Taco Salad Recipe – WellPlated.com

This easy Taco Salad recipe is everything you love about taco night, transformed into a wholesome meal! Start with seasoned ground turkey or ground beef, pile on your favorite taco toppings—crisp lettuce, black beans, cheese, avocado, and crunchy tortilla strips—then drizzle on the best creamy taco salad dressing.

Why You’ll Love This Easy Taco Salad Recipe

• You Love Tacos. From the lean ground meat, to the homemade taco seasoning, to all of the best taco fixin’s, this Mexican-inspired recipe has it all, just in a different (salad) form.
• It’s Legitimately Satisfying. No wimpy salads here! High in protein and fiber, it packs a wide array of filling ingredients like ground turkey (or ground beef), cheese, avocado, and black beans. This salad is a main dish in its own right.
• Better (and Better for You!) than a Restaurant. Most classic restaurant taco salads are doused in heavy, high-calorie dressings and overdo it on the high-fat toppings (the giant fried taco shell doesn’t help either). When you make your own homemade taco salad, it’s better, fresher, and can be legitimately healthy.
• Meal Prep Dream. In addition to its nutritious ingredient lineup and robust flavor, the components of this taco salad last well in the refrigerator, making it ideal for meal prep.

Whether you’re looking to add more satisfying salad recipes to your repertoire or just love tacos (or both!), this healthy taco salad bowl will quickly become a favorite.

How to Make Taco Salad with Dressing

The Ingredients

For the Taco Salad

• Spices. Skip the packet of taco seasoning, which is usually high in sodium. Instead, make a homemade taco seasoning that combines salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder to season the ground turkey meat.
• Ground Turkey. To create a lower-calorie taco salad recipe that still packs restaurant-worthy satisfaction, I used ground turkey. It’s equally as delicious here as seasoned ground beef! The best taco meat!

• Romaine Lettuce. The crisp and fresh base for our salad.
• Black Beans. A true super food! Making taco salad with beans gives it a creamy element and make it more satisfying. (My Instant Pot Black Beans would be perfect here; canned work too, of course.)

• Corn. I use convenient canned Mexican-style corn and loved the additional flavors it adds to the salad.
• Tomatoes. A handful of cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or chopped Roma tomatoes adds bursts of flavor.

For the Taco Salad Dressing

• Salsa. So simple but so delish! To make the BEST taco salad dressing, start with your favorite salsa, then add a creamy element.
• Greek Yogurt. A healthy swap for sour cream, it makes this easy taco salad dressing creamy.

Taco Salad Toppings – Use Some or All!

• Tortilla Strips. One of the secrets to making a really great taco salad is adding crunch. In place of fried tortilla chips, I use oven-baked strips of tortillas.
• Doritos. In a hurry? Want to add some extra flavor? Make this taco salad recipe with Doritos!
• Avocado. The creamy, nutrient-packed ingredient that we all love! Or, add a scoop of the best Homemade Guacamole.
• Jalapenos. Use fresh for the most kick or Pickled Jalapenos for a more mellow experience.
• Green Onions. Or swap chopped red onion or Quick Pickled Onions.
• Cheese. I love sharp cheddar. Queso fresco is a great option too.
• Black Olives. These give me complete taco joint feels!
• Other Vegetables. Pico de gallo, fresh corn, mushrooms, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, sliced jicama, or bell peppers would all be delish.

The Directions

1. Bake the Tortilla Strips. Make sure they’re crispy!

2. Cook the Ground Turkey. Brown it with the spices.

3. Dress the Lettuce. Stir together the dressing ingredients, and top lettuce with part of the dressing.

4. Combine. Add the salad ingredients.

5. Finish. Toss to combine, sprinkle with tortilla strips, and serve. ENJOY!

Storage Tips

• To Store. Once assembled and dressed, the salad is best eaten within a few hours of serving. However, the deconstructed elements of this salad may be stored separately in airtight containers for 2-4 days in the fridge. Even dressed, this salad isn’t too bad the next day.
• To Reheat. Leftovers of the seasoned ground turkey may be warmed in the microwave, in a covered container, until steaming.

What to Serve with Taco Salad

• Baking Sheets. These are an invaluable tool for your kitchen. I use them to bake up the tortilla strips in this recipe.
• Measuring Cups. An ideal way to measure AND mix your ingredients for salad dressing, without getting another bowl dirty. Plus, they can go in the microwave and dishwasher.
• Skillet. For cooking up all of that perfectly seasoned ground turkey.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Make Sure the Tortilla Strips Are Evenly Coated With Oil. The oil is what makes them crispy and delightful! I use my hands to toss the tortilla strips with the oil because I find it’s much more effective than trying to use a wooden spoon or spatula.
• Let the Taco Meat Cool Just a Touch. You don’t want it cold, but you don’t want to turn off the heat and dump the meat directly onto the lettuce either. If the taco meat is super hot, the lettuce will wilt and lose all of its texture. You want a happy medium here so the ground meat warms up the salad without cooking all of the other ingredients.
• Adjust for Picky Eaters. Instead of tossing all of the ingredients together, you can put together a taco salad bar and let everyone assemble their own salads with their choice of ingredients.