a non-keto way working out how to replicate the Mexican spice blend just right.

The recipe was super easy to modify into a Keto Mexican Beef Bowls recipe.

You may also like this recipe for White Queso Dip to serve as an appetizer with some homemade low carb tortillas.

Why This Recipe Works

This is a quick and easy recipe to make. It takes just 10 simple ingredients and 30 minutes to make.

These Mexican Beef Bowls are a great lunch or dinner option for those following a keto or low carb diet. They are also gluten free.

You can make this recipe ahead of time. It is a perfect meal prep recipe.

How to Make Keto Mexican Beef Bowls

Ingredients

• Cauliflower Rice: I prefer to rice my cauliflower from fresh, rather than using frozen. If needed you can reference this post on How to Rice Cauliflower.
• Ground Beef
• Tomatoes: any kind work.
• Lime: freshly squeezed lime juice tastes best in this recipe.
• Pickled Jalapeños: you can use fresh, but the spice level will be much more intense.
• Queso Fresca or Cojita Cheese
• Chili Powder
• Ground Cumin
• Dried Oregano

The entire recipe and instructions can also be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. You can also print the recipe from the card, if needed.

Prep!

Before you begin cooking, you’ll need to dice the tomatoes and jalapeño peppers. If you are using grape tomatoes, you can simply halve or quarter each one.

Rice the cauliflower. You will use the lime juice in both the salsa and the lime mayonnaise.

Create!

You’ll want to prepare the salsa first so that it has a little time to marinate. Simply mix together the tomato, jalapeños, and lime juice in a small bowl and set aside.

Next cook the cauliflower. I prefer to cook it by adding about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the cauliflower and cook, stirring often, until tender. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

Chef’s Tip: if you prefer to cook the cauliflower using another method, you can refer to this post on How To Cook Cauliflower.

While the cauliflower cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and season with the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. I don’t find the need to add oil to the pan, but you can add a tablespoon, if necessary.

Cook the beef, stirring often and breaking up larger chunks as needed, until it is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, about 10 minutes.

Present!

To assemble the bowls, divide the cauliflower evenly between 4 bowls. Top with equal amounts of the Mexican beef, salsa, and cheese crumbles.

To make the Lime Mayonnaise, whisk together the mayonnaise and lime juice and drizzle over each bowl just before serving.

Tips and Techniques

• You can reference this post on How to Rice Cauliflower, if needed. You can also buy already riced cauliflower from the produce section of your grocery store or frozen cauliflower, if you prefer..
• Jarred pickled jalapenos are good to use for this recipe, though some contain a small amount of sugar. If you decide to use fresh, please keep in mind that they are stronger and you may want to use less.
• If you are following a strict keto diet, you will need to use a keto-approved mayonnaise. Some brands you can try are Primal Kitchen, Chosen Foods and Sir Kensington’s.

How to Store Leftover Keto Mexican Beef Bowls

• Store any leftover ground beef for the Keto Mexican Beef Bowls in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use within 3-4 days.
• Extra cauliflower rice can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
• Any leftover homemade salsa can be store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

More Keto Mexican Recipes

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If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating. I would really appreciate it!

This recipe was originally published in December 26, 2018. It was updated with new images, step-by-step instructions, tips, techniques, FAQ’s and video in March 2021.