Slow Cooker Beef Taco Bowls

These tasty Beef Taco Bowls have ground beef, red pepper, Poblano pepper, and spices that cook in the slow cooker with a tiny bit of rice. The bowls are finished with sliced olives, sliced green onions, and Cotija Cheese, and this recipe has a lot of low-carb ingredients and not much rice, so the beef taco bowls only have 14 net carbs and 40 grams of protein!

PIN the Beef Taco Bowls to try the recipe later!

This new recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Taco Bowls uses just one cup of uncooked rice combined with a lot of low-carb ingredients to make 6 taco bowls. The finished Beef Taco Bowls have only 14 net carbs and a whopping 40 grams of protein, so I hope this recipe will be low enough in carbs for some of my readers who might normally avoid rice. And this recipe cooks in just over two hours in the slow cooker, and the leftovers are great to freeze and pull out later for another meal.

I adapted this recipe from an earlier slow cooker taco bowl that used ground turkey, after I noticed I was most often making that one with ground beef. And once I decided to work on the recipe I experimented a bit to use less rice and add more low-carb ingredients to make it lower in carbs, and I also switched out the tomato-avocado salsa for Cotija Cheese, for another way to reduce the carbs!

And I did mention in the recipe that inspired this one that you could switch the ground turkey for ground beef, so you can make any variation of the two recipes that you prefer for a taco bowl meal cooked in the slow cooker!

What ingredients do you need?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• extra-lean ground beef
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (for seasoning beef)
• onion
• Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link), or other low-sugar salsa
• large red bell pepper
• large Poblano pepper
• Ben’s Original Long Grain White Converted Rice (affiliate link)
• canned chicken broth (affiliate link), I used low sodium broth
• Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning, or use your favorite taco seasoning blend)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or use another all-purpose seasoning blend
• can of pitted black olives
• green onions
• crumbled Cotija Cheese

Why is it important to use extra-lean ground beef for the Slow Cooker Beef Taco Bowl?

I made this recipe a few times to get it just right, and the first time when I used 80/20 ground beef I really didn’t like the strong flavor of beef fat that permeated the finished dish. I would make the recipe with 93/7 ground beef if you can!

What are Poblano Peppers?

Poblano Peppers are a mild chile pepper that originally came from the Puebla region of Mexico. They’re a very mild pepper with a pleasant flavor and are the pepper that’s usually used in Chile Rellenos. In the United States Poblano Peppers are sometimes called Pasilla Peppers.

Why do I use Ben’s Original Rice for this recipe:

I’ve been a fan of Ben’s rice for a long time, and the rice I used for this recipe is slightly lower in carbs than many types of white rice. And according to WebMD, “Parboiled rice has fewer calories, fewer carbohydrates, more fiber, and more protein” than regular white rice. You could also use Ben’s Original Whole Grain Brown Rice (affiliate link) or another type of white or brown rice, although the carbs might be slightly higher.

What is Cotija Cheese?

I loved the use of Cotija Cheese for the Slow Cooker Beef Taco Bowls, and if you live in Utah you may know Cotija as the mild white cheese used at Cafe Rio! Cotija is an aged Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk and the one cup of Cotija Cheese used in this recipe is only 4.8 net carbs for the whole cup. 

What other toppings can you use for the Beef Taco Bowls?

You can use any type of grated cheese or Mexican blend cheese to top these taco bowls if you don’t want to buy Cotija. And you could add other low-carb toppings like sour cream, avocado, or even sliced radishes if you want an authentic Mexican topping.

What size slow cooker did I use for the Beef Taco Bowls?

I used a 3.5 Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, but any size that’s similar to that will work. Use Slow Cooker Recipes to find other recipes where I’ve used a CrockPot!

How to make Slow Cooker Beef Taco Bowls:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Heat oil and cook ground beef until it’s nicely browned, breaking apart with turner or Hamburger Meat Chopper (affiliate link). Chop onion while the beef cooks.
2. When beef is browned, push it over in the pan, add onion, and cook 3-4 minutes. Stir together the beef and onion and turn heat to medium low.
3. Add Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link) and simmer until most liquid is evaporated. While that cooks, chop red bell pepper and Poblano pepper into very small pieces.
4. Add seasoned meat mixture to slow cooker with the red pepper, Poblano pepper, Ben’s Original Long Grain White Converted Rice (affiliate link), low-sodium chicken broth, Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning, and Spike Seasoning (affiliate link).
5. Turn slow cooker to HIGH and cook about 2 hours and 15 minutes, or until mixture is hot and rice is tender.
6. While taco bowl mixture cooks, drain black olives and slice the olives and the green onions. Crumble Cotija cheese.
7. When rice is done, turn off slow cooker and season mixture with salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste (I didn’t use much salt.)
8. Then stir in sliced olives and sliced green onions.
9. Serve hot, topped with Cotija cheese. I also like this with some Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link).
10. The bowl meal ingredients will keep in the fridge for at least a week; see freezing tips in the complete recipe below.

