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I Make This Taco Salad Recipe Almost Every Week
At my house, busy days often mean easy, one-pan dinners that I can assemble in a flash. Like this taco salad! It’s packed with protein and fresh veggies, and checks all the boxes for a quick, healthy meal all by itself. Here’s why:
- All the right flavors and textures – Perfectly seasoned taco meat, sweet tomatoes, crisp lettuce, creamy avocado, cheddar cheese… there’s so much to love about this ground beef salad. There’s a reason it’s my most popular salad recipe!
- Fresh, simple ingredients – You can find them at any grocery store and feel good about eating them. Unlike many taco salad recipes, mine is gluten-free without any chips. Not to mention, what I use for the dressing is the easiest ever.
- Totally customizable – Use whatever you have on hand, or swap ingredients based on what you like. I have ideas for you below!
- Quick and easy one-bowl dinner – Possibly the best part of this salad is that the whole thing is on the table in 20 minutes. The only cooking involved is browning the beef on the stove, and there’s no fussy assembly of each taco.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made this taco salad, because it’s my go-to every time I don’t know what we’re having. Make it with me next time you’re in the same boat!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best taco salad ingredients, what each one does in my recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Ground Beef – I prefer 85/15 for a ground beef taco salad, but feel free to substitute ground turkey, ground chicken, or shredded chicken. I’ve also made this recipe before using barbacoa or chorizo for the meat — just omit the taco seasoning.
- Avocado Oil – Just a bit for browning the beef. Olive oil works, too.
- Taco Seasoning – I make homemade taco seasoning and use 2 tablespoons per pound of meat. (It takes just 5 minutes to make with chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.) A store bought packet of taco seasoning works just fine, though. I like this store bought seasoning that doesn’t have processed fillers, but it’s also missing salt — you’ll need to add a teaspoon of salt if your seasoning is unsalted.
- Romaine Lettuce – Feel free to swap in any greens you like, whether it’s simply iceberg lettuce or something a little different, like kale, arugula, or spinach.
- Veggies – I make this healthy taco salad with grape tomatoes (or sometimes cherry tomatoes), green onions, and avocado. Feel free to use larger chopped tomatoes, red or white onions, or even guacamole if you want to get fancy. Sometimes I toss in some fresh cilantro leaves or chopped bell peppers, too.
- Shredded Cheese – I usually use either cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend. Pepper jack is great if you like a kick. Just omit for a dairy-free option.
- Salsa – I like this pre-made one, which has medium heat and clean ingredients! Choosing different kinds is an easy way to get creative. You can totally make your own, too — try my simple fresh tomato salsa, salsa verde, or creamy blended avocado salsa.
- Sour Cream – I use salsa and sour cream in lieu of a dressing here, which works out surprisingly well. Why spend time creating a complicated taco salad dressing? When you mix it all up, it tastes like there’s dressing in there. If you need a dairy free option, swap the sour cream with thick coconut cream, a splash of lime juice, and a pinch of salt… or you can use the jalapeno lime dressing from my other Mexican salad.
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How To Make Taco Salad
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Brown the beef. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned.
- Add the taco seasoning. Stir the seasoning into the ground beef, until combined. For juicier meat, you can also add 1/4 cup of water to the meat mixture and let it simmer.
- Assemble your taco salad. Place the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, avocado, onions, salsa, and sour cream into a large bowl. When the taco meat is done, add it to the bowl. Toss together and enjoy!
My Recipe Tips
- Drain the beef if needed. I don’t usually need to if using 85/15 or 90/10 ground beef, but you’ll probably want to if you use 80/20.
- Let the beef brown enough. Obviously you want it cooked through, but I think it tastes even better when it darkens more and gets a few crispy edges. They’re so good! You’ll need the heat at medium high to achieve this, and a heavy bottom skillet.
- Customize it to your liking. Ultimately, what goes in a taco salad is very much up to you. Feel free to throw in any other veggies you have on hand, or omit anything you don’t like. That’s one of the great things about simple salads — you don’t have to be that precise!
- Want some crunch? Crumble some baked tortilla chips (or my low carb tortilla chips) over the salad.
- Want to make it more hearty? To make this taco salad recipe more filling, add canned black beans, sweet corn, or black olives. You can also swap the greens for rice or cauliflower rice, which is a lot like my taco bowl.
- Want extra heat? Drizzle your salad with hot sauce, or add extra jalapeños to your salsa.
- Try a taco salad bar! Serve all the components in separate bowls and let everyone assemble theirs in their own salad bowls. It’s a great way to scale this recipe up for a crowd, or to please everyone if your family is picky.
- Meal prep these in mason jars. See my mason jar salad for instructions. I’ve scaled it down per jar for convenience!
Taco Salad (Healthy, Easy Recipe)
By
Toss together my taco salad recipe in just 20 minutes, using common ingredients you probably have! It's easy, healthy, and family friendly.
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Stir taco seasoning into the ground beef until well combined. If you like, you can also add 1/4 cup of water when adding the seasoning and let it simmer a bit.
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Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the ground beef. Toss everything together.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/6 of entire recipe
- Tips: See my recipe tips above to help you get nice flavor and texture in your taco meat, ways to customize this taco salad, and how to serve it for a crowd.
- Store: Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. If you can, store without the sour cream, salsa, and avocado, as these are best added fresh. I also prefer to store the beef separately, so that I can reheat it later.
- Reheat: Warm up the taco meat in a hot skillet or in the microwave before adding to the salad.
