Fresh, flavorful and easy taco salad is made with seasoned ground beef, loaded with toppings then served over chopped greens with your favorite salad dressing.
In a large skillet, sauté the ground beef and onion over medium heat until browned, stirring occasionally to break up any large pieces. Drain excess grease. Stir in the taco seasoning, salsa, and water. Bring to a light simmer. Add more water if the mixture gets too dry.
Salad
In a large bowl or 4 individual bowls, layer the lettuce, meat mixture, rice, corn, beans, and tomatoes.
Top with desired toppings. Squeeze fresh lime juice, if desired, and drizzle your choice of dressing over the top.
Notes
Variations:
Healthy swaps. Feel free to make healthier swaps, like using ground turkey instead of beef, loading on extra veggies and using salsa as your dressing.
Taco salad shell. You can serve your salad in a crispy taco shell like they do at an authentic Mexican restaurant. Simply spray a flour tortilla with cooking spray, then place the tortilla in an oven safe bowl. Bake the tortilla until crispy, about 10 to 15 minutes. Then layer the salad ingredients into the crispy tortilla.
Doritos. Instead of serving over lettuce, add your taco salad ingredients inside a mini bag of Doritos or Fritos to make walking tacos. My kids love those too and they are just as easy! You can also crush up some Doritos and mix them in with your salad.
Vegetarian. Omit the meat to make this a vegetarian dish. Double up on rice and beans or add extra toppings like avocado and more chopped veggies.
Cooking tips:
Make the meat ahead. For convenience, make the taco meat ahead of time. I like to make it the day before so that I can assemble my salad in just 5 minutes! If I don't have time to cook taco meat, sometimes I'll use rotisserie chicken instead.
Grilled corn. Adding grilled corn instead of microwave corn on the cob makes a big difference in flavor. If you have the time, I highly recommend it
Lime juice. Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice over top of your taco salad for an extra fresh taste.
Taco seasoning. If you don't have any on hand, make your own homemade taco seasoning with just a few simple spices (that I bet you already have in your pantry).
Meal prep. This salad also makes a great meal prep lunch or dinner. Layer the ingredients into meal prep containers (keep the dressing separate) and then drizzle on top right before serving.
Leftover meat. Sometimes I'll double the taco meat recipe so that I have leftovers the next day. Use the extra meat to make a totally new lunch or dinner the next day, like stuffed bell peppers or these easy taco pockets.