Cheesy Low Carb Skillet Taco Casserole Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Low-Carb & Keto-Friendly: Packed with flavor and minimal carbs, perfect for those following a low-carb or keto lifestyle. A few notes, to make these truly keto you will want to omit the beans and possibly the tortillas unless you have a keto tortilla you prefer to use!
• One-Skillet Meal: Easy to prepare with minimal clean-up—everything cooks in a single skillet! Make sure to use an over safe skillet so you can finish the casserole off in the oven.
• Protein-Packed: Ground beef and beans provide a good dose of protein to keep you full for hours. Use different kinds of bean or ground chicken as desired.
• Family friendly: kids and adults will love this dish, it’s flavorful yet still mild enough for the picky eaters. This is a balanced meal with protein, light carbs, and veggies sure to keep everyone full, serve with a salad or your favorite taco toppings for a complete dinner.
• Quick & Easy: this takes just 20 minutes in the oven, making it a great option for busy weeknights. While the casserole bakes you can prep the toppings or side dish options.

Low Carb Taco Casserole

Skillet meals are a great way to combine protein, veggies, and a carb into one simple dish. This is a dump and go recipe, meaning everything is combined in an oven-safe skillet and transferred to the oven. The most time consuming task here is dicing the onion, perfect for a low-carb taco Tuesday!

This is a meal the entire family will love, perfect if you are looking for more effortless one pan dishes. A big plus is that you don’t have to roll individual enchiladas or tacos, simply layer tortillas over the filling in a large skillet or baking dish and top with cheese.

Ingredient List & Substitutions

• Olive oil: extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or vegetable oil can all be substitutes.
• Onion: red onion, white onion, or yellow onions can work in the recipe, omit onion if you prefer.
• Ground beef: I typically keep an 85/15 blend on hand as it works for most recipes. Any blend of ground beef will work for this recipe or you can grind your own. Ground chicken or ground turkey will also work!
• Beans: canned black beans or pinto beans add extra protein and fiber, kidney beans or refried beans can also work. Beans can be left out for keto purposes.
• Green chiles: canned diced green chiles are a quick short cut ingredients that add a bit of heat and flavor to this soup!
• Salsa: any salsa blend will work, mild or extra hot, smooth or chunky, homemade or store-bought.
• Low-carb tortillas: use keto or low-carb tortillas or make your own. Tortillas can be left out if desired, just top the casserole with cheese. Or sub keto tortilla chips.
• Shredded cheese: any type of shredded cheese will work here. Shredded pepper jack cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded Colby jack cheese, or a Mexican cheese blend.
• Seasonings: this dish is seasoned with kosher salt, ground cumin, garlic powder, chili powder. Any seasoning blend will work, or use store-bought or homemade taco seasoning for a quick shortcut.
• Toppings: avocado, chopped cilantro, jalapeno, and sour cream are my go to. Other fresh toppings like green onions, diced red onions, black olives, guacamole, or Pico de Gallo make great additions.

How To Make The Taco Casserole

Let’s talk a little about how to make this Cheesy Low Carb Skillet Taco Casserole Recipe (The printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)

Quick overview:

• Prep fresh and canned ingredients.
• Sauté and cook meat. Add in beans, salsa, and chiles.
• Top with tortillas and cheese. Bake until bubbly.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large cast iron pan or oven-safe skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Once warm, add in diced onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions begin to soften.
2. Add in the ground beef and brown until cooked through, mix in seasonings.
3. Remove from heat and mix in the beans, salsa, and green chiles. Top the taco meat mixture evenly with a layer of the sliced tortillas and finish off with the shredded cheese.

4. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly. If desired, broil on high for 2-3 minutes to get the cheese and tortillas golden brown.

5. Top casserole with fresh guacamole, Pico, and fresh cilantro or your favorite toppings. Enjoy immediately.

More Weeknight Dinner Recipes

If you enjoyed this skillet taco bake, try these other simple recipes that are perfect for hectic weeknights or Sunday family dinner!

• Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe – a simple, crockpot meal that can simmer all day and be ready for dinner with minimal prep!
• Honey Lime Marinated Chicken Bowls – simple marinated chicken grilled with peppers and serve over rice.
• Breaded Sesame Chicken Tacos – using store-bought premade sesame chicken makes these tacos quick and simple yet so flavorful.
• Lightened Up Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas – a lighter way to make the classic chicken enchiladas.

Tools I Recommend For This Dish

• Enamel cast iron skillet: this Le Creuset cast iron skillet is my go to. With the enamel coating it is super easy to clean and you can cook both on the stove top and in the oven making it great for recipes like this. It’s the perfect size for family dinners.
• Wooden Spoons – perfect for sautéing and mixing, and great for not scratching your pans. Remember to deep clean your wooden utensils once a month!
• Cheese Grater – this grater is a must if you grate your own cheese! It’s also handy for several other things, like shaving chocolate, shredding vegetables, zesting, or grinding spices.

Recipe FAQs

Why is my casserole soggy?

Not baking the casserole long enough can cause the bottom of the dish to become soggy due to too much liquid, similarly adding in too much salsa or not draining the beans completely can cause the mixture to become too liquidly. If the ground beef has a lot of fat after browning be sure to drain it the best you can so it doesn’t water down the mixture.

What goes best with the low carb taco casserole?

Since this casserole has protein, a little veggie, and carbs – it’s pretty balanced as is. A light and refreshing lettuce salad goes best with this dish or some cilantro lime cauliflower rice for a low carb side.

How to store leftover taco casserole?

Leftover casserole can be cooled completely and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. While best enjoyed immediately, this can be reheated in the oven (preferred) or in the microwave until warm.