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Skip the flour tortilla and corn taco shells for your next taco night — I’ll show you how to make the easiest, crispiest low carb keto cheese taco shells that stand up to all your favorite toppings! With only 3 ingredients and 15 minutes from start to finish, you’ll want to make these every time you serve tacos. They’re as easy as soft tortilla options like my almond flour tortillas, but with a delectable crunch.
You can also find these cheese shells in The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook, along with 99 more recipes designed to make keto fresh, simple, and delicious. Find mouthwatering low carb entrees, breads, desserts, meal prep staples, and so much more in this easy to follow book — for keto newbies and veterans alike!
What Are Cheese Taco Shells?
Cheese taco shells are simply taco shells made of cheese! Baking the cheese makes it perfectly stiff and crisp, like an authentic taco shell — just without the crazy carb count.
Why You’ll Love These Keto Taco Shells
- Cheesy, spicy flavor
- Light and crispy texture
- Just 3 ingredients
- 15 minutes total time
- Under 0.5g net carbs per shell
- Crunchy like shells made with corn tortillas
- Can hold heavy fillings like ground beef, pork, sour cream, or any taco toppings
Ingredients You’ll Need
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for cheese tortillas, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Cheddar Cheese – You could also use any other hard cheese that gets crispy when baked, and has a flavor that goes well with Mexican foods. I don’t recommend making them with softer cheeses, such as mozzarella, because they won’t crisp up.
- Spices – This recipe includes cumin and chili powder, because they’re totally delicious for tacos. I used just a bit for flavor without added heat, but feel free to experiment with any spices you like — or none at all.
How To Make Low Carb Taco Shells
This section shows how to make keto taco shells, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Prep. Place cheese in circles on a parchment lined baking sheet, making sure the cheese is of even thickness throughout. Sprinkle with spices.
- Bake. Place the pan in the oven, until the edges of the keto taco shells are fairly dark brown and bubbles form.
- Set up drying stations. Meanwhile, set down two drinking glasses with a wooden spoon resting horizontally on top.
- Remove and cool. Allow cheese shells to rest for one minute on the pan. They should firm up a bit but don’t wait for them to cool completely.
- Dry. Using a large flat turner or spatula, carefully lift the taco shells and hang them over spoon handle. Allowed to harden for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy. Serve the low carb hard taco shells right away for maximum crispness.
Tips For The Best Keto Taco Shells
The instructions for how to make cheese taco shells are straightforward, but as always, I want to share some of my favorite tips! This way, you’ll end up with the most perfect keto taco shells ever.
- Use two jelly roll pans to save time. I love these particular pans! They are just big enough to fit 3 shells, but small enough to fit in the oven side by side.
- Use parchment. For easier cleanup and no sticking. Cheese will stick too easily to foil or a bare pan.
- Make the circles uniform. It’s important to have the cheese circles be uniform in both size and thickness. Otherwise, some will be done before others and it will be a big hassle.
- Set up multiple drying stations. You’ll need to hang the tacos all at once, in order to get the timing right. So, prep the glasses and spoons while the cheese is in the oven.
- Make sure the edges are browned. Cooking your cheddar cheese taco shells for just the right amount of time is key. They are done when the edges are bubbling and starting to brown. If you remove them before the edges are browned, they won’t get crisp.
- Work quickly. If you wait too long, the cheese won’t be pliable enough to form the hard keto taco shells. But, you do want to wait 45-60 seconds for the cheese to cool enough. That way, it will still be pliable, but will not fall apart.
- Use a solid turner or spatula. I love a large, solid restaurant-style turner like this one. Just don’t use anything with holes, because the cheese can sink through while it’s still soft.
- Allow for cooling time. The cheese will crisp up more as it cools. They don’t need to be totally cold, but they do get more crispy with time.
Storage Instructions
Ideally, you’d serve your low carb taco shells right away. They are quick to make, so no reason not to make them right before your meal. But, if you want to make cheddar cheese taco shells ahead, you can:
- Store: Keep low carb crunchy taco shells in the fridge with paper towels between them. Just know that they will not be as crispy as fresh ones.
- Reheat: Avoid reheating, as cheese will start to melt and lose its shape.
- Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing keto taco shells, because the texture of cheese changes when frozen. It tends to get crumbly.
Ways To Use Cheese Taco Shells
Now that you know how to make taco shells low carb, the toughest part is deciding how to use them! Try these ideas:
- Taco meats – Stuff cheese shell tacos with Mexican chorizo, easy slow cooker barbacoa beef, shredded chicken, or ground beef cooked with homemade taco seasoning.
- Sauces – Top keto taco shells with tomato salsa, avocado salsa verde, pineapple salsa, or homemade guacamole.
- Taco Bowls – Make extra large circles of cheese, big enough to form a bowl. When they are done in the oven, drape the cheese over upside down bowls instead of over a spoon. Then, whip up some easy healthy taco salad and fill the taco bowls with it!
