Made with hearty ground beef and all the taco toppings, this Classic Taco Salad recipe is the perfect addition to your Taco Tuesday or the ultimate taco bar! Made with low sodium taco seasoning, you can add as many toppings as you want.
Why you'll love this recipe.
What you're gonna love about this super easy recipe is that you can make it however you like it! Bulk it up for family gatherings or make your own big bowl of taco salad for an easy meal on the weeknights.
I think the things we can agree on is this - tacos are not stuffy or fussy and almost everyone likes them in some way, shape or form! This hearty salad is a fun way to switch up the classic ground beef taco and it's lighter than hot taco dip with ground beef and a little healthier than the also delicious taco salad with Catalina dressing.
Taco Bell's got nothing on us!
Ingredients in this classic taco salad
- minced garlic
- ground beef
- homemade taco seasoning - ground cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, chipotle powder, onion powder and salt and ground black pepper. If you have these seasonings (and I think you do) you can make your own taco seasoning mix.
- olive oil
- black beans - or substitute pinto beans or kidney beans. Whatever you like!
- iceberg lettuce - romaine lettuce or butter lettuce are also delicious
- avocado - for topping
- tomatoes - grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or if you have tomatoes in your garden, use those!
- red onion - yellow onion or white onions also work
- sweet corn - fresh, canned or frozen
- lime juice
- Mexican blend cheese - you can also use cheddar cheese
Toppings for taco salad
I could basically write about taco toppings all day long. But in the interest of time, I'm thinking sour cream or whip up this chipotle mayonnaise recipe, your favorite salsa, tortilla chips, sliced green onions for topping/garnish are all good options. Or maybe a spoonful of homemade pico de gallo.
Other taco salad add-ins
Want to bulk up your taco salad? Consider adding chopped green peppers, black olives, or drained and rinsed red kidney beans or pinto beans.
Tips
Keep it low carb by omitting the tortilla chips from the recipe, or pick a low carb tortilla chip.
Other Mexican inspired recipes
Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef
If you make this classic taco salad recipe, leave a recipe review or comment below. I'd love to hear from you!
Classic Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1½ teaspoon chipotle powder divided
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 cup black beans drained and rinsed
- ½ head iceberg lettuce chopped
- 1 large ripe avocado chopped
- 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes quartered
- ½ small red onion diced small
- 1 cup frozen sweet corn warmed
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ¾ cup Mexican blend cheese finely shredded
- **sour cream salsa or tortilla chips, for topping/garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and ground beef and season with ground cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, one teaspoon chipotle powder, and onion powder. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste, and stir to combine.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browned and broken into small pieces, approximately 8-10 minutes. Break up the beef with a spatula into small chunks while it cooks.
- Stir the black beans into the skillet with the beef mixture until thoroughly coated with the seasonings. Remove from heat and carefully drain excess fat from skillet and set aside.
- Combine the lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, red onion, and corn in a large bowl. Sprinkle with remaining olive oil, chipotle powder, and fresh lime juice. Generously season with salt and black pepper, to taste, and toss to combine.
- To serve, transfer salad to a serving platter and top with the seasoned beef and black beans, Mexican cheese, and tortilla chips.
Notes
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Mich
YUM! This recipe looks so good, you've got me wanting the end of winter already - I'll be making this in the spring!
Deanne Frieders
So glad you're trying it out Mich!