Tasty Taco Muffins | Paleo Lunch Idea

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Lunch ideas for kids can seem boring, especially when you don’t have a lot of time to fix fancy bento box lunches. Luckily kids don’t seem to mind the same ol’ peanut butter & jelly sandwiches day after day, but when you do want a change?

It’s even more challenging if your kids have diet restrictions, like my kids. When I found out my children had to switch to a gluten-free, corn-free diet last fall, I had to quickly get creative since most of the typical gluten-free breads and even corn tortillas weren’t allowed.

I’ve done a lot of experimenting with new recipes and today’s recipe for Tasty Taco Muffins is one of our favorites.

Since my children love anything to do with tacos, I thought a protein-packed convenient “meat muffin” would be a perfect lunch idea. After a lot of experimenting, I came up with this tasty combination of ingredients.

Tasty Taco Muffins are easy to make and a great way to get protein and veggies into your kids with a combination of ground turkey, almond flour, egg, and even sweet potatoes. The taco seasoning adds a savory taco flavor.

You can even top with salsa or taco sauce, though we prefer to eat these Taco Muffins without any sauces, since they’re delicious by themselves and it’s less-messy.

I always use Shady Brook Farms ground turkey for this recipe and any other ‘ground turkey’ recipes because I like to know what goes into our meat. Shady Brook Farms doesn’t use antibiotics for growth purposes (only if an animal is sick, which is what it should be) and there’s also no steroids or hormones. Since half our family (Nathan, Emily, and me) have thyroid issues, it’s very important for us to avoid those things.

Plus their turkeys are raised on family farms – I’ve seen it myself! (Read about my turkey farm tour here.)

Thanks, Shady Brook Farms, for offering an affordable option I can feel good about feeding my family!

Shady Brook Farms can be found in the New England area; in other parts of the country, it’s called Honeysuckle White Turkey.

How to Make Tasty Taco Muffins:

Ingredients:

• 1.3 lb package Shady Brook Farms ground turkey
• 1 cup sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1″ pieces, and cooked
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup almond flour – this is our favorite brand
• 1-2 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 3/4 tsp sea salt

You’ll need to cook the sweet potatoes first. You can roast them in the oven, but I prefer to steam them as it’s quicker. I put the cubed pieces into a large pan, add 1-2″ of water and bring to a boil on med-high heat with the lid on, then steam for about 20 minutes or until softened.

I use a food processor for this recipe because it’s faster, but you can use a stand mixer or even mix by hand; it will just take a bit longer.

Put the ground turkey, sweet potatoes, and egg into your food processor…

Process until mixed, about 10 seconds or so. Scrape the sides if necessary.

Add the remaining ingredients – almond flour, taco seasoning (get my easy homemade taco seasoning recipe here) and salt.

Process again until mixed well.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

This recipe will make 12 very full muffins or 15 regular sized muffins. I usually make 12 because it’s simpler and my second muffin tin is being used for something else.

Divide the ground turkey mixture evenly into the paper liners. These muffins will not rise or spread very much, so pat them down if you’d like them to look a little nicer. But if you don’t, I promise your Taco Muffins will still taste the same even if they look a little uneven. (I never do. These photos are the exception.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees.

You can serve these Tasty Taco Muffins warm or cold.

Yes, Taco Muffins taste really good cold too, which is another reason why this lunch idea is so convenient!

I usually make one batch a week and this feeds my kids for 2-3 lunches. They’re so good, Nate and I eat them sometimes too! I love to crumble one over a spinach salad and drizzle with a little homemade taco sauce (recipe coming soon!)

You can make freeze extra Taco Muffins to save for later too.

Tasty Taco Muffins

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This easy recipe for Paleo-friendly, gluten-free Tasty Taco Muffins is packed with protein and perfect for convenient school lunches. Kids love the tasty taco flavor and moms love how nutritious this easy lunch is!

• Author: Erika Bragdon
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Yield: 12-15 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1.3 lb package Shady Brook Farms ground turkey
• 1 cup sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1″ pieces, and cooked
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup almond flour – this is our favorite brand
• 1–2 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 3/4 tsp sea salt

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Instructions

1. Put the ground turkey, sweet potatoes, and egg into your food processor and process until blended. Scrape the sides if necessary.
2. Add the remaining ingredients – almond flour, taco seasoning and sea salt – and process again.
3. Fill 12-15 paper-lined muffin tins.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
5. Enjoy hot or cold!

Notes

You’ll need to cook the sweet potatoes first. You can roast them in the oven, but I prefer to steam them as it’s quicker. I put the cubed pieces into a large pan, add 1-2″ of water and bring to a boil on med-high heat with the lid on, then steam for about 20 minutes or until softened.

Need some more family friendly recipe ideas?

Savory Ground Turkey & Quinoa One Pot Dinner

Southwestern Turkey Pasta Bake

Paleo Baked Turkey Breast

If you haven’t tried Shady Brook Farms turkey yet, check it out the next time you’re at the store. Their meat is delicious and very affordable too! Shady Brook Farms has much more than ground turkey; there’s sausages, turkey burgers, meatballs, breakfast meats, turkey breast and more. See the full product line up here.

I’m a proud Shady Brook Farms ambassador; I only represent brands I truly love and use with my own family. Thank you, Shady Brook Farms, for sponsoring this post!