More Keto Mexican Recipes
Craving Mexican food? You’re in luck — I have dozens of keto Mexican recipes! Try these flavorful dishes:
Recommended Tools
- Cookie Sheet – Use one extra large baking sheet to make more shells at once.
- Jelly Roll Pans – Makes it easy to fit shells on the same oven rack.
- Turner – For easy transfer of shells.
Keto Cheese Taco Shells
This reader favorite recipe is included in The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook! Order your copy to get 100 easy keto recipes in a beautiful print hardcover book, including 80 exclusive recipes not found anywhere else (not even this blog!), my complete fathead dough guide, the primer for starting keto, and much more.
ORDER THE EASY KETO COOKBOOK HERE
Keto Cheese Taco Shells (Fast, Easy, Crispy!)
Learn how to make cheese taco shells perfectly every time, along with lots of tips for quick, easy, CRISPY low carb keto taco shells.
Go Ad-FreeRecipe Video
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (191 degrees C). Line either two jelly roll pans or one XL baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Place cheese in circles on the baking sheet(s), with even thickness throughout. Sprinkle with cumin and chili powder.
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Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the edges start to brown and bubbles start to form.
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Meanwhile, setup wooden spoons sitting horizontally across two overturned glasses (see picture above with the cheese on it). This way, they'll be ready once the cheese taco shells are out of the oven.
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Remove the pan(s) from the oven and cool without disturbing for about 1 minute.
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Use a flat turner or spatula to lift the cheese circles and hang them over the wooden spoons. Let them hang until hardened, about 5 minutes.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
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Readers Who Liked This Easy Recipe Also Made:
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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52 Comments
Robin Jones
1To make this easier, I made the cheese circles a little less than the size of my plate. When cooked and cooled, I put the cheese shell flat on my plate and layered the fillings on top and ate it with a fork. Delicious!
Also I have cut the parchment in squares and placed the cheese on each separate square to cook. Then I picked up each square and placed it over the handles to cool with the cheese side up. Then just pull the cheese off the parchment when cooked.
Cathy Glidden
0I cut paint stir sticks down a bit and cover with foil. More room for filling. Great recipe. I like these better than the corn ones.
italiakaterina
0Did not crisp up or get brown. I cooked at 375 for 7 minutes. I did press down to make circle, was not too thick. Maybe I used wrong cheese: I used Tillamook Farmers Style Cut (thicker cut) Cheddar. Is it better to do this with finely shredded cheese? The cheese taco was also difficult to get up (I used a silicone spill mat) no matter what spatula I used. The cheese taco was oily dripping off wooden spoon hung over glasses. Still worked, tasted good but how do I get them brown and what specific cheese style did you use?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Italiakaterina, The type of cheese you use is fine. The thicker shred probably needed a little longer to bake in the oven and turn golden brown. Next time let them go a minute or two longer in the oven and then remove.
Trevor
0What’s the best way to store these?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Trevor, There is a whole section in the post about how to store the taco shells.
Christalynn
1Hi there! OK so I have made this recipe so many times with all kinds of different cheeses and let me tell you the cheese really matters! Experiment with different kinds of cheeses soft and hard and combination cheeses. When I use pre shredded Mexican blend cheese I get almost like a tostada consistency. If you shred the cheese yourself, I used cheddar, then you get something a little more pliable you could roll up lunch meat lettuce and stick a toothpick in and that’s pretty good. I have found the best to be a combination of cheeses soft and hard, pre shredded and hand shredded lol you just have to play around with it and find what you like for its purpose.
Christalynn
0When you pull them off of the pan, lay them on paper towels to sop up some of the grease before you shape them!
Sarai
0Are the nutrition facts based off of the taco with toppings in it already?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Sarai, The nutrition facts are only for the shells.
Jocelynne
0These tasted really good, and made the tacos much more filling than normal ones too. I couldn’t get them crispy though unfortunately, and they were more like soft taco shells but still great.
YUliia
0Thank you! Sooo delicious taco in my life! I use cumin in beef, and cheddar cheese just like shells. All work perfect!
Chelsea M.
0PERFECTION on the 1st try!! Taste SO amazing even my picky kiddos loved them! (I used store brand Mexican blend finely shredded cheese) Thank you so much for the step by step tutorial! Wish I could post a pic of my final product! Can’t wait to have them again next Taco Tuesday!
Keely Weiman
0Super yummy! I didn’t have a good spatula so I cut the parchment into squares and laid the squares over the spoons. Did the trick!
Joanne S.
0These shells are AMAZING!!! My new favorite thing.
Robin Jones
0I forgot to leave a rating. 5 stars!
Lillian
0Can you use a taco shell pan to shape once out of oven like shaping the flour totillas?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lillian, Yes, that should work for you.
Brigette
0How much cheese do you use for each circle?
