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Home » Recipes » Beef

Easy Taco Salad Recipe

Modified: Jun 1, 2023 by Kori Butler · Published: Jun 1, 2023

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This easy taco salad recipe will be on your table in 20 minutes, making it the perfect meal-in-one to serve any busy weeknight. You'll love the flavor combination of the taco seasonings and tender ground beef with thousand Island dressing, onions, avocado, olives—and cheese, of course. 😉 Adaptions for making it gluten-free, low-carb, keto, and sugar-free are provided. Enjoy!

Taco salad served in a white bowl with sour cream and salsa on the side.Pin

What Makes This Recipe For Taco Salad the Best?

20 minutes is all you need to make this. While the ground beef is browning, start chopping the vegetables. To make it even quicker, use pre-chopped or shredded wherever possible. Voila! The perfect weeknight dinner idea!

The flavor. Ahhhh. A classic taco salad is the BEST. The perfect blend of seasoning, dressing, fresh vegetables, and meat. You'll love the texture of the corn chips (if adding) too!

Healthy taco salad options.

  • You can lighten up this salad by using fat-free thousand island, reducing the amount of cheese, and using lean ground beef or turkey. In addition, baked tortilla chips will give it a crunch but are healthier than corn chips.
  • To make this a low carb taco salad (or keto) do not use kidney beans and corn chips. Be sure to use a low carb keto-friendly salad dressing as well.

Homemade Taco Salad Ingredients

Ingredients needed for making taco salad.Pin

Here are the taco salad ingredients you'll need:

  • Ground Beef: Lean ground beef or 80/20 ground beef may be used. Ground turkey or ground chicken may also be used.
  • Taco Seasoning Mix: Try my healthy homemade taco seasoning mix - it's super easy!
  • Kidney Beans: A classic in taco salads. Do not use if following keto.
  • Onion: Use a white or yellow onion. Green onions may also be sued.
  • Avocado
  • Black Olives: Buy sliced to make it easier.
  • Shredded Cheddar Cheese: A Mexican cheese blend may also be used.
  • Corn Chips (optional): Tortilla chips may also be used.
  • Hot Sauce (optional): This is a mild salad, add spice to your desired heat level.
  • Iceberg Lettuce or Romaine Lettuce
  • Tomato: I diced up a tomato, but you could also use halved cherry tomatoes.
  • Thousand Island Salad Dressing: make my delicious 6-ingredient homemade salad dressing version. It's so good! No need to buy it. Use fat free to reduce calories and fat. French dressing or Catalina dressing are great substitutions as well.

See recipe card for full ingredient details.

Easy Taco Salad Toppings

Anything you put in regular tacos can go on (or in) this salad. Some recommended toppings are sour cream, salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, hot sauce, green onions, more cheese (of course), and additional corn chips or tortilla chips. You could also use sliced fresh or jarred jalapenos.

Be sure to save this pin to Pinterest for later! 🙂

Pinterest pin with a white bowl of taco salad.Pin

How To Make Taco Salad

Cooking the ground beef for taco meat then adding kidney beans.

1. Brown ground beef, add taco seasoning, water. Simmer until thickened. Stir in kidney beans.

Adding all the salad ingredients to a large bowl.

2. In a large bowl, add all the salad ingredients, including beef mixture and shredded cheese.

Pouring dressing over the salad then tossing..

3. Pour the salad dressing over and gently toss.

Taco salad in a white bowl with fresh cilantro and salsa.

4. Serve with hot sauce or salsa, sour cream, and fresh cilantro.

See recipe for full instruction details.

How To Serve This Taco Salad Recipe

  • Serve the salad on a plate or make a taco salad bowl by serving in tortilla bowls (soft) or tostada bowls (crispy).
  • Sour cream, salsa, taco sauce, or guacamole are the perfect accompaniment.
  • Add more crunch with corn chips or crushed tortilla strips.
  • Add more color and sweetness with bell peppers.
  • Add spice with jarred or fresh jalapenos.
  • Chopped cilantro and squeezed lime juice add wonderful flavor as well.

How To Store

Once the dressing is added, the salad can get soggy. It is best to make only what you think you will eat. If you still end up with leftovers, store them in an airtight container up to 24 hours. Refresh the salad with extra lettuce and crispy corn chips. Leftover taco meat by itself can be stored up to 4 days.

