Let’s face it – you’re going to need to eat out sometimes. Life is hectic and you might find yourself speeding from work to soccer practice with no time to cook dinner. You’re keto, though, and so that means no pizza, no Olive Garden, no Aunt Witchy’s House of Gingerbread (that would be an awesome restaurant btw). So where CAN you eat on keto?

There’s a lot of places that can cater to a “lazy keto” diet but most relegate you to bunless burgers or salads. Taco Bell, thankfully has a menu that is surprisingly flexible for keto dieters. With many low carb options at Taco Bell and a surprisingly customizable menu, you can stay keto on the run and eat surprisingly healthy.

Power bowls

Taco Bell’s Power Bowls are the easiest place to start. Packed with flavor and healthy items, they simply require a bit of modification to make them keto

What they come with:

• Chicken
• Cheese
• Reduced fat sour cream
• Guacamole
• Black Beans
• Rice
• Pico de gallo
• Avocado ranch

The first place to start is to remove both beans and rice, as these are decidedly not keto. From there you can add whatever you want from their menu, within reason. This is because Taco Bell has a price for nearly anything on the side, from beef to veggies. Some popular keto additions to your Power Bowl are:

• More meat – steak, beef, and chicken and in some places you can add bacon, too
• Onions
• Jalapeno
• Cheese
• Lettuce (add tons of this for bulk)
• Tomatoes

Everything I didn’t list here is a no-no, including their “red strips” which are tortilla crisps. In any case, you can craft one of these bowls effortlessly on their website and get spot-on nutritional information as well. It’s definitely your best bet for eating keto at Taco Bell.

 

 

Taco Salads

A taco salad seems like it would be a safe bet but it’s a hazardous thing at Taco Bell, which I found out the hard way. Of course it comes in a big fried tortilla shell which I asked to leave off, but it also comes with:

• Beef
• Lettuce
• Beans
• Rice
• Tortilla strips
• Tomatoes
• Sour cream
• Cheese

Three huge non-keto food items on what should be the easiest keto meal on the menu. If you want a giant salad, simply leave off the beans, tortilla strips, shell and rice, and get extra meat and lettuce.

 

Hit up the side orders

If you’re in a rush and you’re not feeling an entire Power Bowl, you can get a few sides of beef, chicken or steak. These are around .80c to 1.25 at most Taco Bells and you can combine them with some sauce and cheese for a quick, healthy snack.

Aside from side orders of meat, however, there are no other “side” items you can eat on keto at Taco Bell. Everything is “bean this” or “potato that”, so just avoid all of it.

 

Taco Bell breakfast is wonderful

Assuming you’re still a hold-out on the Taco Bell breakfast bandwagon, now is your time to get invested. Though all of their breakfast foods are delicious, only one or two is actually okay on the keto diet. Their naked egg taco – if your location still has these – is reasonably low carb. The thing to get though is the skillet bowl. These little guys are $1.00, and come with:

• Potatoes
• Eggs
• Nacho cheese sauce
• Pico de gallo

Leave off the potatoes and add bacon, and a few of these will keep you full until well into the afternoon. In addition, you can add:

• Bacon
• Sausage crumbles
• Steak
• Guacamole (if you’re vegetarian or just love guac, so like everyone)
• Shredded cheese
• Jalapeno sauce (I recommend replacing the nacho cheese in this case as both sauces are roughly 2g of carbs, so avoid both at the same time)

 

Eating fast food on keto might not be the best thing in the world but Taco Bell has some keto options that are healthy and won’t break the bank. They’re so customizable that you shouldn’t have any concerns about what you’re eating, because you’re building your own meal.

What’s your favorite keto combination at Taco Bell? I’d love to hear it, especially if it’s outlandish or surprising. I once, for example, ordered a Power Bowl with double of each meat and was met at the drive up window by several employees who wanted to make sure I was serious. Not only was that lunch delicious, I had a little fun, too!