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Bridgette, it’s 1/3 cup cheese.
Beth Owens
0Am getting started with Keto and am looking for all the help, ideas, recipes, and inspiration I can get.
Can’t wait to try the Keto bread and Cheesy Taco Shells.
Shirleen Bailey
0The recipes I am finding here are amazing. Imagine, replacements for flour and corn tortilla shells. Thank you
Jennifer
0Hello!! I love this idea, however, something went wrong with mine. I used shredded cheddar cheese. I cooked it about 5 or so minutes each. Hung them over the wooden spoons. But they never got crispy. They were also very greasy. I had to blot them with paper towels before I hung them. What on earth went wrong?
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jennifer, I suspect you layered the cheese in the pan too thick. Check the recipe video for guidance on thickness.
Lori A.
0The same thing happened with mine. They still taste good. I’ll try again another time when I’m not in such a hurry. 🙂
Elena
0These taco shells are amazing n so easy to make! I added pepper flakes to my shells and the cheese kind of absorbed some of the heat! Love this site, plz don’t stop putting delicious low carb/keto recipes here…thank you…
Liz
0LOVED the recipe! Ours turned out awesome! Our first batch baked itself into the parchment paper so we ended up using just a metal pan and because we wanted big shells, we used lots of cheese and baked at 380 degrees for 10min. Will definitely be making these again 😀
Kelly
0Love your recipes!, maybe in future you will a corn favored tortilla & tostada keto recipe made with non GMO corn flavoring, coconut flour and/or almond flour, chia seeds and/or that husk fiber.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thanks for the feedback, Kelly. I generally don’t make anything corn flavored, since that would require either corn or some kind of extract from corn, and this site is grain-free.
Kelli
0Keto Taco Shells are must have!!
Marguerite Dillon
0Need meatloaf recipes for the keto diet.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Marguerite, Try this keto meatloaf recipe.
Kay
0For making the taco bowls mentioned what are the nutrition facts for the bowls? Thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kay, It will depend on how large you make them. 🙂
Debbie Fleischer
0Sorry, didn’t like these at all. The bottom fell out. Just too much cheese. I’ll try the coconut flour ones. I’ve tried other recipes like your biscuits and really like them. I especially like that there’s only a few ingredients and nothing complicated.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Debbie, If the bottom fell out, it means they needed to bake for longer (they need to be browned on the edges), the circles were too thick, or they needed to cool more before adding fillings. Hope that helps, or that you like the coconut tortillas better.
Marilyn Brennan
0If you had to estimate how much per taco shell, would it be about 1/3 cup? Maybe 1/4 cup?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Marilyn, It would be 1/3 cup per shell.
Shayla M Kelley
0This is probably silly, but I’m going to ask anyway because I really want to try these! The taco hanging part has got me hung up lol.
So that spoon you are using looks rather large, I’m not sure I have one that large, much less 6 of them. Yo do hang them individually, right? Also I’m not sure I’ll have the counter space or cups to do 6 separately… am I understanding this right? Are there other ideas for the hanging part? Have you tried any taco shell molds or the racks? Just curious if these would work also?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kelley, The spoon is just a regular-sized cooking utensil. Sometimes you can fit two taco shells on one – just not on top of each other, side by side only. You can also use virtually any utensils that you have with a round handle. The shells harden fairly quickly, so you can even set them on your kitchen table to harden. Taco molds or racks might also work, you’d just need something where you can place or hang them upside down.
Regina
0Happy anniversary! Your delicious and helpful recipes help make the keto WOE sustainable. Ty!
My question is, does it make a difference if you shred your own cheese vs using preshredded? I like to shred my own to avoid the extra starches, but this can sometimes cause inconsustent recipe results. Do you have a preference?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Regina! I really appreciate that.
It doesn’t matter for this recipe – you can use pre-shredded or shred your own!
Jenette Kerr
0I’m looking for a good keto multigrain bread recipe. I buy one now it’s nice but I’m a senior, and on a fixed income and her bread is 10.00 a loaf. Thank you.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jenette, While grains are not suitable for keto, you can definitely make keto bread. Some of my favorites are keto bagels, keto almond flour bread, and keto white bread. I also have a multi-seed bread recipe coming soon that might have more of that multi-grain texture you want.
Michelle E
0Congratulations on 3 years! Love the site and amazingly awesome recipes. I look forward to seeing each new entry. You make eating low carb fun and exciting.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Michelle! I love hearing that!
Dorothy
0Happy 3rd anniversary and thank you for this wonderful site.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Dorothy!
Michelle
0Happy 3rd Anniversary Maya! Your site is my absolute favorite. It has come a long way in such a short time. You are doing a fabulous job!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Michelle! Your support means a lot.
Noline from Essential Keto
0Happy 3rd birthday Maya. You’ve created an awesome low carb resource with Wholesome Yum. All the best for the next year…
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Noline!!