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The best keto burrito recipes allow anyone who loves Mexican cuisine to enjoy their favorite foods on the keto diet. But how can you be sure you’re eating low enough carbs while you try to lose weight? Can a burrito really be keto-friendly?
Fortunately, our keto burrito recipes will tempt your tastebuds while allowing you to lose weight on keto. Let’s show you what goes into a low-carb burrito recipe before we share our most delicious ideas to keep you on track.
Are Burritos Healthy?
Keto burrito recipes are low-carb meals you can enjoy while on keto, including:
However, traditional burritos generally aren’t low-carb enough. Let’s see how burritos can be low-carb and suitable for the keto diet.
What Is Traditionally in a Burrito?
Traditional burritos combine suitable and unsuitable ingredients, which doesn’t make for a low-carb meal. For example, Daisy Brand’s burrito recipe contains ground beef, spices, sour cream, and cheese you can eat on keto (12). However, it uses flour tortillas and store-bought taco sauce that you probably shouldn’t eat on keto.
The sauce and flour tortillas increase the carbohydrate count. The recipe has 58 g of carbs per serving. You typically aren’t allowed more than 50 g of carbs on a 2,000-calorie keto meal plan in a day (2). Eating a traditional burrito will break this allowance and leave no carbs for other meals. Instead, let’s look at how to reduce the carbs for keto-friendly burritos.
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Some of our keto burrito recipes may include low-carb rice alternatives. Regular white rice is too high in carbs for keto. One cup of regular white rice has 210 calories and 46 g of carbs, whereas a cup of cauliflower rice has 20 calories and 4 g of carbs (4). Adding cauliflower rice is a way of making low-carb burritos.
What Is the Best Meat for Burrito-Keto?
The Health Reporter recommends meats to get some protein and fat without eating carbs (5). Shredded pork belly, ground beef, lamb, steak, veal, prime rib, turkey, ham, pork rinds, pork, chicken, and beef liver are tasty zero-carb meats that can be added to burritos.
How Do You Fold a Burrito Like a Pro?
Folding a burrito is simple if you use the following steps from Mexican Please (3):
Warm the tortilla in a dry skillet for 30-60 seconds to prevent cracking
Place your filling in a line just below the center, finishing 2 inches from each end
Fold the 2” sides over the filling, holding them down using your index and middle fingers
Lift the bottom of the tortilla with your thumbs, starting at the side that is closest to the filling
Fold the tortilla over the filling while keeping the 2” sides pressed down
Tuck the tortilla tightly under the filling without letting go of the sides
Finally, roll the tortilla into a neat burrito with the open side down
Best Keto Burrito Recipe Ideas
So, let’s take a look at which keto burrito recipes include keto-friendly ingredients and provide low-carb options:
Easy Burrito Recipe – No Rice or Tortillas!
An easy idea is a burrito recipe with no rice. It’s a keto-friendly option where you won’t need to make cauliflower rice. However, The Little Pine’s keto burrito recipe without rice is a tasty treat that is bursting with Mexican flavors (8).
Thin-Licious has a delicious chicken burrito bowl recipe to fill low-carb tortillas for traditional-styled burritos (10). However, this recipe only shows the nutritional value of the chicken and rice bowls, so you will need to add the values for your desired tortillas.
Add the chicken and spices to the hot oil and brown until the chicken seals
Remove the pot from the heat and add water to deglaze the bottom
Cook the chicken for 8-10 minutes until it is cooked through
Cook the cauliflower rice in a microwave-safe bowl for 2 minutes
Add your chicken mix to 4 low-carb tortillas before sprinkling the rice over them
Add the remaining ingredients before rolling your burrito wraps, or layer it in a bowl
Nutrition: 4 servings, 168 calories, 11.8 g carbs, 15.8 g fat, 29.8 g protein, and 2 g fiber (10)
Steak Burrito Recipe
The Sugar-Free Londoner inspires a mouth-watering steak burrito recipe that you can use with low-carb tortillas or as a bowl (7). However, it’s important to remember that the macros are for the recipe with coconut flour or other keto-friendly tortillas.
