Taco Salad Recipe

The best Taco Salad is filled with perfectly seasoned ground beef, fresh salad greens, shredded cheese, tortilla strips, and drizzled with a light lime vinaigrette. Versatile, delicious, and ready in just 30 minutes, the whole family will love this fresh take on the classic all-American Taco Salad!

The Best Taco Salad Recipe

My first memories of taco salads reach far back into my childhood. My mom loved to make the Doritos version with homemade Italian dressing, or, on busier nights, order taco salads from El Pollo Loco where they would come served in a taco bowl topped with sour cream, guacamole, and drowning in ranch dressing. As a kid, they were the best. But now, as an adult, I like my taco salads less…smothered.

Less cheesy chips, more greens, lighter vinaigrette, but the same amazing Tex-Mex flavor! 

Ready in just 30 minutes, this taco salad recipe is perfect for busy weeknights, hot summer evenings, or anytime you’re looking to clean out the fridge. Gather everything into one giant bowl or set up a taco salad bar station and let everyone assemble their very own version of the perfect taco salad!

What Goes in a Taco Salad

This taco salad recipe can be easily customized to be vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.

1. Meat – Lean ground beef is the most common meat (or protein) used to make taco salads. Other options include,
   • Ground turkey or chicken – leaner alternative to ground beef.
   • Ground pork, lamb, bison, etc.
   • Tempeh – made from fermented soybeans, tempeh is surprisingly delicious and a fantastic high-protein plant-based meat alternative.
   • Black Beans – the consistency will be a bit different compared to ground beef, but fry some beans with taco seasoning, onions, and tomato sauce (and perhaps some crushed cashews) and you’ve got yourself a delicious high-protein vegan alternative to ground beef.
2. Taco Seasoning – Taco seasoning is pretty important for taco meat. I always like to make my own homemade taco seasoning that way I know it’s free from MSG and yeast extract, but feel free to use whatever you love.
3. Greens – Traditional taco salad recipes came served with iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is just fine but lacks the vitamins and nutrients that are found in other greens. I often mix a combination of 2 or 3 different greens such as,
   • Romaine – my go-to when making taco salad.
   • Kale – I will usually mix this with Romaine.
   • Cabbage – I love the crunch!
   • Cilantro – If you’re a cilantro lover like me, chop a bunch and dump it in there!
4. Vegetables – This list, as you may imagine, gets fairly long. As such, I’m going to break it down into the more common versus less common (and yes, I know that some of these are not exactly a vegetable).
   • More common – tomatoes, red onion, green onions, bell pepper, black olives, etc.
   • Less common – jicama (just trust me on this one, so good), sliced jalapeño or green chiles, cucumber, shredded carrots, corn, etc.
5. Cheese – Must have cheese (unless you’re vegan or dairy-free, of course). The most common is shredded cheddar, but Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, or Jalapeño Jack are also delicious.
6. Toppings –
   • Sour Cream – sour cream is to Tex-Mex what Ketchup is to French Fries.
   • Guacamole – or simply avocado.
   • Salsa or Pico de Gallo – a healthy alternative to salad dressing.
   • Tortilla Strips

Taco Salad Dressing

For this particular salad, I made a light, refreshing, zesty lime vinaigrette. The ingredients are simple,

• Olive oil
• Fresh lime juice and zest
• Honey
• Red wine vinegar
• Garlic
• Dijon mustard
• Cilantro
• Salt and Pepper

Often, however, I don’t add any dressing at all. Instead, I add a little extra salsa, avocado, and sour cream with a squeeze of fresh lime juice for a perfect balance of creamy and tangy.

How to Make Taco Salad

1. Cook the ground meat: Soften the onion in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the ground beef and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to break the beef into smaller pieces. Fully cook the ground beef then drain 3/4 of the liquid and fat from the skillet. Add the taco seasoning and tomato sauce to the ground beef and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Prepare the vinaigrette
3. Assemble: Transfer all greens to a large salad bowl. Top with the ground beef, veggies, tortilla strips, shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, and any other additional toppings you wish.
4. Serve: Divide the salad into individual salad bowls and drizzle with the lime vinaigrette or your favorite dressing.

Tips and Tricks

Here are a few simple tips and tricks to make the best taco salad recipe ever!

• Prepare the ground beef ahead of time – Ground beef loves to be prepared ahead of time and reheats perfectly. If I know I’m going to have an especially busy week, I’ll make a big batch of ground beef taco meat (or ground turkey taco meat) and have it ready for tacos, pasta, or stuffed bell peppers.
• Prepare the vinaigrette ahead of time – Make it the night before and let it hang out in the refrigerator until you’re ready for it.
• Save even more time and buy pre-made dressing, vinaigrette, salsa, and guacamole. Homemade is great, but sometimes convenience is better.
• Unless you have your own garden, purchase pre-cut and pre-washed lettuce for super-fast prep time.
• Freshly grated cheddar cheese is better than pre-shredded. I know, I’m all about saving time, too, but the anti-caking stuff all over the cheese? No thanks.
• If you suspect that you’ll have leftovers, only add the ground beef, dressing, sour cream, salsa, or guacamole once the salads have been individually plated. This way you can save the leftovers.

Have you tried making this taco salad recipe?

Tell me about it in the comments below! I always love to hear your thoughts. And tag me #theforkedspoon on Instagram if you’ve made any of my recipes, I always love to see what you’re cooking in the kitchen.