A taco salad is the perfect summer salad with a fresh Mexican twist. It’s healthy, easy to make, and layered with all the good stuff — chopped lettuce, seasoned ground beef, tomatoes, red onion, black beans, and avocado — with plenty of room for customization.
Why You’ll Love This Taco Salad
Taco salads have gained in popularity thanks to fast food restaurants like Wendy’s and Taco Bell, but this homemade version is simply better! I also love that you can transform a classic ground beef taco into completely different meals, like my taco soup and this taco salad, depending on the season. Here’s a few more reasons why I love this recipe:
- It’s light yet filling. I love my salad greens as much as I love tacos, so this salad is the perfect way to mesh the two together for a healthy lunch or dinner that’s light yet filling.
- It’s endlessly customizable. Mexican cuisine serves up many fresh toppings to choose from. So have fun with it! I’ve got plenty of ideas below, including vegetarian options.
- You can meal prep it for the week. Just prep and store the ingredients separately and toss them together when you’re ready to eat. That way each meal is fresh every time.
Taco Salad Recipe Ingredients
- A leafy green base: A sturdy and crunchy base is ideal for the amount of toppings you’ll be adding. Romaine or iceberg lettuce are my go-to’s. But other hearty greens such as radicchio or green leaf lettuce will also work.
- Seasoned ground beef: I’m using lean ground beef today, but you can also use ground chicken or turkey. The most important thing is to season the meat with my homemade taco seasoning for that unmistakable taco flavor!
- Fresh toppings: It’s not a taco salad without tomatoes, black beans, avocado, onion, homemade salsa, and shredded cheese. But you can also add corn, radishes, jalapeños, bell peppers, guacamole, or crumbled tortilla chips. And to add a bit of creaminess, dollop sour cream or drizzle lime crema or chipotle sauce.
How To Make Taco Salad
- First, cook the meat. In a pan over medium-high heat, add the ground beef. Break it up into small bits and sauté for about 8 to 10 minutes until it’s mostly browned. Then drain any fat.
- Season the meat. Add the taco seasoning and mix everything together for another minute or two.
- Assemble the salad. Add the chopped lettuce to the bottom of a bowl. Then, layer the ground beef, beans, tomatoes, cheese, red onion, and avocado. And for the final touches, dollop the homemade salsa, sour cream, a squirt of lime juice, and a few leaves of fresh cilantro.
Ingredient Substitutions
Feel free to customize this taco salad to your liking! Here are a few ideas:
- Different protein options: You can top it with carnitas, carne asada, barbacoa, or salsa verde chicken.
- Vegan mushroom walnut option: Sauté diced mushrooms and walnuts in a pan for 4 to 6 minutes. Then, stir in some tamari and taco seasoning, which gives it a savory and smoky flavor.
- Vegan lentil option: Cook two cups of lentils. Sauté diced onion in a pan and add the lentils with a bit of water. Toss everything in taco seasoning until it’s well coated. Add in a bit more water if the lentils start to dry out.
- Whole30 option: Make this salad Whole30-friendly by leaving off the chips and cheese. Then, swap sour cream for cashew sour cream.
Storage Tips
You can prep many of the ingredients in advance (such as the ground beef, salsa, taco seasoning, diced red onion, and beans) and then create a buffet-style salad bar. These items can be stored in individual containers in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. Then, the rest can come straight from the fridge and be prepped in under 10 minutes.
More Mexican-Inspired Recipes
- Chicken Fajitas: A classic fajita recipe everyone loves.
- Ceviche: The ultimate fresh appetizer.
- Shrimp Tacos: The cilantro lime slaw takes them over the top.
- Huevos Rancheros: A deliciously hearty Mexican breakfast.
I can’t wait for you to try this taco salad recipe! If you make it, I’d love your feedback in the comment box below. Your review will help other readers in the community!
Description
Video
Equipment
- Staub Cast Iron Fry Pan One of my favorite cast iron pans for cooking meat!
