This restaurant-quality, guest-worthy, Tex-Mex taco salad recipe is beefy, cheesy, and flush with black beans. It’s garnished with avocado and tortilla chips, and dressed with two different dresssings.
Taco Salad
Course: DinnerCuisine: Mexican6
dinner-sized servingsIf you’re going to shred your own cheese, do it in the food processor, before making the dressings. Shake out all the cheese, but don’t bother rinsing out the processor.
Ingredients
- For the taco dressing:
1 cup sour cream
⅓ cup medium-hot salsa
1 Tbs lime juice
1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
¼ cup loosely-packed cilantro
¼ tsp ground dried tomato (optional)
Salt, to taste (perhaps ½ tsp)
- For the ranch dressing:
1 cup mayo
½ cup sour cream
1½ tsp garlic powder
¼ cup parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried dill
1 tsp cider vinegar
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
4 green onions
Salt, to taste (perhaps ¼ tsp)
Milk, to taste
- For the salad:
4 oz. dried black beans
1¾ cups water, divided
½ tsp beef stock reduction paste or bouillon
8 oz. lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
8-oz. (a scant cup) taco sauce, plus more for serving
¼ cup mild salsa
¾ cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 Tbs chili powder
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper, plus more to taste
6 cups Romaine
2 medium tomatoes, diced and allowed to drain
1 large green bell pepper, diced
½ cup thinly sliced green onions (4 green onions)
¼ cup cilantro
2 medium avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced
¾ cup (3 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips
Directions
- Make the dressings.
- To make the taco dressing: in a food processor fitted with the steel blade, blitz all ingredients except salt on high speed for 10 seconds. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Blitz until fully combined, another 10 seconds. Blend in salt, to taste. Funnel it into a squeeze bottle. Keep refrigerated.
- To make the ranch dressing: scrape out the food processor as best you can, but don’t bother washing it. Place the mayo, sour cream, garlic, parsley, oregano, dill, vinegar, and pepper into the food processor. Add the greens from the onions. Blitz on high speed for 10 seconds. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Blitz until fully combined, another 10 seconds. Blend in salt, to taste. If the dressing needs more of a kick, add the whites of the onions, a bit at a time, blitzing them fully into the dressing. If you’d like the dressing to be thinner, blend in a small amount of milk. Keep refrigerated in a tightly sealed container.
- Make the salad.
- Pour the beans and 1.5 cups water into an Instant Pot. Add the stock reduction. Set the pot to BEAN/CHILI, more (25 minutes), high (pressure). Natural release for 20 minutes. (You can skip this step through this point, and use a 15-oz. can of beans instead.) Drain and rinse the beans.
- Meanwhile, cook ground beef and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat (setting 4 out of 9) until no pink remains, 6 minutes. Drain off fat.
- To the beef, add beans, taco sauce, corn, chili powder, cayenne, and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat (setting 6); reduce heat to low (setting 2) and simmer until the mixture is almost dry (or to your liking), 12 minutes. Taste for salt (adding perhaps 1/4 tsp).
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss or layer lettuce, tomatoes, bell pepper, onions, and cilantro.
- To serve, toss the lettuce mixture very lightly with ranch dressing, then divide it among plates or bowls. Top each serving with avocado slices and the meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Crush a few tortilla chips over the salad, and tuck a few whole chips on the side. Garnish with taco dressing (and taco sauce).
Notes
- Substitutions: A) 1 large clove of fresh garlic for the powder in the ranch dressing. B) Dark red kidney beans for the black beans. C) Turkey or chicken for the beef. D) Shredded leaf or iceberg lettuce for the Romaine. E) Finely chopped red onion for the green onion in the salad. F) Mexican cheese blend for the cheddar
- I developed this recipe for a six-quart Instant Pot. If using a different size or type of pot, you may need to make modifications.
This is a guest-worth salad. When I set out to make it, I thought I was simply making a homemade taco salad, for fun and out of curiosity. I didn’t realize that I was going to wind up with one so spectacular, that it’s better than many that I’ve been served in restaurants. It’s got all the flavor you want in a taco salad, plus an intense amount of freshness. And although it is definitely substantial, it doesn’t feel as heavy as many taco salads do.
Social Learning
The beans, cooked this way, are just about perfect and absolutely no fuss whatsoever. The called-for amount is one quarter of a typical 16-oz. bag. I prefer to cook the whole bag. You can store the cooked beans, in their liquid, in the fridge for five days. (Some people prefer to drain them before storage.) I’d rather use the rest of the beans in a pot of chili or whatnot within those five days, than I would prefer to have three-quarters of a bag of beans taking up space in my cupboard, where they’ll quickly be forgotten and then sit there for years.
If you blend the green onions into the ranch dressing, as recommended, the dressing will look a bit like Green Godess. If you want it to be whiter, mince the onion and add it by hand.
I recommend that you use a local, artisan brand of chips that resemble the kind you’d get in a Mexican restaurant. You’ll wind up with something that pairs better with the salad in terms of taste and texture, while elevating the salad to something special.
