This Meal Prep Skinny Taco Bake is a delicious, healthier take on a taco dinner. A taco casserole filled with ground turkey, sweet potatoes and bell peppers. A nutritious lunch or dinner idea!
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What is a taco bake?
If your family loves tacos, this taco bake recipe may become your new favourite for taco night! It’s a little bit like a low carb taco salad, without the lettuce. There are several different versions of a taco bake recipe floating around the Internet. The problem is, many of them call for some sort of starchy carbs.
There are recipes for taco casserole with Doritos, taco mac, and even layered taco casserole with tortillas. I like to make recipes that are healthier and meal prep-friendly, so Meal Prep Skinny Taco Bake was born.
I make this recipe using ground turkey. If you prefer, you can make it with ground chicken or even lean ground beef. The taco bake has a little bit of heat from the taco seasoning, but otherwise, it's not very spicy. If you want it spicier, you could add some jalapeno slices or red chili powder.
Can you freeze this taco casserole?
Just like most of my meal prep dinners, this meal prep taco casserole is very freezer-friendly. It’s a versatile meal prep idea, too. You can divide the mixture out into meal prep containers, or freeze the casserole whole if you want to.
Regardless of how you want to freeze it, be sure that the taco casserole is cool before placing it in the freezer. If the casserole is too warm when you freeze it, condensation will form into ice on the top. That's how freezer burn begins, and you don't want that to happen.
As long as it's covered well, taco bake will keep well in the freezer for two to three months. If you won't be freezing it, it will stay good in a refrigerator for about 4 or 5 days.
What should I serve with a taco bake?
The great thing about this taco bake recipe is that it makes a pretty complete meal all by itself. It already has meat, cheddar cheese, onions, bell peppers, and diced tomatoes.
If you do want to serve a healthy side dish, black beans are a good choice. Or cauliflower rice is a delicious low carb option. If you can find them in your grocery store, there are quinoa tortilla chips and lower carb flour tortillas available.
Oh, and don’t forget the toppings! I like to serve the taco casserole with sour cream, some green chilis or jalapeno slices, and slices of avocado.
More Mexican Meal Prep Ideas
Other healthy taco recipes to try:
- Healthy Double Stacked Turkey Tacos
- Seared Scallop Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
- Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Pulled Chicken Tacos
Besides the taco bake recipe, some of my favorite Mexican meal prep recipes include:
- Low Carb Mexican Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Meal Prep Individual Taco Pizza
- Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef (Chipotle Copycat)
Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on using the taco casserole in your weekly lunches.
I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
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Meal Prep Taco Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 large sweet potato, diced
- 1 lb ground turkey or chicken (can also use ground beef)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 each red, green and yellow pepper, diced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 beefsteak tomatoes, diced
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- Tortilla chips for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss sweet potato with 1 tbsp olive oil in an 8x11 or 9x13 baking dish then season with salt & pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until sweet potato is fork tender.
- Meanwhile, heat remaining tbsp olive oil over med-high heat in a large skillet. Add ground turkey, onions and garlic, breaking up meat with a slotted spoon, then add chili powder, cumin, paprika and salt. Mix to combine well and cook for 5-6 minutes until meat starts to brown.
- Remove sweet potatoes from oven and add in turkey mixture along with bell peppers. Top with cheddar cheese then bake for 10 minutes until cheese is fully melted.
- Top with tomatoes, green onion and cilantro then serve and enjoy!
MARILYN PITTS says
Sounds delicious! Could this be cooked in an instant pot? changes required?
Taylor Stinson says
Unfortunately I can’t provide any Instant Pot instructions, I just don’t know how it would work. Sorry about that!
Kaitlyn says
Do you freeze/reheat this with the tomatoes/cilantro already on top?
Taylor Stinson says
I would recommend adding fresh tomatoes and cilantro afterward!
Andrea says
Another win! I made this last night for dinner – it was so quick and easy and the kids really enjoyed it. Two of them took the leftovers for lunch. I didn’t use cheese, but topped with chopped tomatoes & guacamole. Will definitely make this again.