Ingredients
For The Beef
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
For The Salad
- 1 head romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce, chopped
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 avocado, diced
- ½ cup shredded cheese
- ½ cup salsa
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- ¼ cup freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 lime
- Optional: tortilla chips
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef. In a pan over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and break it into small pieces with your spatula. Cook for about 8 minutes or until it starts to brown. Then drain the fat from the beef.
- Add taco seasoning. Add in the taco seasoning, stir everything, and cook for another minute or two.
- Assemble the salad. In a large salad bowl, layer the chopped lettuce with browned beef, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, red onion, and cheese.
- Add toppings. Dollop some salsa, sour cream, a squeeze of lime juice, and cilantro leaves on top. If you'd like, serve with tortilla chips.
Lisa’s Tips
- The nutrition info above is for four large and hearty portions. But you could easily get six smaller salads out of this recipe.
- To store for the week: You can prep many of the ingredients in advance (such as the ground beef, salsa, taco seasoning, diced red onion, and beans) and then create a buffet-style salad bar. These items can be stored in individual containers in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. Then, the rest can come straight from the fridge and be prepped in under 10 minutes.
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Recipe originally posted June 2020, but updated to include new information and photos for your benefit!
So delicious and easy! I am a vegetarian so this was easy to make with and without meat (so my hubby got his meat). I made some guacamole and pico de gallo to put on top and it didn’t need any dressing or salsa, there was so much flavor! I love eating healthy, thanks for all your great recipes:)
Glad this salad turned out great without the taco meat and extra guac and pico de gallo instead, Jill!
We had this for Cinco de mayo and it was just what we wanted. I’m a type 2 diabetic and this healthy salad was a tasty and healthy choice and packed with protein!
I will definitely add this to my meal rotation. Thank you!
Glad this taco salad checked all your boxes for a healthy yet delicious Cinco De Mayo meal!
Right up my alley, homemade salsa and taco seasoning. Was craving a taco salad and plan to fix for tonight.
Can’t beat a taco salad night like this! Enjoy, Karen!
Love this taco salad as a meal prep option. It is so easy to prepare, healthy and delicious! Makes lunches throughout the week a breeze!
Hi Adirenne – I couldn’t agree with you more! It really is such a great meal prep salad. Enjoy :)
Needed a change after all the heavy holidays meal! This taco salad was perfect ,it hit the spot!! Thanks Lisa for another good recipe.
Glad this taco salad hit the spot for a healthy meal, Susan!
Lisa, this was delicious. I made it last night for supper. I’m retired and live alone, so I’m always on the lookout for something quick and easy, without eating too much processed junk. This is full of flavor and adaptable. I will be making it again and again.
Sidenote: I ran across you on Pinterest, then I found links to your website and YouTube. I subscribed to them all. Your recipes are wonderful and don’t break the bank. Thank you..
Welcome to the Downshiftology community! I’m glad you enjoyed this homemade taco salad and I can’t wait to see what you make next, Jackie.
My husband made this and subbed the lettuce with her cilantro lime cauliflower rice recipe.
SO GOOD TOGETHER
I just wanted to add that adding cucumber to a taco salad makes it so summery and refreshing. Olives r good too.
I made this for dinner and we loved it. So glad I have leftovers for another night. It is very easy to make and assemble. I added some corn to the sautéed beef as my husband loves it.
Wonderful! So happy you loved it, Barbara. And love the addition of the corn. Enjoy!
I have tried this recipe with the salsa! It’s delicious! The kids love it too! Marie from Belgium
Hi Marie – Happy to hear you and the kiddos are loving this taco salad!
I love this salad from Downshiftology! I’ve made it with ground beef & also with chicken! I add cilantro from my patio garden this time of year & my homemade guacamole. Delicious! Thank you Lisa for another great recipe!
Love fresh cilantro from the garden! Happy you loved it, Karol. :)
Taco Salad was delicious, u have great recipes🤗❤
Thanks so much, Patty!
