Perfectly seasoned and oh so tender, these simple and totally healthy, Paleo banh mi tacos will quickly have you reaching for seconds.

I must have tacos on my mind recently, probably because they are just the greatest food ever, or because my husband keeps asking for tacos since they don’t really exist here in Spain.  If you missed last week’s breakfast tacos, go make those this weekend!

Have you ever seen something on the menu and just been drooling over it, only to realize you sadly can’t eat most of the ingredients!? Well, this is me all the time! For some reason Banh Mi anything usually catches my eye, especially when I see it in taco form, because tacos.

Did you know that Banh Mi is actually a Vietnamese term for “all kinds of bread.”  For the longest time I thought it referred to the flavor of the meat, but thank goodness for the Google.  Well, rest assured, there is no bread here, but with the flavor of this meat, you won’t even miss the bread!

Banh Mi is typically a sandwich, combining a French baguette with Vietnamese flavors.  Sadly the ingredients usually used to make the meat for banh mi are full of no so great ingredients like sugars, corn starch, rice vinegars, soy sauce and more sugar.  These gluten-free, whole 30 and Paleo Banh Mi tacos are made with out sugars a only a handful of real food flavors.  You probably even have everything on hand!

These tacos come together quickly and I actually prefer them as lettuce wraps, so they would even be great as a slightly messy finger food appetizer.  I topped them with fresh veggies and some of my Spicy, Crunchy Roasted Nuts (I used macadamia nuts this time instead of cashews).   You could even serve this tender meat over cauliflower rice!

Gluten-Free, Paleo Banh Mi Tacos

serves 3-4

• 2 lbs boneless beef short ribs
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp sriracha sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• juice of 1 lime
• 3 large cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Toppings

• Spicy, Crunchy Roasted Cashews (I used macadamia nuts)
• baby lettuce leaves for taco cups or Siete grain-free tortillas
• bell peppers, thinly sliced
• carrots, thinly sliced
• green onions, thinly sliced
• sesame seeds
• lime wedges
• fried eggs

Directions

• Warm a dutch oven on the stove to low heat.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together all the sauce ingredients.  Add the meat to the bottom of the pan and pour the sauce on top.
• Cover with the lid.
• Simmer on low for 2.5- 3 hours, rotating once half way through, or until the meat shreds apart easily.  Watch very closely at the end so that the bottom does not burn.
• Shred the meat in the sauce allowing it to soak up the sauce.
• Serve in lettuce cups or tortillas and pile on your toppings.