Although eating at Mexican restaurants may appear challenging if you’re on the keto diet owing to high carb meals like tortillas, rice, and beans, Mexican food is one of the tastiest, most nutritional, and keto-friendly cuisines.

This is especially true if you want to prepare specific recipes at home.

Here are 15 keto-friendly Mexican foods, some cooking and ordering advice, and a few essential recipes.

List of keto Mexican dishes

1. Fajitas

Fajitas are a popular sizzling-hot meal that often includes bell peppers, onions, and a protein such as chicken, beef, or shrimp. These come with tortillas, but you can skip them and eat the fajita filling if you want to keep it low carb.

Yet, because the carbohydrates in onions pile up rapidly, it’s recommended to prepare a little piece or divide your order into two meals (1).

2. Carne asada

Carne asada is a grilled marinated beef meal. The steak has no carbohydrates. However, the marinade may include a tiny amount (2).

Several Mexican eateries serve this meal. Raw, ready-to-grill carne asada is also available in several Mexican markets.

3. Ceviche

Ceviche originated in Peru, although it may now be seen on the menus of many Mexican restaurants.

This cold meal consists of raw or precooked seafood, mainly fish or shrimp, brined in citrus juice and blended with vegetables and herbs, including tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, and cilantro. All of these components are low in carbohydrates.

To minimize the carb count, cut the number of tomatoes and onions in half if you cook them at home (1, 3).

4. Guacamole

Guacamole is a smashed avocado dip naturally heavy in fat and fiber and low in net carbohydrates — total carbs minus fiber, which your body does not digest.

Guacamole may also contain trace amounts of lime juice, onion, jalapeño, tomato, or cilantro. Although you should skip the chips usually accompanied by it, guacamole is completely keto-friendly (4).

5. Carnitas

Carnitas is a dish of the slow-cooked shredded pig. It’s often cooked with fatty meat, such as hog shoulder, with some fat melting to coat and flavor the heart.

Because the meat includes no carbs, it’s an ideal keto-friendly option at Mexican restaurants or at home (5).

6. Camarones a la diabla

This spicy shrimp dish, popular in many Mexican restaurants, is topped with a sauce created from several varieties of chiles (and possibly tomatoes).

It’s low in carbohydrates, but if served with rice and beans, you might want to replace it with a salad or guacamole — both are keto-friendly and may help balance the heat.

7. Al pastor pork

Tacos al pastor are cooked using al pastor pork, which is marinated, thinly sliced hog shoulder. For a keto-friendly supper, skip the tortillas and eat the pork alone or with a side salad.

8. Chorizo

Chorizo is a beef or pork-based Mexican sausage. It can be purchased fresh (raw and ground) or dried (cured, ready to eat, and sliceable).

Chorizo is low in carbohydrates, heavy in fat, and tasty in all varieties (6).

9. Queso

“Queso” is a Spanish word that means “cheese,” but in the United States, it usually refers to cheese dip.

These dips are typically low in carbohydrates. However, some may include carbs from milk or starch-based thickeners. Check the label, inquire about the contents, or prepare your low carb version at home.

My favorite keto-friendly accompaniment to dips like queso is pork rinds or homemade tortilla chips made from low carb tortillas (7).

10. Salsa

Tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, or other combinations of these ingredients, are used to make this dip.

Salsa has a few carbohydrates from the tomatoes and onion, but tiny amounts — such as 1-2 tablespoons (16-32 grams) — can flavor your meal without jeopardizing your keto diet (8).

11. Birria

Birria is goat meat that has been seasoned with a variety of herbs, spices, and chilies. Specific variants may also include meat. It’s used to prepare birria tacos or birria soup, a typical Mexican soup with broth and optional salsa, onions, or cilantro.

Both the soup and the meat on their own are keto-friendly.

12. Tacos with corn tortillas

If your carbohydrate consumption is flexible, consider classic tacos cooked using corn tortillas, which have fewer carbohydrates than flour tortillas — around 7 grams of net carbs per small, 18-gram tortilla (9).

With careful preparation, you can consume a couple of traditional tacos while staying within your daily carb limit.

13. Taco salad

Taco salads often include lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, meat such as seasoned ground beef or chicken, and occasionally additional toppings.