- Meal prep: Brown the meat with taco seasoning and chop all your taco salad ingredients (except avocado). I recommend storing them in separate meal prep containers. Right before serving, heat the meat and add to the salad. Top with sour cream, salsa, and freshly cut avocado, and toss together. Alternatively, you can meal prep this taco salad recipe as a mason jar salad.
- Note on nutrition info: It’s based on 85/15 ground beef and typical tomato salsa. It will vary if your beef is leaner or higher fat, or with different brands of salsa.
📖 Want more recipes like this? Find this one and many more in my Easy Keto Carboholics’ Cookbook.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Taco Salad Recipe
More Healthy Mexican Recipes
I love this taco salad for Mexican night at my house! (I’m sure some of you do Taco Tuesday, but my planning is so random that it doesn’t always land on a Tuesday, lol.) We rotate this salad with these other dishes, or sometimes even serve them together:
- Dips – Try my layered taco dip, creamy Crock Pot queso, or fish ceviche. I usually set out a bowl of tortilla chips for people, but my fave is actually hollowed-out fresh mini bell peppers — they are perfect for scooping dips!
- Fajitas – Choose from my shrimp fajitas (the fastest), chicken fajitas (my personal favorite), or steak sheet pan fajitas (for a hands-off option).
- Stuffed Veggies – Like my taco stuffed peppers or stuffed poblano peppers.
- Soups – For a soup and salad combo when I have a little more time to prep, I like serving this salad with chili verde (inspired by one I had in Mexico) or Mexican chicken soup.
While it’s fun to experiment, this easy taco salad recipe is definitely the simplest — and it’s still packed with all my fave Mexican flavors — so I make this one most of all. Don’t forget the skinny margaritas!
348 Comments
Brandon
0This was a great, and very easy, recipe! Thanks! We added chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime to the salad to give it the street-taco flavor and it was perfect!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love that you added cilantro and lime, Brandon! Have a great day!
Randy
0The ingredients of your recipe list 1 lb Ground beef and 1 tbsp Taco seasoning (store-bought or home-made), but when I tap on your Taco seasoning link, it states: “use 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning mix per pound of meat. All the premade packets recommend this, and it’s actually the same for homemade taco seasoning, too.”
So should it be 1 tbsp or 2 tbsp for this recipe? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Randy, You’re absolutely right! I had originally tested this with 1 tablespoon but have been making it with two for a long time since. I updated the recipe card to say 2 tbsp. Ultimately you can choose to your liking though!
Jack Smith
0I love this salads! Such a great childhood memory for me. This looks delish!
And your site…this is the first time I’m seeing it on my big 27″ iMac and omg it’s so beautiful
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Jack! Thanks for stopping by!
Karen Dennis
0Love this recipe! I mix romaine and iceberg and add black beans, corn, and crunched up tortilla chips as well as ingredients in the recipe. I serve all ingredients separately and everyone tosses their own salad (for those that have different tastes). I also have a couple of dressings to pick from. My entire family likes this one!
Ella may Dillard
0I like all the recipes
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Ella! Thanks for stopping by!
Anita
0Just double checking – 8 oz. of chopped romaine for 6 servings?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Anita, Yes. 8 oz of romaine is approximately 3 cups, so it’s 1/2 cup romaine per serving but there are lots of other ingredients in a serving so the romaine is just a small part of it. You can definitely add more romaine if you want to, though!
Marie
0I made this and it was AWESOME! I loved it!! 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Marie! I am so happy you liked the salad!
Whitney
0Made this tonight after finding it on Pinterest! I absolutely loved it and especially LOVED how simple it was! Definitely something I will continue to make. 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Whitney!
Natalie
0I’m really craving for a salad now. The combination between sour cream and taco salad is always delish. xD
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Natalie!
Rhonda O'Neill-Duran
0It turned out great. I just use ground turkey instead.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Rhonda!
Chris
0Love everything about this recipe!! Very yum. Love that it’s easy to make.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Chris!
Heather
0Can’t wait to try this. I will leave out avocado so what would that do to the nutritional breakdown?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Heather, if you leave out the avocado there will be less fat, carbs, and protein. You can find out exactly what the nutrition facts would be by putting only the ingredients you use into a nutrition fact calculator. Hope this helps!
John
0Love this salad.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, John!
JD
0Very good! The whole family enjoyed it.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, JD!
Hannah
0You made this look so easy to do! I love the way it looks when it’s ready too. Thank you for sharing how to put this together.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Hanna!
A
0I left out the cheese and this was still delicious. I didn’t have sour cream so I mixed Paul Newman pineapple salsa with Marzetti light coleslaw dressing–it was sweet and delicious, like a cross between thousand island and the sauce on a Big Mac. I can’t think why fast food restaurants don’t just make hamburger salads with a quarter pound of beef–it would beat the tasteless salads they have, and you don’t have to eat the godawful bun…
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you! Totally agree 🙂
Sarah
0This taco salad recipe has become a regular in our house! We love it because it’s filling AND healthy. Thanks so much!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Sarah!
Jen
0Love the black bean idea. The only thing with ground turkey is that it has very very high instances of salmonella. Ground bison is very lean though!
Denise DeRose
0Using ground turkey would be healthier! I also add black beans, not from a can. I make a big pot and then freeze them in containers so they are ready when I want to put one of these salads together.
Brittany
0I could eat three servings in not put a dent in my carb intake. Thanks.
Kim | Low Carb Maven
0Mmmm. We love taco salads at my house and this one looks like a winner! You’re right! Perfect for those hot kitchen days. Lol.