Best Taco Salad Recipe FAQs

How many pounds of ground beef per person for taco salad?

The rule of thumb is about .25 pounds per person, but if you are adding another protein source (such as beans) you may use a little less ground beef.

How do you cut romaine lettuce for taco salad?

Wash the romaine then trim off the stem. For taco salad you could chop or shred the lettuce. Another option, stack a few leaves together, roll them tightly, and slice across the roll to create thin strips. Repeat this process until you have cut all the leaves.

Is a taco salad healthier than a taco?

A taco salad may be healthier than a taco, if you omit the corn chips (to lower carbs), use lean ground beef, lower fat thousand island, and don't overdo the cheese. If it is healthier all depends on what and how much you are adding to your salad.

Can I ask you a favor?

If you tried this recipe, let me know! I'd love for you to come back and give the recipe a 5 star rating and leave a review in the comments! 🙂 Let's stay connected, so please follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! Subscribe to my newsletter to get healthy fresh recipe ideas every week!

📖 The recipe.

Taco salad in a white bowl with fresh cilantro and salsa.

Homemade Taco Salad

A delicious and easy classic taco salad in less than 20 minutes!
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
Author Kori Butler
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 20 minutes mins
Course Salad Recipes
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6
Calories 716 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 recipe taco seasoning mix (Or 1 store packet)
  • ⅔ cup water
  • 1 (15-ounce can) kidney beans (drained and rinsed; omit if following keto)
  • 1 small head iceberg lettuce (torn or shredded)
  • 1 medium ripe avocado (peeled, pitted and sliced into ¼" slices)
  • 1 large tomato (chopped)
  • ½ cup onion (chopped)
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese (shredded)
  • ½ cup sliced black olives
  • 2 cups crushed corn chips (optional) (if not following a low carb or keto diet)
  • 1 cup thousand island dressing (keto use sugar free)
  • hot sauce to taste (optional)
  • optional for serving: cilantro, sour cream, and salsa

Instructions
 

  • In a medium-sized skillet on medium heat, brown ground beef. Drain excess liquid then add water and seasoning packet. Bring to a simmer and reduce until sauce is thickened.
  • Add kidney beans to the meat and cook until warm. Remove taco meat mixture from heat.
  • In a large salad bowl place lettuce, avocado, onion, tomatoes, cheese, olives, and corn chips. Add warm beef and bean mixture.
  • Top with thousand island dressing, and taco sauce (if using). Toss gently.
  • Serve immediately. Adjust seasoning to taste. Garnish with sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.

Kori's Tips

  • Don't miss all of our helpful hints, substitution ideas, cooking tips, and other delicious recipes that can be found in our post. Check it out!
  • VARIATIONS/SUBSTITUTIONS: Use ground turkey or chicken in place of beef; Halved cherry tomatoes instead of chopped tomatoes; French or catalina dressing in place of thousand island; Black beans instead of kidney beans.
  • TIPS: This salad is mild. If you want extra spice use hot sauce or taco sauce. If the dressing is added too soon it can make the salad soggy. To meal prep. Have all the ingredients stored in separate containers then assemble when ready. This recipe can easily be halved - or even doubled if needed. 
  • SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve on a plate or in a tortilla bowl. Season to taste with hot sauce, taco sauce, or salsa. Top with sour cream or even extra diced avocado and fresh cilantro.
  • KETO NOTES: omit kidney beans and corn chips. Make sure to use a keto friendly thousand island dressing. 

Nutrition

Calories: 716kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 39gFat: 46gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 11gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 1620mgPotassium: 1055mgFiber: 12gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 1630IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 380mgIron: 6mg
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Mention @seekinggoodeatsofficial or tag #seekinggoodeats! Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.

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Hey there, I'm Kori.

I’m a culinary school trained chef specializing in holistic nutrition and wellness. I’ve always been a major foodie, and as I’ve aged, the full impact of my love of food—and not-necessarily-healthy eating habits—caught up to me. In an effort to make positive changes in my life (and hopefully yours, too), I created this website where I could share great-tasting, craveable, healthy recipes.

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