Nothing tastes better than a delicious bite of meat, but what if you’re trying to eat low carb and you feel like tacos? Then there is no other option than to use a delicious crispy lettuce leaf instead of a tortilla, right? That’s what I made for you today: lettuce tacos with my favorite shredded meat!
It’s no secret that we like meat in our house, but some of my recipes are secret. That’s because I really just never want to share something that’s too good. But as a cook you should of course be able to step over that and simply share recipes!
I really love cajun spices. I made a spice mix myself that I spread on meat and ribs when I make stews with them! And of course I also use this mix for shredded meat! You can keep your taco simple or go as crazy as you like, for example with toppings like creme fraiche, or an air fried corn cob!
The choice is yours and now follow me to the kitchen and I will reveal my secret to you!
Ingredients
Tacos
- salad leaves
- creme fraiche
- air fryer corn on the cob, link can be found here
- red peppers
- cilantro
Pico De Gallo
- 1 lime
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 small white onion
- a bunch of fresh coriander
- salt
- pepper
shredded meat
- 500 gr rib steak
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 500 ml beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 or 2 limes (for juice)
- 3 tablespoons of cajun spices, see recipe
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 150 ml water (enough to just cover the meat)
- a little parsley
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- butter
Preparation
First make the beef stock by boiling 600 ml of water and adding a stock cube. If you have ‘real’ homemade stock, you can of course use that too. I sometimes use vegetable stock from the freezer.
Make sure you cut all the vegetables and herbs for the pico de gallo into fine cubes, and make the tomato completely seedless! Combine everything in a small bowl and squeeze the lime over it. Add a little more salt and pepper, stir well and then refrigerate until ready to use.
Cut the ribs into pieces the size of your palm and spread half of the Cajun seasoning on them. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and melt the butter in it as well. This will ensure that the butter does not brown. Turn the heat up a bit and, in batches, brown the meat on all sides. Remove the pieces and keep them aside on a plate.
Add the onion and garlic to the oil and sauté until the onions are translucent. Then add the lime juice to scrape the brown deposits off the bottom of the pan with a spatula. That’s the tastiest thing in the pan! Return the meat to the pan, along with the stock, the rest of the spices, salt, pepper and the bay leaves. Simmer for about three minutes, then add more water if the meat has not completely submerged below the surface of the stock. Then close the pressure cooker and turn the heat up.
When the pressure cooker finally starts to whistle, let everything cook for 60 minutes on medium heat. Meanwhile you can prepare everything for the tacos and also make delicious air fryer corn cobs!
After this hour is up, let the steam run off. Always do this carefully! When the steam has completely stopped, you can open the pan. Check with two forks whether the meat is really well shredded and taste whether it is tender enough. Isn’t it good yet? Then close the pan again and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Top your lettuce leaves with shredded meat, pico de gallo and any toppings you like. Serve everything immediately with tasty side dishes and enjoy! You don’t have to share if you don’t want to!
Voila, low carb tacos!
The result
It’s actually funny that I now call this dish low carb, because I try to eat low carb these days as I want to work on my weight. I must honestly say that these are very fresh tacos because of the lettuce leaves! But when I made it I wasn’t carb conscious at all!
By the way, this is a really great recipe if you’re doing meal prep, because the meat can be kept for a week in a well-refrigerated fridge and it really goes with everything! And now that I’m writing this recipe, my mouth is watering again!
Well enjoy and let us know how you like your tacos!
