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In the hot days of summer, I love a fresh delicious Taco Salad. However, my husband doesn’t really think that a “salad” is a main dish. When I made him Taco Salad for dinner, I was so happy to find that he loved it. Of course, he piled on more meat than vegetables, but that is the great thing about this recipe: you can top it with whatever you like.
My kids love to assemble their own taco salad and add whatever toppings they desire. We have now made taco salad a couple of times because they are so simple to throw together and we all love them.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our family-favorite taco salad, you need the following ingredients:
- Ground beef
- Taco seasoning mix
- Chili beans
- Catalina salad dressing
- Water
- Iceberg lettuce
- Tortilla chips
- Cheddar cheese
- Tomatoes
- Avocados
- Olives
- Sour Cream
- Salsa
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Taco Salad
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and drain excess grease.
- Stir in the taco seasoning, chili beans, 1 cup of Catalina dressing, and water.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Set out meat mixture, lettuce, chips, and all other taco toppings.
- Let everyone assemble their own salad.
- Top with Catalina dressing.
Recipe Notes
- Replacing ground beef with ground turkey can be an even healthier alternative to this recipe. Using ground turkey will lower the fat and calories of this dish. Ground Turkey cooks the same way ground beef does. We simply brown it in a pan over the stove. It has a similar texture, but a different color. This will be a lighter grayish-brown color, compared to a deep ground beef brown color, when it is done cooking.
- Cut back on sour cream. For a lighter option, try using plain Greek yogurt instead.
- Add more guacamole. Guacamole is a great topping for taco salads. You can even use it in place of the sour cream. It won’t have the exact flavor, but it will have a matching texture and guacamole is loaded with nutrients and good-for-you fats.
Here is our favorite Homemade Guacamole recipe! - Beware of the dressing. Salad dressings can have more calories in them than the actual salad. They also contain a lot of sugar.
Try making your own salad dressing (I love making salad dressing with olive oil, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and honey), or simply squeeze a little lime juice over your salad for a bit of a kick. - Cut back on the carbs. Many taco salads are served with rice on them. Instead of white rice you could ask for brown rice, or just skip the rice all together, and get extra black or pinto beans.
Hard taco shells are often deep fried. We recommend trying a whole wheat soft taco or tortilla for your taco salads or tacos. - Cut back on the cheese. You don’t need a lot of cheese to get the taste you desire.
Enjoy More Delicious Green Salads
Want to add more veggies to your meals? Browse our comprehensive list of salad recipes.
- Healthy Broccoli Salad
- Homemade Caesar Salad and Dressing
- Layered Cobb Salad
- Loaded Broccoli Salad
- Mango Berry Salad
- Santa Barbara Cobb Salad
- Seven Layer Green Salad
- Spring Salad with Homemade Lemon Poppyseed Dressing
- Strawberry Spinach Salad and Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing
- Walnut Pear Salad
Taco Salad
Our taco salad recipe is a family favorite with delicious ground beef, beans, cheese paired with fresh tomatoes, avocado, lettuce. and olives.
Serving servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1.25 ounces taco seasoning mix, 1 package
- 16 ounces chili beans, 1 can, drained
- 16 ounces Catalina salad dressing, divided
- ½ cup water
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
- 13 ounces tortilla chips
- ¾ cup shredded medium cheddar cheese
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 2 avocado, diced
- 1 cup sliced olives
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup salsa
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and drain excess grease.
- Stir in the taco seasoning, chili beans, 1 cup of Catalina dressing, and water.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Set out meat mixture, lettuce, chips, and all other taco toppings.
- Let everyone assemble their own salad.
- Top with Catalina dressing.
Notes
- Replacing ground beef with ground turkey can be an even healthier alternative to this recipe. Using ground turkey will lower the fat and calories of this dish. Ground Turkey cooks the same way ground beef does. We simply brown it in a pan over the stove. It has a similar texture, but a different color. This will be a lighter grayish-brown color, compared to a deep ground beef brown color, when it is done cooking. Cut back on sour cream.
- For a lighter option, try using plain Greek yogurt instead.
- Add more guacamole. Guacamole is a great topping for taco salads. You can even use it in place of the sour cream. It won’t have the exact flavor, but it will have a matching texture and guacamole is loaded with nutrients and good-for-you fats.
- Beware of the dressing. Salad dressings can have more calories in them than the actual salad. They also contain a lot of sugar. Try making your own salad dressing (I love making salad dressing with olive oil, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and honey), or simply squeeze a little lime juice over your salad for a bit of a kick.
- Cut back on the carbs. Many taco salads are served with rice on them. Instead of white rice you could ask for brown rice, or just skip the rice all together, and get extra black or pinto beans. Hard taco shells are often deep fried. We recommend trying a whole wheat soft taco or tortilla for your taco salads or tacos.
- Cut back on the cheese. You don’t need a lot of cheese to get the taste you desire.
Nutrition
Calories: 880 kcal · Carbohydrates: 71 g · Protein: 29 g · Fat: 56 g · Saturated Fat: 17 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 88 mg · Sodium: 2125 mg · Potassium: 1426 mg · Fiber: 15 g · Sugar: 12 g · Vitamin A: 2132 IU · Vitamin C: 20 mg · Calcium: 342 mg · Iron: 6 mg
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
I love it with Catalina dressing too!
We make the same taco salad, but we use French dressing 🙂 YUmmmers!
We make a similar dish – same meat mixture, no lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes, cheddar cheese, penne pasta, and crushed Doritos. I like the salad idea!!
ranch and salsa = Ralsa!!!! 🙂
Made it tonight and it was great! I doubled it (for 3 adults and 2 kids) and there’s just a little bit left. Also heated the beans and put them on the side because my husband doesn’t like them. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Just made this recipe for dinner. It was a huge success! Thanks for the recipe.
This sounds great, I am putting on my meal plan for this week! But I will add one topping that sounds weird…banana. Its like little islands of sweet deliciousness surrounded by spice! YUM.