Healthy Weeknight Bison Tacos | Gluten-Free

I’m not sure about you, but I like to do everything I can to get as many vegetables into the foods I’m already eating! Thinking about how you can get more nutritional value into the foods you already enjoy can be a helpful tool to make healthful eating less of a daunting task. These healthy bison tacos are easy to whip up for a weeknight and are the perfect way to enjoy a super yummy, balanced dinner!

Healthy Weeknight Bison Tacos

I healthified classic tacos in two main ways:

1. Using ground bison (which is super lean!).
2. Increasing the fiber by adding mushrooms, beans, tomato and bell pepper.

About Bison

For this dish, I decided to use ground bison meat. Bison is extremely lean! For a 3.5 oz serving, bison only has only 2 g of fat and 143 calories, and 28 g of protein. That makes it leaner than chicken breast. Bison is also a great source of iron and vitamin B-12. Bison has a nice, savory flavor profile to it which makes it a fantastic choice in ground meat dishes. Using lean protein sources keeps calories in check while providing maximum nutritional value. Not interested in bison or it’s not available? No prob, you can use any lean ground meat (I’d suggest at least ≥90% lean).

The Mushrooms

Finely-diced mushrooms camouflage perfectly into ground meat dishes, and are an easy way sneak in more veggie power! Because mushrooms tend to take on the flavor of the foods around them and are very moist, they’re a great fit for this dish. Even if you don’t like mushrooms normally, I highly suggest giving it a whirl!

Why Beans and What Type?

Beans are super nutritious! They’re high in fiber, potassium and phosphorous, and they provide protein! My favorite way to use beans in this meal is making homemade, healthy refried beans using Ellie Krieger’s recipe here. Short on time? Honestly any beans will work fine! I’ve made these with pinto, kidney or black beans! I’d suggest choosing no added salt or low sodium beans if you’re using canned beans.

The Toppings

Feel free to top off your tacos with more cilantro, tomatoes and bell pepper than the recipe calls for, but beware more fillings are likely to make your taco too full and fall out of the back! That’s okay with me – just keep a fork or spoon handy ☺. I’d also recommend pairing this super easy homemade guacamole with it!

I hope you love this recipe! Let me know what you think below!

Disclosures: None. This post was not created in affiliation with any product or brand.  

Healthy Weeknight Bison Tacos

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 6 mins

Total Time 26 mins

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 6 tacos

Calories 281 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 6 corn tortillas
• 1 lb ground bison (any lean ground meat, preferably ≥93% lean, can be used)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup chopped spinach
• 1 15-oz can pinto beans (no salt added), drained and rinsed (any beans can be used; optional homemade healthy refried beans (my favorite recipe by Ellie Krieger: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/refried-beans-recipe.)
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper (~1/2 bell pepper)
• 3 diced mushrooms, large
• 2 Tbsp shredded cheese
• 2 tsp chopped cilantro

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat on stovetop. Add bison and spices. Stir occasionally, chopping with end of wooden spatula into bite-sized pieces.
• While bison is cooking, warm the beans by placing on in a saucepan on the stovetop on medium heat or by heating in microwave.
• When meat is close to being completed browned, add in diced mushrooms and chopped spinach. Mix well. Continue to stir occasionally.
• When meat is completely browned and has reached internal temperature of 160°F, move meat and veggie mixture to a strainer to remove any excess drippings. (There will be very little removed as bison is very lean).
• Place corn tortillas on a baking sheet (for easier clean-up, put a piece of foil down first!). Warm corn tortillas in oven for 2 minutes on each side, then remove from oven*. Keeping each tortilla flat, fill tortillas with beans (~2 Tbsp each) and bison mixture (~1/3 c each). Top with tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro and cheese. Place back in the oven for an additional two minutes.
• Remove from oven, roll up and enjoy! For best results, promptly remove tortillas from baking sheet to avoid the tortilla from overcooking and becoming difficult to bite into.

Notes

*Heating the tortillas in the oven prior to filling them will make them less likely to break once filled. If preferred, this step can be skipped.

Nutrition

Calories: 281kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 23gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 219mgPotassium: 478mgFiber: 6gSugar: 2g

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Updated 6/26/17.

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