I made it tonight. I loved it! It’s so simple yet delicious!!
I have tried some of your recipes and for some reason I kept forgetting to post a comment.
Thanks Lisa for sharing so many delicious and healthy recipes!
Hi Simone – Happy to hear you’re loving this taco salad!
My go-to taco salad recipe! So simple and delicious every time!
Wonderful! Happy you love it!
This was SO good! My family of six loved it, thank you! We did the lime crema – that was delicious,too!
Happy to hear the whole family enjoyed this taco salad Robin!
This is really TASTY! I thought my taco recipe was good this blew it out of the water, Thank you so much for sharing this incredible recipe,
Very good. My family really enjoys this taco salad.
yum!
Just made the taco salad and lime crema today… wow! I have really been enjoying all the videos. Who knew cooking healthier could be so tasty. Thank you.
Glad you’re loving the taco salad with a drizzle of lime crema :)
I’ve made this twice so far and it’s sooooo good!!! I’m new this site but have been loving all the recipes and videos. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
So glad you love this recipe Kathy!
Made this and it was actually the first recipe I ever made from downshiftology . This how I got hooked !! So easy to make and delicious. Just didn’t add the chips cause I try to stick to low carb . Love love this salad 🥗
Glad you enjoyed your very first recipe on the site! This one’s definitely a keeper for your salad rotation :)
Thanks Lisa! My family loves it. It’s very healthy and tasty. All your recipes have been very helpful and amazing.
Glad to hear that Sarah! :)
Lovely salad!
Wonderful! Glad you loved these :)
Сool recipe. I like when there are so many lettuce leaves!
I agree! The more greens the better :)
Made this for some hungry teenagers and got rave reviews. I love the pick and mix concept of taco’s. And I love it even more that it is fresh and healthy. This recipe will be on repeat!
Wonderful! Such a great recipe too for a large crowd :)
I can’t believe how good this was. I used the mushroom/nut mix for a vegetarian option. If I didn’t know better, I would swear it was ground beef! Delicious, thank you!
Hi Sally- So glad you loved the mushroom option! :)
No surprise that I loved everything about this! I made the mushroom and walnut “meat” option and I’ll be using this on actual tacos or anything else that calls for ground meat whenever I feel the need to take a meat break.
I’m looking forward to the leftovers.
Hi Alan- So glad the walnut meat option turned out to be a success!
Delicious!! Taco seasoning recipes is outstanding! Loved this
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed the taco seasoning along with it :)
Made this for lunch today and loved it! Thanks for the great idea!
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed this taco salad Leslie :)
We made a version of this using what we had and it turned out so good.
Hi Lesli- This is the best kind of recipe for leftover ingredients in your fridge :)
We made this recipe tonight for dinner and it was delicious.
Wonderful! Glad everyone enjoyed this hearty taco salad for dinner :)
Definitely perfect for summer! I love all that color and the flavors sound absolutely incredible.
Hi Tara- If you love taco flavors, this one’s not to be missed :)
Perfect for a quick and easy dinner! My whole family loved it, even the kids. PS- your pictures are gorgeous.
Hi Michelle- Thanks so much! Happy that everyone loved this salad recipe :)
That is one beautifully presented taco salad and how perfect for Taco Tuesdays! Love the many layers of flavors here, too!
Hi Abigail- This will definitely be a fun way to celebrate Taco Tuesday! :)
I love a good taco salad! I can’t wait to try this!
Can never go wrong with a taco salad :)
I’ve recently found your site through a friend of mine, I am so glad! My kiddos and I made this together! We have been spending a lot more time in the kitchen lately and its so fun. They really enjoyed making this recipe but they enjoyed eating it even more! Thanks for this delish creation, we are adding it to our “make again” list!!
Hi Cindy- So glad you discovered Downshiftology and that you enjoyed this recipe with your kids :)