This is a very basic recipe I’ve been making for years, but one that I shared with a friend of mine recently when she said she didn’t have one. It was a HIT in her household too so I thought I’d share it here in case you have a busy night coming up and need an easy go-to dish.
Easy Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 1 head iceburg lettuce
- 1 large bag tortilla chips (my pick is Old Dutch Arriba Zesty Taco flavor but Cool Ranch Doritos are great too!)
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1 cup salsa
- ¼ cup green onion
- sour cream and dressing (ranch or try catalina for a sweet addition) to taste
Instructions
- Brown ground beef, add taco seasoning and water and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
- Shred lettuce and prepare your toppings ahead of time in separate bowls for ease preparing.
- Place a handful of tortilla chips on your salad plate, top with taco beef, then add the lettuce, cheese, salsa and other toppings as desired.
- Serve with lots of napkins and get ready for requests for a second helping!
I like that I can customize the meal based on what I have on hand. Catalina dressing is a really nice addition to this salad, from the usual Ranch dressing, give it a try! When serving it to kids, keep the salsa mild of course and don’t add a lot of chips (mine seem to find those first at the bottom!), at least on the first helping anyway. 😉
You can also double (or triple!) the recipe for a larger group by browning the taco beef ahead of time and keeping warm in a slow cooker with the taco seasoning and water on slow simmer. We love taco salad for large gatherings in the summer!
That sounds good and simple. I like when we have tacos and if we have leftovers I end up making it into a salad which tastes so good.
I make it often too. My recipe is basically the same as yours.
Simple but perfect 🙂
Never tried with ranch on taco salad before but will have to try!
We make taco salad a lot and it’s popular in my house. Looks delish!
The exact way I have made mine for years. Had Catalina dressing before and that’s great too. This is a winner.