OK guys – confession time. I am a super duper taco fiend. I absolute love crunchy tacos and could literally eat them every day. Sadly, store-bought crunch taco shells are crazy high in carbs (and loaded with other bad stuff).

When I first started the keto diet, I was really sad to let my crunchy taco shells go. I only lasted 3 days before my taco craving was out of control!

So I did what any taco lover on the keto diet would do – go in search for a keto friendly alternative! I can’t even tell you how many recipes I tried over the span of about a week. Many of them just didn’t hit the spot for me.

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Eventually, I came across the idea of cooking cheese into delicious, crunchy goodness! I tried some recipes that involved cooking cheese and using various ways to shape it. Some of these were disasters, while others were just not quite right.

While browsing Amazon, I came across a stainless steel taco holder stand, and I just knew that it would be perfect for shaping cheese shells!

So without further ado, here’s my ridiculously easy and delicious keto friendly crunchy taco shell “recipe”!

Things You Will Need

• your choice of pre-packaged cheese slices (I like pepperjack, cheddar, and provolone, but any cheese will work)
• pre-cut wax paper squares (or cut your own from a roll of parchment or wax paper)
• metal taco holder stand
• butter knife or spoon (to press into the holder and shape the shells)
• spices of your choice (optional) – I like to use taco seasoning sometimes

Set Up Your Shell Cooking Station

Start by setting up the microwave station. Fold two paper towels together, then place two wax paper squares on it side by side. This will go in the microwave with two slices of cheese on it. If you’re worrying about dirtying up your microwave, you could put the paper towel and wax squares on a plate, but this may change the microwave cooking time.

The wax paper should go shiny side up – so that the cheese sits on the shiny side of the wax paper. Place a slice of cheese on each piece of wax paper. You will cook two pieces of cheese at a time. The cook time varies depending on the microwave strength and type of cheese used. For my microwave (which I’m pretty sure is 1200 watt), it takes 1 minute 20 seconds for pepperjack, 1 minute 10 seconds for provolone, and 1 minute 5 seconds for mild cheddar. After a couple of tries, you’ll have a good idea of how much cook time is needed to get the crispiness you’re after – just experiment with the time until you’ve got it right!

Set Up the Shaping Station

Now take your handy-dandy taco holder and line it with a paper towel. I just take a whole one and tear it in half, then put it in two of the V shape areas of the holder. Since we’re only doing two shells at a time, there’s no reason to worry about the middle V taco holder section. You could probably cook more at a time, but I prefer to stick with two because you have to work pretty fast once they finish cooking in the microwave. They start cooling off and taking shape within a few seconds!

Cook your Keto Taco Shells

Now that your stations are set up, it’s time to start making those keto taco shells! Take your first batch of cheese – 2 cheese slices on wax paper on a doubled-up paper towel and put it in the microwave to cook.

It can take anywhere from 1 minute 5 seconds to 1 minute 20 seconds. You may need to play with cook time to perfect this. I would say start with 1 minute 15 seconds.

As soon as the microwave stops, open the door and look at the cheese. It should be slightly browned and bubble. If it hasn’t browned at all, put it in for another 5-10 seconds.

Shape the Keto Taco Shells

When the cheese looks brown and bubbly, take it out and immediately put it into the taco holder stand (pre-lined with a paper towel). Press down for a few seconds on the cheese with a butter knife or spoon until it takes the shape of the holder and looks like a taco shell. Now let it sit in the holder and cool off for a minute or two.

Once the cheese has cooled and is holding its shape, you can take it out and place it on a paper towel. This will absorb any excess oil that cooked out from the cheese. Now carefully peel the wax paper from the cheese shell and place it back on the paper towel to absorb excess oil. Once one side is dry, flip it to the other side so that the oil can absorb on that side too.

Repeat Until All Shells Are Done

Repeat this process of microwaving the cheese (two pieces at a time), shaping them in the holder, letting them cool, then removing the wax paper and setting them out to dry until you’ve reached the number of shells you want to make. I usually make about 10 shells at a time. They seem to keep well in a Tupperware container on the counter for at least a week. I’ve never made it longer than a week because I eat tacos almost every day!

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Make Your Tacos and Enjoy

Now that your shells are ready, it’s time to make your tacos! I prefer to keep my tacos simple with some ground beef, cheese, jalapenos, and super hot sauce.

Feel free to put whatever topping you want on them – they hold up pretty well!

Store any unused keto taco shells in an air-tight container to be used later! They last for at least a week, but I can’t say past that since my batch is usually gone in that time!

Keto Crunchy Taco Shell Recipe:

I’d love to hear how you like the keto taco shells! They’re literally one of the most favorite things that I make. I’m totally a taco fiend!

Another family favorite around here is my keto stromboli – go check that recipe out while you’re here!

For more keto friendly recipes, check out my recipes page!

Did you try out this recipe? I’d love to hear how they turned out – share with us below!