Taco Salad Recipe

Coming together in only a half an hour, this taco salad is the perfect weeknight dinner and guaranteed people pleaser. It incorporates all the elements of a taco into a fresh and crisp salad. There’s lots of flavor and texture components throughout the salad and it’s super easy to make: all the elements of a perfect salad.

It’s great for a filling lunch or dinner with ingredients like ground beef, fresh corn, Litehouse Southwest dressing, cheese, and lots of other toppings. That being said, this salad is easily customizable with whatever toppings you desire.

To start, we chose a base of romaine for this salad, which we’re cutting into ribbons for an easy bite. This type of lettuce provides the perfect crunch that pairs nicely with all the taco salad toppings.

For protein, we’re using ground beef as it adds that classic taco flair to this salad. However, feel free to substitute with ground chicken or turkey if you prefer. To season this beef, we’re using a mix of slightly spicy and smokey seasonings including chili powder, cumin, paprika, along with some other essentials.

Corn is an excellent sweet and crunchy addition to this salad, which pairs well with the other taco salad ingredients. I am a huge fan of corn in salad- it adds an extra bite and something sweet to the salad. We sauté it first with some salt and pepper to bring out a bit more flavor.

As far as other toppings, we’re adding in some bite from the purple onion, freshness from the tomatoes, creaminess from the avocado and tortilla chips for salty crunch. On top of all of that, we’re sprinkling some Mexican cheese on top, arguably the best part of tacos.

Finally, the dressing! This Southwest Dressing is super creamy from the buttermilk and has a little spice from the jalapeño and chipotle. It pairs perfectly with the other ingredients as a light and delicious mix-in.

This is definitely the kind of salad that’s best prepared right before serving. However, the toppings can be prepared and stored in the fridge until ready to assemble. Creamy dressings don’t store quite as well on salad greens, so wait to dress your salad until you’re ready to enjoy. Luckily, it doesn’t take long at all to assemble this salad. Less than 30 minutes and you’ll have the perfect weeknight dinner!