Your Formula for Diabetes-Friendly Tacos

Pictured Recipe: Beefless Vegan Tacos

There are few foods as simple and totally craveable as tacos. They also make for a great kitchen-sink meal in a pinch. Here we break down a taco formula that will help you get a healthy meal on the table with whatever you have on hand.

Related: Healthy Taco Recipes

Choose a flavor for your salsa and sauce/marinade, cook your protein, then assemble your tacos (or put out all the fixings and let everyone assemble their own). For a super-speedy meal, cook meat up to a day ahead and then reheat it before serving. Or transform leftovers: tacos are a wonderful way to use up leftover cooked meat and seafood.

3-4 oz

• Chicken
• Fish
• Flank steak
• Pulled pork
• Shrimp
• Sausage
• Tempeh
• Tofu

1/2 cup

• Avocado
• Chipotle
• Guacamole
• Mango
• Pico de gallo
• Pineapple
• Salsa roja
• Salsa verde

¼-1/3 cup (chopped or sliced)

• Cabbage
• Corn
• Eggplant
• Mushrooms
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Sweet potato
• Tomatoes, Zucchini

1-2 Tbsp

• Adobo
• Citrus
• Crème fraiche
• Mole
• Sour cream
• Yogurt

2 each (6-inch)

• Blue corn
• Flour
• Yellow corn

Plan ahead so you can use your slow cooker to prepare the pulled pork for these tacos. Pork loin is a lean cut that's a healthier option than traditional pork shoulder, which has more fat.

These easy shrimp tacos are inspired by the seafood tacos in Baja California.

A quick lime marinade does double duty as a sauce in these tangy tacos.

Lime juice and adobo sauce lend a tangy and smoky flavor to these tacos.