Why You’ll Love This Easy Taco Salad:
- Tasty & Topping-Packed—Delicious taco meat is layered onto lettuce and topped with all kinds of yummy toppings. Not only does this salad look beautiful, it tastes delicious!
- Customizable—Make this taco salad your own by including all of your favorite taco toppings.
- Quick—Have this salad (including the taco meat) done and on the table in 45 minutes or less.
Taco salad has been one of my absolute favorite meals for as long as I can remember. In a town with no Mexican restaurant (and certainly no UberEats), it was always something we made at home—packed with toppings, drizzled with homemade dressing, and topped with a generous spoonful of homemade taco meat. These days, I still find myself coming back to it whenever I want something quick and full of flavor. It’s true comfort food, and the kind of meal that you never get sick of (speaking from experience).
Taco Salad Topping Ideas
The base of this taco salad is about 8 cups (very loosely packed) of chopped lettuce—I prefer a 50/50 mix of romaine and iceberg. Then comes my homemade taco meat, which is packed with flavor thanks to the best taco seasoning ever.
Then, sprinkle on all of your favorite taco toppings! Mine include…
- Grilled corn (or a scoop of my favorite Mexican Street Corn Salad)
- Shredded cheese—I typically use a shredded fiesta blend or Chihuahua
- Kidney beans
- Crushed tortilla chips or Doritos
- Finely diced sweet onion
- Salsa
- Guacamole or sliced avocado
- Hot sauce
- Chopped pickled jalapeños or banana peppers
Taco Salad Dressing Options
A lot of people skip dressing altogether when it comes to taco salad—just a little salsa and sour cream, and they’re good to go. But personally? I think taco salad needs some kind of dressing to pull everything together.
If you’re short on time, French or Thousand Island dressing both work perfectly. One of my favorite quick blends is a 50/50 mix of French and Thousand Island with a few dashes of Tabasco—it’s sweet, tangy, a little spicy, and totally delicious.
Other great dressing options:
Southwest dressing
Honey chipotle dressing
Avocado ranch
Creamy cilantro lime
Feel free to experiment based on what you love or what’s already in your fridge—I just don’t recommend skipping the dressing altogether.
How To Make Taco Salad—Quick & Easy
1. Prep your taco meat.
As I mentioned above, my go-to meat for this salad is my favorite homemade ground beef taco meat. It can be made start to finish in about 20-25 minutes (max!).
2. Prep your lettuce and toppings.
Rinse, dry, and chop your lettuce—I love this salad spinner from OXO on Amazon for drying the lettuce quickly. Grill your corn. Drain and rinse your beans. Gather and prep the rest of your favorite toppings, such as salsa, cheese, guacamole, cilantro, etc.
3. Assemble your taco salad—two options.
Option 1—Add all the taco salad components (except the meat) to a large salad bowl. Toss in dressing. Then, spoon on some warm taco meat and serve.
Option 2—Create a taco salad bar, so everyone can assemble their own individual taco salads. For my taco salad, I like to toss some lettuce, crushed tortilla chips, and cheese in dressing. Then I add a generous spoonful of taco meat, along with the rest of my favorite toppings.
Leftovers & Storage
Please note that if you mix the entire salad—dressing and all—together, it will be difficult to save any leftovers. The salad will become mushy and soggy overnight. If you keep the components separate, simply store any leftovers in individual bags/containers in the fridge and make a fresh taco salad the next day!
Shop My Taco Salad Favorites
Shop all linked products on Amazon!
- This salad spinner is my favorite—we’ve had it for years.
- If you want some extra kick, add some hot sauce to your taco salad—test some popular varieties from Cholula.
- Serve the salad in a beautiful wood bowl, like this one.
Read on for the recipe for my favorite taco salad ever!
Then, leave a rating and review below once you have served it for your next taco night. I would love to hear how you and your family liked it!
Best Ever Taco Salad
Equipment (Shop on Amazon)
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce loosely packed
- 4 cups chopped iceberg lettuce loosely packed
- 1 batch of my homemade taco meat recipe here; uses 1 lb. ground beef
- 7-8 oz Kidney beans (about ½ a can) drained and rinsed
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
- ¾ cup shredded cheese of choice I prefer a Chihuahua or Mexican blend
- 2 ears grilled corn stripped off the cob
- ⅓ cup finely diced sweet onion
- Dressing of choice
- Other toppings to taste: salsa, avocado or guacamole, chopped jalapeños, banana peppers, sour cream, cilantro, tomatoes, and/or any of your other favorites!
Instructions
- Prep your taco meat before starting the salad. I use this ground beef taco meat for taco salad. It can be made quickly, uses my favorite taco seasoning, and is the tastiest addition to this salad. You can also opt for ground turkey taco meat, shredded chicken, or go completely meatless.1 batch of my homemade taco meat
- Gather and prepare the other components of the taco salad:- Rinse the corn and place it on the grill to cook on medium to medium-high heat, checking on it and turning it with tongs occasionally. Brush melted butter on the corn as it cooks, taking it off the grill once it reaches your desired level of char/color. - Rinse, dry, and chop the romaine and iceberg lettuce. Place in a large bowl or divide into individual salad bowls. - Drain and rinse the kidney beans. - Crush the tortilla chips. - Finely dice the sweet onion. - Grab or prepare your dressing of choice (see post above for suggestions). - Grate some cheese, or use a bag of shredded cheese. - Grab and/or prepare any other toppings you'd like, such as: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, etc.4 cups chopped romaine lettuce, 4 cups chopped iceberg lettuce, 7-8 oz Kidney beans (about ½ a can), 1 cup crushed tortilla chips, ¾ cup shredded cheese of choice, 2 ears grilled corn, ⅓ cup finely diced sweet onion, Dressing of choice, Other toppings to taste: salsa, avocado or guacamole, chopped jalapeños, banana peppers, sour cream, cilantro, tomatoes, and/or any of your other favorites!
- Assemble your taco salad. Add all taco salad components to a large salad bowl (except the meat). Toss in dressing. Spoon on warm taco meat and serve. Or, create a taco salad bar so everyone can make their own individual taco salads. For my taco salad, I like to toss some lettuce, crushed tortilla chips, and cheese in dressing. Then, I add a generous spoonful of taco meat, along with the rest of my favorite toppings.
- Storage. I recommend storing any leftover taco salad components separately, in airtight containers in the fridge. If you toss together all of the ingredients with dressing, the salad will become mushy/soggy overnight.
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