You are going to love these keto crunchy taco cups.  This is one of those recipes where I had an idea and it worked on the first try even better than imagined.

I think I was working out when I started thinking it was time to tell you how we make our amazing taco meat. Think bacon. As my mom, Retro Rose says, a taco has to have a crunchy shell. I personally think they also need to have that “corn” taste.

I have a great base low carb keto tortilla recipe here. This recipe adds 9 crushed tortilla corn chips to the recipe, and we love it. You can leave the chips out if you want to, but they only add 1.5 net carbs to each tortilla. Adding the chips stretches the recipe to 10 mini-taco bowls.

You can fill these keto taco cups with your favorite taco meat recipe or make little avocado bowls for that serious high-fat keto recipe. A breakfast bowl of scrambled eggs would be great fun, and you can use these unbaked in muffin tins  as a base for small quiche recipes. The creative possibilities for these are endless.

I use the same ingredients I used when making these tortillas, except for the chia seeds. You add those back in if you want to.

You will need these ingredients:

• almond flour
• coconut flour
• xanthan gum
• egg
• cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
• golden flax meal
• tortilla chips (or chia seeds)

It’s important that you do use the xanthan gum, or else they will fall apart.

You will need these kitchen tools:

• A tortilla press – this will give you perfect rounds for the muffin tins, although you could use a rolling pin in  pinch.
• Parchment paper to use with tortilla press.
• Food processor or kitchen aid mixer – to mix the dough.
• Muffin pan that makes 12.

I put in one tortilla chip per serving to give some crunch and flavor. If you cannot eat corn or any grains for some reason, put the chia seeds back in and skip the corn chips.

Options for Crunchy Taco Cups: Make Taco Shells or Soft Tacos

You can make these in a taco container like this one if you want a crunchy taco shell or you can heat flat on a griddle like this. Instead of putting into muffin tins, you will heat on a griddle.

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Crunchy Keto Taco Cups

Keto friendly crunchy taco cups for fun tacos. Good for meat or breakfast tacos.

Course Keto

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 10 tortilla chips see notes
• 1 cup almond flour 96 grams
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour 21 grams
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon golden flax meal
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons water may need another teaspoon
• 2 teaspoons vinegar I use either apple cider or white balsamic
• 1 egg

Instructions

• Put tortilla chips in plastic bag and crush (or put in food processor).
• Mix together all dry ingredients in either food processor or Kitchen Aid mixer.
• Put egg, vinegar and water in cup. Mix and add to dry ingredients.
• Mix until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic and rest in refrigerator 30 minutes.
• You can skip this part, if time is short.
• Divide the dough into 10 equal parts, or about 29 grams each.
• I use a kitchen scale to weigh each dough ball to keep a uniform size.
• Flatten with tortilla press using parchment paper. If you don't have a press, you can roll.
• Press into muffin tins.
• Bake at 350 f. for 10 minutes.
• 
  You can heat these on top of stove in a frying pan a minute each side for a soft taco.

Notes

This recipe contains Amazon affiliate links.

The post Keto Crunchy Taco Cups appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Bacon Mac N Cheese Nachos where have you been all my life? It’s the perfect party bite that goes splendidly with a margarita. The crunch of the tortilla chip, the smokiness of the bacon and the creaminess of the cheese all come together to deliver flavor, crunch and the promise of a fun party.

These mac and cheese nachos happened quite by accident at my husband’s birthday party. Carnitas, guacamole and bacon mac n cheese, just a few of his favorite things, adorned the dinner table. My friend, Susan, brought the macaroni and cheese, topping it with  bacon instead of bread crumbs. Towards the end of the meal, I found myself  scooping mac and cheese with those little tortilla chip scoopers and the mac n cheese nacho with bacon was born.

The next day, I kept thinking about all the possibilities of the mac n cheese nacho. Tweaking the sharp cheese recipe, one  could add a spicy pepper dice, or mix in some pepper jack cheese. On that note, sometimes kids don’t like spicy and this milder bacon mac and cheese is pretty near perfection as is.

Bacon Mac N Cheese Nachos are a heavy appetizer, perfect for poker night as I put them in the man food category. The creative cooking crew gave us a challenge this month. A bite of food. We’ve already done amuse bouche, so I wasn’t exactly sure how to interpret the challenge.

I had a completely different bite of seafood pasta prepared, but then I just couldn’t resist using this instead. This truly is one fun bite of food. I live in the South where mac and cheese and bacon is served in every fine dining restaurant. Why not serve it first?

You can use any creamy mac and cheese recipe, perhaps exchange some of the cheese with pepper jack. We looked to Homeroom for a recipe. I remember meeting co-founder, Allison Arevalo years ago in San Francisco long before Homeroom was was born. She told me at the time she wanted “to do” something with food for a living, and do she did. Homeroom is a successful restaurant in Oakland and there is a cookbook.   They do a sriracha mac and cheese which is perfect option for the nachos. Maybe if she reads this, she’ll put bacon mac n cheese nachos on the menu.

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Bacon Mac N Cheese Nachos, The Perfect Party Bite

A Southern twist on Mexican bite. Mac n cheese Nachos. Mac n Cheese recipe adapted from Homeroom as seen on Chow.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• Pasta & Grains
• 1 lb Macaroni
• Baking & Spices
• 2 tablespoon sea salt divided
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 2 tablespoons Salt
• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 oz Pecorino romano cheese option replace with pepper jack cheese
• 8 oz Tillamook Sharp White Cheddar cheese
• 4 cups Milk
• 8 tbsp Butter
• 6 slices smokey bacon
• 1 bag scoop type tortilla chips
• pinch cayenne pepper option

Instructions

• You can make whole order of mac and cheese and freeze half for later. You will probably not use the whole thing.
• Cook elbow macaroni according to directions minus a minute (al dente).

Make Bechemel

• For the béchamel:
• Heat milk in saucepan on medium-high to simmer, not boil. Turn off.
• Melt bottom in large saucepan on med. heat.
• Make a roux. Add flour to butter and whisk until it turns light brown. Turn heat off, continue whisking and add hot milk until mixture is fully incorporated and smooth. I
• Turn heat back on to medium and whisk constantly until the sauce is thick about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in one tablespoon of sea salt, and taste to see if you want more salt. Keep in mind that pecorino romano is a salty cheese.
• Stir in cheeses until fully incorporated.
• Stir in drained macaroni and pour into a baking dish.
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
• If serving as a mac and cheese course, top with crispy bacon bits.

Assembly

• Spoon warmed mac and cheese into tortilla scoops.
• Top with smoked bacon.
• You can prepare right before guests arrive and put under the broiler to heat up.

Notes

You can make the mac and cheese as a side dish. You can also optionally top with panko breadcrumbs before baking.
If making for this appetizer, skip the breadcrumbs.

The creative cooking crew round-up will take place tomorrow over at Foodalogue, and you can always go to the Pinterest Board to see all the Creative Cooking Challenges.

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