Although delicious, tacos and burritos are often very salty. That’s why I created my own meat mix recipe for low sodium tacos and burritos to enjoy occasionally.
Kidney nutrition
Sodium
There are many products in grocery stores to help cook tacos and burritos. The most practical and common items are the famous taco spice blend pouches.
They are delicious, but unfortunately, they generally have an extremely high sodium content and may contain additives and preservatives as a bonus.
That’s why it’s far better to cook your own low sodium tacos and burritos to make sure you stick to your renal nutrition.
Red meat
Note that the proteins consumed by patients with kidney disease should come mainly from vegetal sources. It is not forbidden to eat red meat occasionally.
However, vegetal proteins are ideal to help preserve kidney function. You will find interesting suggestions in the variations section a little later in this article.
How to use your taco meat mix
This recipe is intended to be a low sodium replacement for tacos and burritos meat mixes and not a complete meal.
So you need to accompany this low sodium meat mix with everything you need to make tacos, burritos or any other meal while paying attention to the nutritional values of the additional ingredients you will use.
Nutrition facts and claims
Here are the nutritional values and claims of this recipe.
For informational purposes only.
Variations
Vegetarian low sodium tacos
For this recipe, ground beef can be replaced directly (in part or in whole) with hand-crumbled firm tofu, ground tempeh or textured soy protein that mimics the effect of crumbled ground meat.
On the other hand, note that imitations of meat sold in shops that imitate ground beef are generally not recommended. These products, although they are 100% vegetarian, often contain a lot of salt, additives, preservatives and other ingredients that are not ideal for a kidney patient.
Ground meat
This recipe uses ground beef, but you can also use ground pork and unseasoned ground poultry to easily change the taste of this recipe.
Spices
It is possible to adjust the spice blend to your liking to make your low sodium taco meat blend without added salt. The important thing is not to use premade spice blends containing salt.
Personally, I like to add ground coriander seeds and cayenne pepper flakes to add spiciness.
Different vegetables and legumes
Another easy variation is to simply use other vegetables or legumes.
You can replace black beans with any other legume such as kidney or white beans. Ditto for vegetables. You can use beans, red onion and tomato for example.
Serve with
I recommend serving your low sodium tacos and burritos with plenty of fresh vegetables and low sodium condiments. Also, to raise the fiber content of your meal, choose whole wheat tortillas or 100% corn.
When I make burritos, I use whole wheat tortillas, fresh arugula, slices of tomatoes and low sodium mayo. Sometimes I use homemade salt free salsa too.
Conservation
You can keep this low sodium taco meat mixture in the refrigerator up to 3 days. It is also possible to keep it in the freezer for 2 to 3 months.
More recipes
If you like this recipe, you might like these:
Meat Mix for Low Sodium Tacos and Burritos
INGREDIENTS
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion chopped
- ½ green pepper diced
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- 1 lbs ground beef extra-lean
- ½ cup unsalted beef broth
- ½ cup whole kernel corn no salt added
- ½ cup black beans no salt added
Low sodium taco meat spice blend
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ⅛ tsp ground cayenne pepper (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. When hot, cook the onion and diced peppers over medium heat until soft and lightly browned.
- Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients of the spice blend in a bowl and set aside.
- Then add the ground beef to the pan and crumble it with a wooden spoon while cooking. Continue cooking until the ground beef is golden. If there is excess fat once fully cooked, drain it.
- Add the broth and spice mixture to the pan and continue cooking until all the broth is absorbed. Let the meat mixture cool a little before using it.Add the broth and spice blend to the pan and continue cooking until all the broth is absorbed. Then add the whole kernel corn, black beans and continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes. Let the meat mixture cool a little before serving.
NOTES
NUTRITION FACTS
For informational purposes only. Nutrition data is primarily calculated from the USDA National Database. Values may vary from accuracy of measurements, brands, nutritional data and more. All measurements are metric (1 cup = 250ml). Readers are encouraged to make their own calculations.
Marc-Andre has been a kidney warrior since 2007. Since that time, he has learned to create his own kidney friendly recipes to preserve as much as possible his kidney functions. Now he wants to share what he has learned to help other kidney patients find tasty kidney friendly recipes.
Roxanne Papineau, RD, is a registered dietitian specializing in nephrology with over 15 years of experience in the field. She writes articles and reviews the content published on this site to ensure that it meets the most up-to-date recommendations for people with kidney disease.
I like the fact that it’s super healthy but it was really hard to eat for me. Do you recommend any low sodium sauce to use with it?
I don’t have a specific recommendation for you as I don’t use soy sauce. I know some people use coconut liquid aminos instead because it has a lower sodium content, but it’s not a lot lower. A better alternative might be to make one yourself. It is not yet available on this website, but you can easily find recipes online to make a low sodium soy sauce yourself. It’s pretty easy. Typically, these recipes involve diluting a store-bought soy sauce with unsalted ingredients to make it lower in sodium without losing too much flavor.