There I was, skulking in the Mexican aisle of the grocery store, surreptitiously photographing packages of taco mix. At any moment, a store employee might tap me on the shoulder and ask me to leave.

My goal? To create taco-seasoned ground beef that had the deliciously gummy texture and slight sweetness  of the packaged taco mixes, but with no added sugars. To stay Paleo, which means avoiding grains, I planned to serve the spiced taco meat in lettuce leaves. 

After a bit of experimentation, I had something pretty close to the original. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Free-range ground beef  + taco spice mix ingredients

Stuff you need

• 2 lb. ground beef, preferably free-range
• 1 cup water
• Lettuce leaves to serve in (I used romaine)

For the taco spice mix:

• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 4 tsp onion powder. This adds some natural sweetness from the onion. All the taco mix packages I looked at had sugar in them; also, they all called for dried onions – win-win solution! Note: Be sure to use onion powder, not onion salt.
• 2 tsp paprika
• 4 tbsp sugar-free chili powder (read the package!)
• 3 tsp arrowroot starch — this adds the slight sticky texture that we see in taco meat. If you’re very low-carb, you could leave this out.
• 1 tsp salt. I use sea salt, because regular salt has (of course) sugar in it.

For the garnishes:

Prepare small bowls/plates with some or all of the following:

• Finely grated cheddar (I use the finest holes on my grater; this makes fine threads of cheese that simply mellllt into the meat)
• Finely chopped lettuce
• Finely chopped tomato
• Guacamole or chopped avocado
• Salsa (all the store-bought taco sauces had sugar in them, but not all salsas do)
• Sliced black olives
• Anything else that strikes your fancy

Now what?

1. Brown the ground beef in a large pot over medium heat, breaking up lumps frequently. I used my Le Creuset Dutch oven (Looove! I got it for a serious discount at Winner’s because it was a factory second, but I’ve never been able to find the flaw.) Anyway…
2. When the meat’s nicely browned, add the spice mix and stir briefly.
3. Add the water and simmer for 20  – 25 minutes, stirring now and then
4. During the simmer, rinse and pat dry the lettuce leaves and prep your garnishes (see above)
5. To serve, put some meat in a lettuce leaf and top with some or all of the garnishes. If they want to, non-Paleo diners can use (the horror!) a taco shell or a grain-based wrap.

The simmer

The garnishes await. That’s my funny (but good) dairy-free “cheese” right at the front

The final product, plus gluten-free cassava balls – num!