lo-cal Mexican or Tex-Mex food?

raleighgoodwins

Does anyone have any recipes for low calorie Mexican/Tex-Mex food? I love burritos, enchiladas, nachos, tacos etc. but typically these foods have lots of fat, calories and carbs.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

kimberly428

I personally use the ground turkey instead of ground beef or chicken when making tacos. But thinking about it is making my mouth water...should have had that for dinner LOL

VictorianJade

Instead of having tacos, or something with a shell or nachos, make a taco salad. Extra-lean ground beef, or ground turkey, low-sodium seasoning, and then make your guacamole instead of buying it:

2 avocados, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tsp louisiana hot sauce, salt, pepper, and 1 tbsp lime juice. I plugged it into my counter a few days ago, and it's not that bad, plus, no added fat. Salsa's not high in fat, but can be high in sugar.

Lots of lettuce, tomato, and a light sprinkling of cheese. Your guac and salsa are your salad dressing, and then add your meat. Fabulous, and not all that caloric, if you're portion-controlled.

ChavezCurse

Chicken Fajitas?? You can cook them on the grill or in a pan. (salt, pepper, paprika and sazon goya with culantro y achiote)

Tilapia with adobo and lime served over a carrot ceviche (tomato, onion, cilantro, serrano pepper, shredded carrot, lime and salt) on a oven baked tostada.

Fish or shrimp ceviche

Chicken pozole...

It's hard to make burritos, enchiladas, nachos and tacos healthy. Enchiladas just don't taste the same when the tortilla isn't fried. otherwise its just a taco smothered in salsa. Tacos are a bit easier cuz u can control the trimmings and how you cook your meat...

Jb27

Quick and Easy Ground Turkey Tacos
Calories: 242.3
Directions
Brown ground turkey in skillet. Add 3/4 cups of water,black beans and diced tomatoes. Simmer until desired consistency.
Lay your tortillas on the plates. Spoon meat mixture onto tortillas, add cheese and lettuce. I make mine open-faced but you can top it with another tortilla. Just dont forget to add the calories for the tortilla.
This is very simple to make and loaded with fiber plus all 3 of my kids eat it which makes them that much better

AllisonMS

I take a whole wheat tortilla, warm it, fill it with 4 oz chicken or tilapia or shrimp, add salsa, jalapenos, lots of lettuce/salad and 1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese. Filling and fun to eat. (Meanwhile, my husband and kids are eating quesidillas, but I don't feel all that deprived.)

wannabe

i fry up some chicken with lime juice and lots of cumin and spicy spices and add bell peppers and onions and a can of stewed tomatoes. when its all cooked i add sliced avacado more lime juice and fresh cilantro and salsa on top. its good! everyone else has it on tortillas but i just eat it with a spoon it doesnt need tortillas! kinda like mexican stew...

tmgmcg

I use Carb Smart tortillas (I think they are 50 calories each). When making tacos, the kids like the fried shell but I'll just warm the carb smart. I use either shredded chicken breast or even shredded roast out of a crock pot. I tend to use low fat or fat free cheese and sour cream. Lots of lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and really fresh salsa. We have this about once a week and everyone is happy.

Also, I make enchildadas using these tortillas but for the filling I'll use black beans that have been simmered with some stewed tomatoes, chilies and sometimes I'll add corn. I use very little cheese over the top and a green enchilada sauce. When they come out of the oven I'll add fat free sourcream and even some avocados. It totally meets my craving for mexican food but it's much lower in calories than the way I used to eat them.

Oh, and with Taco Salad, I'll buy fat free ranch but mix in some dry taco seasoning mix. You can hardly tell it's fat free and adds a lot of flavor to the salad. I think the trick is lots of fresh ingredients to bring in lots of flavor.

jamiekelley

i love to make shreded chicken tacos...put 2 chicken breast in the crockpot with 1 can of rotel. cook on low for 7 hours, when you get home use 2 forks to shred the chicken. then put corn tortillas in the oven if you like the crunch and bake them on 350 for about 15 or so min...flip after about 7 min...take out when golden brown....it is the best! lots of lettuce and salsa.

smae1980

I just had a taco style salad. The "topping" was corn, black beans, red onion, cucumber and tomato with a little lime juice and olive oil. I put it on lettuce then tossed in half a cubed avocado, a couple Tbsp of bottled salsa, and jarred jalapenos, some black olives and shredded cheddar. I had a few blue corn chips on the side. So good!

kdiamond

I make a TON of Mexican-inspired dishes.

One trick I have when making tacos is subsitute half ground chicken with half lean ground beef. You won't taste the difference, but you knock off half the calories!

I also use Tumaro's whole wheat fajita shells - 60 cals

Use fat free or 2% cheese...melted in you can't tell the difference.

Use greek yogurt instead of sour cream

Use a lot of cilantro - very Mexican tasting

For chips and salsa I take one of the above mentioned shells, spray it with a little cooking spray and bake it for 5 minutes, becomes crunch and can break it into chips

Low sodium black beans, cook them stovetop with onions, garlic and cilantro, so yummy!

raleighgoodwins

Thanks so much for all of the delicious recipes! I'm very encouraged to know that I can have satisfying and healthy Mexican food. I can't wait to try these recipes. First one will be this Friday.

Thanks again for all of your detailed replies. They are so helpful.

mhotch

Just posting to come back. I plan Mexican/chicken tomorrow night.

auttyfrmca

There was a post earlier about rotel and chicken in crock pot...awesome! It's really good...unfortunately some places like california don't have rotel...it's very hard for a texan to believe...just use salsa if you can't find rotel or use a diced tomatoe with the peppers. It's really good and EASY!!!