Probably part of what keeps this taco salad from excessively weighing you down is that is has less beef than you might expect, and makes up for that in beans. (If you wanted to, you could increase the beef by 25% or 50%, and reduce beans accordingly.) Plus, I opted to forego the traditional tortilla bowl. I do love tortilla bowls, especially the way they turn a taco salad into something almost like nachos. But I had a hidden agenda in that I wanted to be able to pack this salad in an adult lunchbox and bring it to work. Trying to do that in a taco bowl would be more trouble than I’m willing to go to.
I suppose it goes without saying that this is a main-dish salad. So when I say it serves six, I’m talking about six, large, meal-sized portions. If you’re worried it won’t be substantial enough, start the meal with margaritas and a hot, generous-sized appetizer, and end with something like flan or magic cake.
If you’re planning to eat this salad leftover, store the greens and meat mixture separately. Futhermore, consider the avocado. You’ll want about 1/4-1/3 of one avocado per serving. If that means that you won’t be cutting into the second one until several days after the first one, you might want to hold off on buying it until the time comes. Or if you can find one avocado that is ripe, and a second one that isn’t, that might work, too. Or you could just eliminate the avocado from the leftovers; the salad is fine without it. By the way, if you find yourself having to store half of an avocado, leave the pit in the stored half. It will help keep the cut avocado somewhat fresh.
Taco Salad
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man!, unless otherwise indicated. Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. References: “Taco Salad,” in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. (Des Moines, IA: BHG, 1996), 424. Also Food Network, The Modern Proper, and This Is Not Diet Food. Make It Like a Man! has been ranked by Feedspot as #14 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs. Keep up with us on Bloglovin’
je ne connais pas mais cette superbe salade à l’air délicieuse!
à bientôt!!
Thanks, Josette. It is good!
Thank you, Josette!
Perfetto, mi piace tantissimo! Auguri per una serena Pasqua!
Thank for so much, Paolina!
Nice. I love a good taco salad. Such great ingredients. And there are so many bad ones out there. Love your two creamy dressings!
Thanks, Mimi!
Gosh, that’s a LOOOOOOOOOONG list of ingredients. The salad looks great though!
I know, it really is long. I’m sure you could find some shertents. But it is such a great salad!
This looks like a delicious way to entertain during the warmer weather Jeff. Great holiday food too. We really like Mexican food. Great recipe, thanks.
Thanks, Pauline!
Good taco salad is one of my favorites, and it sounds like dinner tonight. 🙂
Nice!
What a great salad – filling and packed with a ton of flavours and textures! Indeed, I’ve never had a taco salad, but I’m intrigued now.
Wha-a-at? You gotta try one. But I think it ought to be this one. 🙂
Next time I hear someone say salads are “sad dishes”, I’ll show them this article!!! 😉
It is so rich and gluttonous that it made me hungry!
The recipe is explained in detail. It is clear that this is a dish that you loved cooking and… enjoying 🙂
Bye
for really did capture the spirit of the thing! Yes, it’s not a salad for someone on a diet although all the freshness in it has to be at least somewhat good for you. And yes, I loved making it! It was a lot of work, but it was fun work.
I will often make our fajitas into a salad, I honestly don’t know why I never thought about making a taco into a salad! It’s genius really. We don’t have taco salad on restaurant menus. I love that every bite has a different flavour and textural profile. Nicely done.
Oh, thanks! I didn’t realize that taco salad is really U.S. thing, but I guess it must be!
ooh how delicious Jeff. Such great flavours here.
Thank you, Sherry!
Esta sí que es una receta completamente nueva para mí. Creo que en España no sirven ensalada de tacos en ningún restaurante, de hecho creo que es bastante desconocida. Aunque lleva algo de trabajo, la imagino deliciosa y llena de sabor.
Un saludo.
Yes, I think it’s a Tex-Mex dish, so I’m not surprised if you can’t find it in Spain. But it should find its way there, because it is fantastic! You can take tons of shortcuts – many of the items that I made from scratch, you could buy pre-made. Although, the homemade things were stellar!
Taco salad is my jam! You had me at “beefy, cheesy, and flush with black beans.” I mean that combination of ingredients is already on the path to perfection, but then you added some tortilla chips, too. Best.recipe.ever.
Thanks, David!
Jeff,
Love the sound of this total meal in a bowl! Amazing flavors with all the spices too.
I like the words your used – “guest worthy” – I usually say perfect for guests. I like guest worthy better ( I’m going to steal it for my next “guest worthy” post. thx
Please do!
This will make a wonderful dinner once the weather gets hot!! Probably the only kind of salad the hubby would consider dinner worthy. It looks delicious!!
Thanks so much, Liz!
Better than restaurant taco salad? I’m in! This is the kind of dish that I could eat time and time again and still crave it often.
Thank you! Me too!
Looks like a plate of perfection, Jeff!
Thanks David!
Taco salads are the best. I love a main course salad like this — I could have it for dinner a few nights a week! 🙂 Valentina
Me too!