Want more ideas for Bowl meals?

Check out 20 Amazing Low-Carb Bowl Meals for lots more tasty ideas for meals served in a bowl!

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Beef Taco Bowls

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes

These Beef Taco Bowls combined browned and seasoned ground beef, onion, Pace Picante Sauce, red bell pepper, Poblano pepper, Ben's original rice, low-sodium chicken broth, Kalyn's Taco Seasoning, and Spike Seasoning to cook in the slow cooker. When the rice is done you stir in sliced olives and green onions and top the mixture with crumbled Cotija cheese. And this taco bowl meal has a lot of low-carb ingredients and not much rice!

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 lbs. extra-lean ground beef (see notes)
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup Pace Picante Sauce
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 large Poblano pepper
• 1 cup Ben's Original Parboiled Long Grain White Rice
• one 14 oz. can low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tsp. Kalyn's Taco Seasoning
• 2 tsp. Spike Seasoning
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• one 6 oz. can black olives (see notes)
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 cup crumbled Cotija Cheese (see notes)

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan and cook the ground beef over medium-high heat until it's nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner or a Hamburger Meat Chopper.
2. Chop onion while the ground beef cooks.
3. When the beef is browned, push it over in the pan, add chopped onion, and cook 3-4 minutes. Stir together the ground beef and onion and reduce heat to medium low.
4. Add the Pace Picante Sauce or other low-sugar salsa and simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 8-10 minutes.
5. While the beef mixture cooks in the pan, chop the red bell pepper and Poblano pepper into very small pieces.
6. Add seasoned meat mixture into the slow cooker with the chopped red pepper, chopped Poblano pepper, Ben’s Original Long Grain White Converted Rice or other rice, low-sodium chicken broth, Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning (or other taco seasoning), and Spike Seasoning, or  another all-purpose seasoning blend.
7. Turn slow cooker to HIGH and cook about 2 hours and 15 minutes, or until mixture is piping hot and rice is tender. (We gave it a quick stir after one hour and started to check the rice after two hours. Some slow cookers cook much hotter than others.)
8. While taco bowl mixture cooks, drain the can of black olives and slice the olives. Thinly slice the green onions. Crumble one cup of Cotija cheese.
9. When rice is done, turn off slow cooker and season the mixture with salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste (I didn't use much salt.)
10. Then stir in the sliced olives and sliced green onions.
11. Serve hot as a bowl meal, topped with Cotija cheese. I also like this with Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link).
12. The cooked bowl meal ingredients will keep in the fridge for at least a week and can be reheated in the microwave or in a pan and then sprinkled with cheese.
13. If you want to freeze leftovers, I would only add olives and green onions to the amount you're going to eat right away and freeze the rest of the rice mixture, then add those ingredients (and the cheese) when you eat it later.

Notes

I highly recommend using 97/3 ground beef for this mixture, or the lowest fat ground beef you can. When I first made it with the 80/20 ground beef I often use, I felt there was too strong of a flavor of beef fat after it had cooked in the slow cooker.

You can also skip the work of slicing the olives and use one or two small cans sliced olives.

If you don't want to buy Cotija cheese, just use any grated cheese you like with Mexican food.

This recipe created by Kalyn and Kara and inspired by Slow Cooker Turkey Taco Bowls. For this taco bowl meal we used less rice and more lower-carb ingredients for a version that's lower in carbs.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 382Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 121mgSodium 1610mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 3gSugar 4gProtein 40g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This beef taco bowl meal has 14 net carbs and 40 grams of protein, so that might work for some low-carb diets but maybe not Keto. As long as you use the recommended extra-lean ground beef this is not a bad choice for the original South Beach Diet or other low-glycemic diets. You can also make this with ground turkey for South Beach if you prefer that option.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Slow Cooker Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

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