Taco Bowl Recipe

These easy taco bowls are a weeknight go-to in my house – I make them at least twice a month! Quick and easy to make, and everyone always loves them.

What Type Of Meat To Use?

My taco bowls recipe calls for ground beef but this is great with ground chicken or turkey as well. If using ground turkey, it can be a bit drier so I recommend that you have a look here for how to cook ground turkey. You can really use any kind of meat though, it will get seasoned with a delicious homemade taco seasoning (or store-bought if you prefer) with flavor from cumin, onion and garlic powders, paprika, and more. 

Leftover cooked meat is really fantastic for this recipe too. You can do a batch of pulled chicken the day before and use some of it here. Or grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store in a pinch. Or just cook up a big batch of juicy chicken thighs and save some for this meal. Sprinkle cooked meat with a bit of seasoning, then heat it in the microwave. For the seasoning, judge for yourself if it needs salt, and then just add a bit of chili powder and garlic powder.

Type of Rice

White rice or brown rice are both great options. Just follow the package instructions for the correct timing and water ratio, and remember that brown rice takes longer to cook.

If you prefer, you could even use quinoa or cauliflower rice as the base for your bowls. Or make it into taco salad bowls and use extra lettuce instead of rice.

Meal Prepping This Taco Bowl Dinner

Taco Bowls like this are one of my go-to dinners for busy weeknights. Sometimes I make sure to do a dinner earlier in the week that uses rice and make extra (like a different rice bowl like Japanese Sarku Teriyaki Bowls or Chinese garlic chicken served with rice) and a different meal that uses ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey. This beef stroganoff with mushroom soup, ground turkey pasta or ground turkey tacos are some great ones.

Making double the rice and ground meat earlier in the week, makes this meal even quicker since you just reheat those two ingredients and then add the toppings.

Having said that, it does take about 10 minutes to get all the toppings chopped up and ready. So if you don’t have leftover rice and meat, just get that rice started and get your taco meat cooking, then start chopping the toppings, and this dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes. Whether you have leftovers to use up or not, it’ll be delicious!

Toppings For Taco Bowls

I really like setting out a lot of toppings and letting everyone build their own bowl. We usually have cheese, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados, along with salsa, sour cream, and chopped green onions. It’s also fun to crush up some tortilla chips for a crunchy topping.

You could also set out black beans, corn, pico de gallo, guacamole, sliced olives, and/or fresh cilantro as toppings. Add extra spice with sliced jalapeños, diced green chilis, or hot sauce. Finishing with a squeeze of fresh lime juice is also wonderful.

Variations For Other Bowl Dinners

Once you know how to make this taco bowl, the sky’s the limit on what you can make. 

• Turn it into a Greek bowl by seasoning the meat with oregano instead of taco seasoning and using Tzatziki instead of the salsa and sour cream, use cucumbers and bell peppers instead of avocado, and swap red onion in for green. 
• Or make Buffalo Wing Bowls by tossing the meat in Buffalo Sauce instead of using taco seasoning, use sliced carrots and celery for the veggies, and drizzle it all with store-bought or homemade ranch dressing.

I can’t wait to hear what combinations you come up with, let me know in the comments!

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