Turkey taco bowls are served with cauliflower rice for a healthy and flavorful meal that can be prepped ahead of time for your weekly meal prep. Taco-seasoned lean ground turkey with black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, shredded cheese, and cilantro is a filling and healthy way to enjoy a taco bowl.
We’ve been eating a lot of tacos lately. It started about three weeks ago when we went to a taco festival, where the price of admission included all the tacos you could eat from over forty local vendors. Then we had Taco Bell tacos when we tried the naked chicken chips. And since then, for one reason or another, we’ve had tacos several times a week.
And while I’m not yet sick of tacos, I have been wanting to go back to a healthier eating routine, so I made these taco bowls. It’s all the toppings I love in tacos with turkey taco meat, but served with cauliflower rice instead of tortillas.
This is a simple recipe you can make for dinner or prep it ahead for easy lunches and dinners during the week. I use these meal prep containers* – they’re great and save a lot of space in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- Minced garlic cloves
- Chopped onion
- Olive oil
- Lean ground turkey
- Taco seasoning
- Black beans
- Corn
- Diced tomatoes
- Sliced avocados or diced avocado
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Cilantro
- Taco toppings
- Cauliflower rice
How to Make Taco Bowls
What I love about these bowls is that you can easily customize it by adding more or less of the ingredients or switching them out. I am sharing my favorite way to make them but also wanted to share options to give you more ideas.
It starts with taco seasoning. I like to make mine from scratch (the recipe is in the card), but you can also substitute your favorite store-bought brand.
I love using ground turkey because it’s so lean, but you can substitute lean ground beef, too. Cook the meat in a skillet with taco seasoning.
For the cauliflower rice, you can rice your own (details in the recipe card) but you can also use frozen cauliflower rice to make it really easy. Or, use regular rice – any kind will work.
Once you have your cooked turkey and cauliflower rice ready to go, all you have to do is assemble the bowls. Here are the add-ins I like with some substitutions, too:
- Black beans or beans of your choice like pinto beans or kidney beans.
- Corn – drained canned corn is the easiest, but you can also used thawed frozen corn.
- Diced tomatoes – or try adding chopped red bell pepper.
- Cubed avocado
- Shredded cheese – I like cheddar or use pepper jack, Monterey jack or a combination.
- Chopped cilantro – if you don’t like it, substitute parsley.
- Cauliflower rice – or you can use regular cooked white rice, brown rice, or even cooked quinoa.
If you are making these for meal prep bowls, don’t assemble your containers until the rice and turkey are fully cooled.
More Ways to Dress Up Taco Bowls
You can dress them in a lot of ways – I would wait to add these toppings until you are ready to serve them.
- Add your favorite salsa or hot sauce
- Top the bowl with a dollop of sour cream
- Add a scoop of guacamole on top
- A little fresh lime juice squeezed over the top
- Add some crushed tortilla chips as a crunchy topping
How long do taco bowls keep?
These turkey bowls will last between 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. Be sure you use airtight containers!
More Meal Prep Ideas
*Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Turkey Taco Bowls with Cauliflower Rice Meal Prep
Ingredients
Turkey Taco Bowls
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 small brown onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 1 packet light taco seasoning or the homemade taco seasoning below
- 1 (15-oz) can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 (15.25-oz) can whole kernel corn drained
- 2 large tomatoes diced
- 1 large avocado cubed
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- fresh cilantro for garnish
Cauliflower Rice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups raw cauliflower rice (see note)
- salt and pepper as needed
Homemade Taco Seasoning
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- If using homemade taco seasoning, add all the taco seasoning ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. When cooking with the seasoning, for every 1 tbsp of seasoning used, you will also need to add 1/4 cup water to the ground meat. Store any remaining seasoning in an airtight container.
- In a large skillet add garlic, onion and oil. Bring pan to medium high heat. Stir and cook until onions are halfway done and aroma of the garlic has been released. Add in ground turkey and cook until browned. Add in taco seasoning packet and water amount specified in instructions. If using the homemade taco seasoning, start with 1 tbsp+ 1/4 cup water and add more as needed. I ended up using 2 tbsp and 1/2 cup water. Stir the seasoning into the ground turkey mixture and cook until turkey is completely cooked. Drain any excess fat. (If you are using very lean ground turkey, you may not have any excess fat.)
- In a separate skillet, prepare the cauliflower rice. Add in oil and bring to medium high heat. Add in cauliflower rice and season with salt and pepper as needed. Cook until cauliflower is tender.
- When rice and turkey have cooled, you can package into your meal prep containers*. First, divide the cauliflower rice evenly across four containers. Add ground turkey to one side of each of the containers. Then add rows of corn, black beans and tomatoes. You can also add avocado now or you can wait until day of eating if you don't want your avocado to brown. Sprinkle cheese across or add as another row. Garnish with cilantro. You can also add lime wedges to squeeze on right before eating.
Notes
- You can buy packages of cauliflower rice or make your own by pulsing cauliflower florets in food processor until they are about twice the size of grains of rice.
- To make this low carb, omit the corn and black beans.
- *Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
They are always a favourite in our home. The tips to cool down turkey and rice really helped me. Looking for more such delicious recipes in future too.
I’m so glad your family likes this!
How well does the avacado hold up for 4 days? Do you add any lemon juice or anything?
As long as they are kept sealed, they should hold up. The exterior do brown slightly and won’t look the same as the first day of course. As I mentioned in the recipe, if you don’t want any browning, hold off on adding the avocados until the day of eating. The type of avocado may also make a difference. I use California hass avocados and they barely brown if I keep them in a sealed container.
How many containers does this end up making .
The quantity is stated in the “yield” box. In this case this recipe makes 4.
This looks great! Ground turkey is my favorite and I love finding new recipes to use it in. And I’ve been trying to incorporate more cauliflower rice into my diet so I’ll have to try this. P
i hope you enjoy!
I freaking love this recipe. It’s my go-to when I’m hella busy and need to meal prep. Thank you!
Thank you for leaving such a sweet comment!
How long do you store these in the fridge for and any tips on the reheating process?
I store 1-3 days. If longer, I store in freezer. I reheat mine in the microwave
Can you freeze these meals? I would make them but wouldn’t want to eat them twice in a week
You can freeze the meat and cauliflower rice, but the beans, tomatoes, cheese and other toppings wouldn’t freeze well so you would need to add those later.
How many calories in total is this dish?
nutrition estimate is provided in the recipe box
How many calories for one serving of taco salad?
i currently dont have that information but i recommend using Very Well website which calculates all the nutritional information you need for a recipe
We love tacos at our house, and this is a great alternative when trying to save calories! I need to do more with cauliflower rice!
This one has been a big hit with my husband!