Heat the oil on a medium heat before frying the onion and garlic for 3 minutes
Add the beef strips, browning them properly before cooking them for 4-5 minutes
Add the spices, tomatoes, tomato puree, apple cider vinegar, and beef stock
Cook for 5-10 minutes until thick, adding salt and pepper as required
Add the cooked ingredients on top of the gem lettuce before adding the filling for a burrito bowl
Alternatively, add 3 tablespoons of the cooked meat and some sprinkled filling on a tortilla.
Nutrition: 6 servings, 216 calories, 5.6 g carbs, 17.8 g fat, 9.7 g protein, and 3 g fiber (7)
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Beef and Rice Burrito Recipe – Keto
This Mexican burrito recipe from Gnom Gnom uses cauliflower rice and other fillings to taste authentic (6). You’ll create a filling from the list, but this will be enough for 6-8 burritos. Therefore, half of your filling will meet the nutritional values below.
Ingredients:
500 g ground beef
1 tbsp. avocado oil
2 finely minced garlic cloves
½ chopped onion
4 slices bacon
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Filling:
1 cup cauliflower rice
½ cup guacamole
Finely chopped red onion
¾ cup sour cream
½ cup feta cubes
A handful of jalapeno slices
Instructions:
Heat the oil over a medium heat before adding onion, garlic, and bacon
Stir often for 7-10 minutes until the onion starts to caramelize
Add the ground beef and spices, cooking until the beef is entirely cooked
Add water to retain moisture as the beef cooks
Warm up keto-friendly tortillas for 30-60 seconds in a skillet
Spread the sour cream and guacamole over the tortillas
Sprinkle the remaining filler ingredients before adding the meat filling and folding the burritos
This burrito recipe from The Culinary Lion is another simple idea for a quick dinner (1). You won’t need to worry about separating ingredients and fillings with this low-carb vegetarian burrito recipe. However, the macros don’t include your chosen tortillas.
Ingredients:
2 cups cauliflower rice
2 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
⅛ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro
Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients except the cilantro in a microwave-safe bowl
Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes and then stir the ingredients together
Use keto-friendly, vegan-friendly tortillas for your vegetarian treats.
Add the cilantro right before you fold your burritos
Nutrition: 4 servings, 62 calories, 3 g carbs, 4 g fat, 1 g protein, and 1 g fiber (1)
What’s the difference between a wrap and a burrito?
Wraps and burritos may look similar but they have key differences. Wraps typically contain salads and some meat, such as chicken strips, while burritos are Mexican cuisine and typically contain meat, salsa, cheese, rice, and beans (13). In addition, wraps are cold and use thicker flatbreads, whereas burritos are served hot and use a thinner tortilla.
Is wrapping a burrito difficult?
Wrapping a burrito isn’t difficult if you heat the tortilla for 30-60 seconds in a dry skillet before you roll it (3). In addition, folding the sides over the filling and holding them with your index and middle fingers helps you roll the burrito more easily.
How do you wrap a 5-layer burrito?
A 5-layer burrito is wrapped differently to get a layered taste. Taco Bell’s famous 5-layer burrito instructions inspire the use of keto-friendly fillings to wrap your multi-layer delight (11):
Wrap the tortillas in damp paper towels and then microwave them for 20 seconds
Place the first tortilla on a counter and spread cream cheese over the base
Stop spreading two inches from the edge
Each filling layer must be spread thinly on the tortillas
Place the second tortilla over the first, spreading ground beef filling over it
Place another tortilla on top before sprinkling cheddar cheese over it
Place the fourth tortilla on top before adding cauliflower rice or beans to it
Rest the final tortilla on top, pressing it down gently without squeezing the fillings out
Fold the two sides inward approximately two inches, holding them with your index and middle fingers
Use your thumbs to fold the bottom tortillas over the sides and tuck it tight
Roll the multi-layered tortillas until they are tight enough to keep the fillings inside
How do you wrap a burrito so it doesn’t get soggy?
Lexi’s Clean Kitchen uses a neat trick to prevent soggy burritos, which you can even freeze for later use (9). She wets her fingertips to help seal the burrito on the sides, pressing down gently while holding it before rolling the tortilla.
The Bottom Line
A keto burrito recipe shouldn’t use ingredients that are not allowed on keto. Instead, it should use low-carb alternatives to ensure you eat fewer carbs and more fat and protein. Try any of our top keto burrito recipes to soothe your Mexican cuisine cravings today.
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