Last Updated April 11th, 2021 at 08:52 am by Lisa
Yummy Taco Salad with lots of topping ideas, sides, and dressings. Works as lunch, family dinner, or as party food for a large gathering!
This salad reminds me so much of summers at the beach, and the best part is of course the Fritos! What is easier than piling topping on that you love, and dressing is of course optional but not necessary.
Taco Salad hits the spot on so many levels, the fresh toppings like tomato, olives, onions, and bell pepper mixed with salty Frito chips and seasoned taco meat are scrumptious!
Add toppings you and your family love, like creamy avocado and sour cream, many ideas are listed below. Plus learn my secret ingredients to the best taco meat mix, so easy and SO good...
How To Make Taco Salad:
What Ingredients Go Into Taco Salad?
- Ground Beef – I like to use 80% Angus beef, you can drain the fat if you wish.
- Fire Roasted Salsa – One of my favorite ways to make ground beef taste amazing! I used to chop onions and garlic, now just toss in the salsa and you are done. Any salsa works, but fire-roasted packs a lot more flavor.
- Taco Seasoning: An easy fast way to spice up your taco meat, has classic Mexican spices like cumin, chili powder, and oregano plus many others.
- Lettuce: Romaine and iceberg work so well together, and I like using up lettuce this way. Fresh spinach or mixed greens would work fine.
- Chips: Okay, in my humble opinion FRITOS are the best!! But hey you can use white or blue tortilla chips, Doritos, or thin tortilla strips. Most people crush the chips so you can eat the salad with a fork!
- Tomatoes: The little cherry tomatoes are great, I like the mini little yellow and red tomatoes, but you can dice large tomatoes too.
- Avocado: Need I say more? I love avocados, it adds pretty color and creaminess that makes the salad interesting.
- Sour Cream: Adds that cool and creamy, balances the spicy fire-roasted salsa and jalapenos.
- Cheeses: I used Colby and cheddar BOTH! Cause why not? But mixed Mexican cheese, mozzarella, or even pepper jack would all be great.
- Black Beans: Adds protein and texture to the salad.
- Green Onions: Thinly sliced, and add a nice bite, you could also use red or sweet onions diced finely.
- Pickled Jalapenos: One of my personal favorite things in this salad, I like to chop them finely, but the whole is fine. They add a "spicy jalapeno twang". You could slice or dice fresh jalapenos too, just taste them before adding to your taco salad as some are too hot!
- Black Olives: A classic in my family, hey these were always in taco salad growing up.
- Bell Pepper: Red and yellow peppers are so beautiful in the salad, and add more crunch.
make the taco meat:
Make the taco meat in a large heavy (cast iron) skillet over medium heat. You can drain the browned ground beef if you wish. Once the ground beef is browned, add the salsa and taco seasoning. Stir to mix and combine well.
put the taco salad together:
Place the thinly sliced romaine and iceberg lettuce on a plate, top with taco meat, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, bell pepper, pickled jalapenos, green onions, black olives, Fritos, and grated cheese.
optional dressing ideas:
You can add a dressing if you like! I like this taco salad without dressing and it tastes amazing! If you would like dressing, try either Catalina Dressing OR mix 1 cup ranch dressing, ½ salsa, and 1 tablespoon seasoning to make homemade taco salad dressing.
chips and salsa
margaritas
micheladas
Mexican street corn (elotes)
bean and cheese dip
dessert churros
cilantro
grilled corn kernels
red onion
baked strips of flour tortillas
ground turkey or chicken
grilled tri-tip or Carne asada
guacamole
hot sauce
cucumber
pico de gallo
radish slices
baked taco shell bowls
Catalina Dressing
Taco Salad Dressing
More Taco Salad Topping Recipes
You can add any salsa or guacamole to your yummy taco salad, here are a couple favorites I love to serve on the side...
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Yummy Taco Salad
Ingredients
taco meat
- 1.5 lb ground beef 80/20
- 1 cup fire-roasted salsa
- ¼ cup taco seasoning
salad
- 1 head romaine lettuce sliced thin
- ½ head iceberg lettuce sliced thin
- 1 cup black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups mini heirloom tomatoes sliced in half
- 1 avocado diced
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup red and yellow bell pepper square dice
- ½ cup pickled jalapenos
- ½ cup sliced black olives
- ½ cup green onions sliced thin
- 2 cups Fritos
- 1 cup colby or cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
make the taco meat
- In a large heavy (cast iron) skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef. You can drain the beef if you wish.
- Once the ground beef is browned, add the salsa and taco seasoning. Stir to mix and combine well.
put the taco salad together
- Place the thinly sliced romaine and iceberg lettuce on a plate, top with taco meat, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, bell pepper, pickled jalapenos, green onions, black olives, Fritos, and grated cheese.
- taco salad dressing (optional) You can add a dressing if you like! I like this taco salad without dressing and it tastes amazing! If you would like dressing, try either Catalina Dressing OR mix 1 cup ranch dressing, ½ salsa, and 1 tablespoon seasoning to make homemade taco salad dressing.
Notes
dressing (optional):
You can add a dressing if you like! I like this taco salad without dressing and it tastes amazing! If you would like dressing, try either Catalina Dressing OR mix 1 cup ranch dressing, ½ salsa, and 1 tablespoon seasoning to make homemade taco salad dressing.toppings:
- cilantro
- grilled corn kernels
- red onion
- baked strips of flour tortillas
- ground turkey or chicken
- grilled tri-tip or Carne asada
- guacamole
- hot sauce
- cucumber
- pico de gallo
- radish slices
- baked taco shell bowls
- Catalina Dressing
- Taco Salad Dressing
- Ground Beef – I like to use 80% Angus beef, you can drain the fat if you wish.
- Fire Roasted Salsa – One of my favorite ways to make ground beef taste amazing! I used to chop onions and garlic, now just toss in the salsa and you are done. Any salsa works, but fire-roasted packs a lot more flavor.
- Taco Seasoning: An easy fast way to spice up your taco meat, has classic Mexican spices like cumin, chili powder, and oregano plus many others.
- Lettuce: Romaine and iceberg work so well together, and I like using up lettuce this way. Fresh spinach or mixed greens would work fine.
- Chips: Okay, in my humble opinion FRITOS are the best!! But hey you can use white or blue tortilla chips, Doritos, or thin tortilla strips. Most people crush the chips so you can eat the salad with a fork!
- Tomatoes: The little cherry tomatoes are great, I like the mini little yellow and red tomatoes, but you can dice large tomatoes too.
- Avocado: Need I say more? I love avocados, it adds pretty color and creaminess that makes the salad interesting.
- Sour Cream: Adds that cool and creamy, balances the spicy fire-roasted salsa and jalapenos.
- Cheeses: I used Colby and cheddar BOTH! Cause why not? But mixed Mexican cheese, mozzarella, or even pepper jack would all be great.
- Black Beans: Adds protein and texture to the salad.
- Green Onions: Thinly sliced, and add a nice bite, you could also use red or sweet onions diced finely.
- Pickled Jalapenos: One of my personal favorite things in this salad, I like to chop them finely, but the whole is fine. They add a "spicy jalapeno twang". You could slice or dice fresh jalapenos too, just taste them before adding to your taco salad as some are too hot!
- Black Olives: A classic in my family, hey these were always in taco salad growing up.
- Bell Pepper: Red and yellow peppers are so beautiful in the salad, and add more crunch.
OMG! This taco salad looks so good. This is one of my favorite dinners. I can’t wait to try you’re dressing!
One of the most amazing Taco salads I've ever eaten! Such an easy and delicious recipe. We love fire roasted peppers on this salad too.