After first watching The LEGO Movie last year, our son Oliver started asking about the mysterious phenomenon known as “Taco Tuesday“. So we started a new tradition of what we call “Taco Bowl Tuesdays”; as you may have seen on my Instagram feed, we make them pretty regularly now. I thought it would be pretty fun to write up our Taco Bowl Tuesday recipe as a change of pace and a glimpse into our everyday lives.
The base of the recipe is simple: equal portions of seasoned ground beef, rice, and lettuce. There is some variation in which rice we use; sometimes we make Mexican Rice, and other times we make Cilantro-Lime Rice. The toppings themselves are usually a combination of what we have on hand and what we’re feeling at the moment.
Taco Bowls (Gluten-free, Paleo, Primal, Perfect Health Diet friendly)
Taco Seasoning: (yields ~5 tbsp)
4 tsp chili powder
3 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red chili flakes (omit to make less spicy)
To build the bowl:
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp Taco Seasoning
1 batch Mexican Rice
2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
Toppings as desired:
1 avocado, diced
1 small handful chopped cilantro
2 fresno chiles, sliced (jalapenos okay)
1 lime, sliced into wedges
1/4 cup sour cream
4 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
salsa or taco sauce of your choice (we like this brand)
Tabasco or other hot sauce
1. If you plan on serving the bowls with Mexican Rice, you’ll want to make it ahead or start that up first, since it takes about an hour to make on its own. Maximize your hands-off time by chopping your other ingredients while the rice is cooking.
2. Prepare the taco seasoning. We like to make big batches of it at once (hint: use tbsp instead of tsp) and store it in a mason jar (see image above) so that we don’t have to break out all of our spices every time we eat this meal.
3. Heat a skillet over medium heat, then add the ground beef. Cook until mostly brown, stirring often to break up chunks, about 4 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of the taco seasoning, then continue to cook until the beef is browned through; reduce heat to low to keep warm as you put together your bowl.
4. Build your bowl as desired, then top with the beef.
** 1 lb of taco meat is perfect for four bowls; for more servings, increase the beef and seasoning in a 1 lb : 2 tbsp ratio.
** Not a rice eater? This recipe works well as a salad, or with cauliflower rice; I have a recipe for cauliflower rice in either of my books, and Melissa Joulwan’s Roasted Cauliflower Rice is awesome as well.
If you’re left-handed like me, I strongly encourage you to treat yourself to a left-handed spatula. I’ve been using this bamboo spatula for over 10 years, and it’s my favorite kitchen gadget. I once accidentally left it at a cooking demo and the hosts graciously mailed it back to me – I was sweating bullets for a while there!
The Domestic Man 
The pictures are gorgeous! Love the colors. We eat Taco Salads occasionally but I never thought of adding rice to them. Thanks for the idea!
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I agree with Koolaidmoms! Love the pics, the meal looks great too!
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LOVE me some taco salads! Photos make them look so great!
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Personally I think rice and bread go very well together since the textures dont really compliment each other. But otherwise , amazing variety of ingredients.
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Love this! I’m going to cheat and add some shredded jack cheese, salsa verde (since I can’t handle a lot of heat) and maybe make some Cassava tortillas to go with :-)
I use your mole verde recipe (YUM!!!) but I omit the pumpkin seeds and chicken broth and add lime juice! (It’s incredible on everything, including salmon!)
Taco bowls are going to be perfect for the baseball playoffs!
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Try pickling your radishes for this, they’re awesome in taco salad bowls that way :)
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Awesome timing! I usually make something similar with your taco seasoning recipe and just today I came searching on your blog for a “burrito bowl” recipe for some new ideas :)
By the way, can you tell exactly what “chili powder” to us living overseas? We have a bunch of pepper powders where I live, but don’t think I can find exactly a chili powder. On most recipes that call for it I usually mix some red pepper powder and some cayenne pepper.
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Speaking from my experience. Chili powder is usually just ground and dried chili peppers. There are a lot of varieties. I like Ancho Chili Powder for the smoky heat, but it’s a personal preference.
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Dinis, good question. As dotren already said, “chili powder” as sold here in the US is ground dried mild chili peppers, like ancho, guajillo, or anaheim peppers. Generic chili powder won’t specify which powder, while other specific powders will. It adds a smokiness without too much spice.
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Great recipe timing. I wanted a recipe for taco meat….so I checked your site first, and there it was right on the front page of todays post. It must a sign!!! Thank you….I’m making this soon!
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Gorgeous and delicious looking!! I’m a lefty, too! I think I need one of those spatulas!
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gorgeous photos and looks so good! I also make my own taco seasoning! I use it all the time too!!
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Love this, the freshness of it, and the serve-yourself aspect. We eat Basmati rice about twice a month. We have this idea that we want to eat it once a week, with fish. But then we forget that it’s there.
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currently craving me some tacos!
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