Some are served in fried taco shells or over tortilla chips, with or without refried beans on the bottom. To keep it keto-friendly, leave off the body and the refried beans.

14. Huevos a la Mexicana

In this morning meal, scrambled eggs are cooked with onions, sliced tomatoes, and sautéed peppers such as jalapeño.

It’s fewer carbs than other Mexican morning meals like huevos rancheros and chilaquiles since it doesn’t contain tortillas or chips.

15. Pico de gallo

Pico de gallo is a condiment and dip prepared with diced tomato, onion, and cilantro. It’s low in carbs and gives a vibrant taste to rich or high fat recipes when used in tiny amounts. It’s also simple to prepare at home.

Food swaps and modification tips

At home

Here are some pointers to make keto Mexican meals at home:

• Create your seasoning blends. Premade taco or fajita spice packets frequently contain extra carbohydrates you may avoid by creating flavor mixes. Mix chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper.
• Purchase low carb tortillas. You can still eat burritos and tacos if you use soft carb tortillas.
• Use cauliflower rice and black soybeans. To cut carbs, substitute cauliflower rice and black soybeans for high carb items like rice and black beans. Because black soybeans are high in fiber, their net carb content is reduced (10).

At a Mexican restaurant

Keep the following things in mind when dining at a Mexican restaurant in the United States:

• Ask that no chips be brought to the table. Tortilla chips are heavy in carbohydrates, so avoid them entirely.
• Order fajitas with no tortillas. Like many other Mexican recipes, Fajitas are a great keto option if you omit the tortillas.
• Choose a simple meat entree. When you choose a high fat, high protein beef dish as your main course, you may only need to make a few additional requests to maintain your meal keto-friendly.
• Replace rice and refried beans with salad and guacamole. Rice and refried beans are high in carbohydrates; therefore, we request that they be replaced with non-starchy vegetables.

Keto Mexican recipes

Keto guacamole

Ingredients

• One avocado flesh
• two teaspoons (10 mL) lemon juice
• season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Steps

1. Smash the avocado until it reaches the required consistency.
2. Combine the lime juice and ingredients in a mixing bowl. To avoid browning, eat as soon as possible.

Pico de gallo

Ingredients

• One medium diced tomato
• 1/2 chopped red onion
• several finely chopped cilantro leaves
• One teaspoon of lime juice (5 mL)
• season with salt and pepper to taste

Steps

1. Mix the tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and spices in a bowl.
2. Refrigerate for up to 1 week before using.

Carnitas

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon (8 g) chili powder
• One teaspoon (5 grams) of cumin powder
• season with salt and pepper to taste
• 1.5-2 pound (680-900 gram) pork shoulder, divided into 4-5 significant portions
• One onion, peeled and cut into wedges
• water
• two bay leaves

Steps

1. Combine chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.
2. Spread this mixture all over the pork shoulder.
3. Combine the pork shoulder and onion in a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven. Fill the pot with water until it is 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the top, then add the bay leaves.
4. Bake the pork for 3-4 hours at 350°F (175°C), rotating halfway through.
5. When completed, the pork should be soft and straightforward to shred. Serve with your favorite low-carb Mexican sides and sauces.

Carne asada fajitas

Ingredients

• one tbsp (15 mL) of cooking oil
• two bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
• one onion, thinly sliced
• one pound (450 grams) of raw, pre-marinated carne asada
• salt and pepper to taste
• juice of one lime

Steps

1. Heat the cooking oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add bell peppers and onion. Cook until the veggies become soft or the edges blacken.
2. Remove the bell peppers and onion from the pan and replace them with the carne asada. They are fried until the meat is thoroughly done and the edges are crispy.
3. Return the veggies to the pan and combine them with the meat.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste, but remember that carne asada is already seasoned, so you may only require a little.
5. Serve with low carb toppings and sides after squeezing lime juice over the cooked fajitas.

The bottom line

Mexican food is full of tasty, delicate meats, fresh veggies, and vibrant herbs and seasonings that are perfect for keto dieters.

But, if you dine at a Mexican restaurant in the United States, you should avoid high carb foods such as tortillas, rice, and beans.

Several keto-friendly Mexican cuisine varieties may be made at home, including ceviche, fajitas, carne asada, and carnitas.

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