Gorgeously spiced taco beef, smashed limey avocado, charred sweet potato AND creamy cottage cheese drizzled with sweet, spicy hot honey makes these viral protein bowls the perfect quick, easy and genuinely filling meal for any day of the week. Plus, they come together in less than 30 minutes.

My boyfriend, like many, is currently on a big protein kick. That means I’m tasked with coming up with tasty ways to get more protein into our meals, so when I saw these bowls doing the rounds on social media, I knew they would go down well. However, I had to put my twist on the viral recipe.

A few little tweaks and additions will really take these to another level:

• I recommend adding a little seasoning to your cottage cheese – especially if you’re wary of eating a big dollop of it. Here I’m mixing through cilantro and a little ranch seasoning. It makes a big difference and adds extra flavor to the bowls.
• Adding black beans to the taco beef adds extra fiber and protein, and is a great way to bulk out the beef. A couple of handfuls of spinach also adds easy greens to the bowls, as they wilt quickly into the beef in the pan.
• I’m personally not a huge fan of the texture of avocado when it’s sliced or diced without seasoning. So, I’m adding a very quick, guacamole-esque limey smashed avocado which I MUCH prefer, but you can of course keep things simple with just the diced avocado.

In saying that, this is one of those fab blank canvas recipes that’s easy to make your own. Swap the beef for ground chicken, turkey or a plant based alternative, use whipped feta or labneh if you really don’t want to use cottage cheese (or try this spicy whipped cottage cheese which you might actually like!) or add a quick fresh salad on the side (tomatoes, red onion and cucumber work well).

If you’re as much of a fan of flavor-packed bowls as I am, try these high-protein chicken power bowls, miso chicken poke bowls or Mediterranean chicken rice bowls next.

Ingredients

• Ground beef. I’m using lean ground beef here (5%), but you could use a higher percentage if you like. They’d also work well with ground turkey, chicken or a plant-based alternative.
• Cottage cheese. Using full fat, small curd cottage cheese will make a HUGE difference here, flavor wise. As someone who is still coming to terms with cottage cheese, you really can taste the difference when you use good quality cottage cheese.
• Hot honey. Contrary to what I used to think, this is spicy honey, not honey that is hot, temperature wise! You can buy it at the store, but it’s incredibly simple to make at home. I have a recipe for hot honey sauce which shares more detail if you’re interested.
• Spices. Use a store-bought taco seasoning blend if you like – I didn’t have any so used ground cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, dried oregano and salt.
• Black beans. Optional, but I recommend them for an extra hit of fiber and protein. They also help to bulk out the beef and make the bowls go further. You could use Kidney beans, borlotti beans or white beans instead if you prefer.
• Spinach. This is something I always have on hand because throwing in a couple of handfuls to a meal is a super easy way to add extra greens. You can skip it if you like, it’s not essential.

How to make them

Dice your sweet potatoes, then lay them out on a baking dish or lined oven tray (or throw them into your air fryer). Drizzle with olive oil, smoked paprika and salt, mix to combine, then pop into the oven (or air fryer) to get charred and lovely.

While they cook, make the smashed limey avocado and mix the cottage cheese with the cilantro and ranch seasoning.

Cook your garlic and spices in a pan, then add the ground beef. Cook until brown, then add your tomato paste and stir. Add the black beans and a good couple of handfuls of spinach. Stir so that the spinach wilts into the beef.

Then you’re ready to assemble! Layer your sweet potatoes, ground beef, smashed avocado and seasoned cottage cheese in a bowl, then drizzle with the hot honey sauce. Extra cilantro, a few pickled jalapenos and a squeeze of lime finish things off beautifully.

Got a question?

Watch how to make the bowls

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If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.

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