Taco Salad (Healthy & Easy!) - Wholesome Yum (2024)

In my kitchen, busy days often mean easy, one-pan dinners that I can assemble in a flash. Simple salads are perfect for checking those boxes, but of course you still need some protein in there to make it a full meal. That’s where my easy and healthy taco salad recipe with ground beef comes in. It’s so fresh, flavorful, and uses simple ingredients — you’re going to love it!

Why You’ll Love My Taco Salad Recipe

• All the right flavors and textures – Perfectly seasoned taco meat, sweet tomatoes, crisp lettuce, creamy avocado, cheddar cheese… there’s so much I love about this ground beef salad. There’s a reason it’s my most popular salad recipe with readers!
• Fresh, simple ingredients – You can find them at any grocery store and feel good about eating them. (They are also naturally low carb and gluten-free.) Not to mention, what I use for the dressing is the easiest solution ever.
• Totally customizable – Use whatever you have on hand, or swap ingredients based on what you like.
• Quick to make – Possibly the best part of this taco salad recipe is that the whole thingis on the table in 20 minutes. The only cooking involved is browning the ground beef on the stove.So simple.
• Quick and easy one-bowl dinner – Also known as, one of my favorite kind of meals! No need to fuss with assembling individual toppings on each taco.

Ingredients & Substitutions

This section explains how to choose the best taco salad ingredients, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

• Ground Beef – I prefer 85/15 for a ground beef taco salad, but you can use any kind you like. If you don’t like beef (or have any on hand), you can also replace this with ground turkey, ground chicken, or even chorizo or shredded chicken. I’ve also made this recipe before using barbacoa for the meat — just omit the taco seasoning.
• Avocado Oil – Just a bit for browning the beef. Olive oil works fine as well.
• Taco Seasoning – I like to make homemade taco seasoning and use 2 tablespoons per pound of meat. (It takes just 5 minutes to make with chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.) But, a store bought packet of taco seasoning saves time and is convenient. Check labels to avoid fillers and sugar if you can. I like this store bought seasoning, but it does not contain salt, so you’ll need to add 1 teaspoon of salt if your seasoning is unsalted.
• Romaine Lettuce – Romaine is my go to for taco salad recipes, but you can use any kind of greens you like. Iceberg lettuce is another classic option, though you could do something different with kale, arugula, or spinach if you want to.
• Grape Tomatoes – Served halved in the salad. I’ve also made this salad using cherry tomatoes, or chopped up larger tomatoes, such as Roma tomatoes. Pico de gallo also works well.
• Shredded Cheese – I usually use cheddar cheese, but you can also try a Mexican cheese blend, or pepper jack if you like a kick. You can omit if you want to avoid dairy.
• Avocado – Avocado is a must for a healthy taco salad! You can also swap this with guacamole if you like.
• Onions – I use green onions most often, but any kind you like will work. Diced red onions (the most classic option) or white onions both work great. You could also just throw in some fresh cilantro leaves instead if you’re not a fan of onions.
• Salsa – I like this pre-made one, which has medium heat and clean ingredients! Choosing different kinds is an easy way to get creative without adding complexity. Use mild salsa if you want it mellow, spicy if you want a kick, or go outside the box with more unique flavors likegreen chile or peach. You can totally make your own, too — try my simple fresh tomato salsa, green salsa verde, or creamy avocado salsa verde.
• Sour Cream – I use salsa and sour cream in lieu of a dressing here, which works out surprisingly well. Why spend time creating a complicated taco salad dressing, when these work just as well? When you mix it all up, it tastes like there’s dressing in there. If you need a dairy free option, swap the sour cream with thick coconut cream, a splash of lime juice, and a pinch of salt.

How To Make Taco Salad

This section shows step-by-step photos together with the instructions, to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.

1. Brown the beef. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned.
2. Add the taco seasoning. Stir seasoning into the ground beef until combined. If you like, you can also add 1/4 cup of water when adding the seasoning and let it simmer a bit.

3. Assemble the salad. Place the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, avocado, onions, salsa, and sour cream into a large bowl. When the taco meat is done, add it to the bowl. Toss together and enjoy!

Storage Instructions

This taco salad recipe makes a generous amount — 6 large servings to feed even a larger family. But if you don’t need that many, don’t worry.It’s also super easy to adjust it to fewer servings if you need to, or store it for later if you plan ahead.

• Store: Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. If you can, set the extras aside without the sour cream, salsa, and avocado, as these are best added fresh. I also prefer to store the beef separately, so that I can reheat it later.
• Reheat: Warm up the taco meat in a hot skillet or in the microwave before adding to the salad.
• Meal prep: Brown the meat with taco seasoning and chop all your taco salad ingredients (except avocado). I recommend storing them in separate meal prep containers. Right before serving, heat the meat and add to the salad. Top with sour cream, salsa, and freshly cut avocado, and toss together.

More Healthy Mexican Recipes

I love this taco salad for Mexican night at my house! (I’m sure some of you do Taco Tuesday, but my planning is so random that it doesn’t always land on a Tuesday.) We rotate this salad with these other dishes, or sometimes even serve them together:

• Dips – Try my layered taco dip, creamy queso, or fish ceviche. I usually set out a bowl of tortilla chips for people, but my fave is actually hollowed-out fresh mini bell peppers — they are perfect for scooping dips!
• Fajitas – Choose from my shrimp fajitas (the fastest!), chicken fajitas (my personal favorite!), or steak sheet pan fajitas (for a hands-off option).
• Stuffed Veggies – Like my taco stuffed peppers or stuffed poblano peppers.
• Soups – For a soup and salad combo when I have a little more time to prep, I like serving this salad with chili verde (inspired by one I had in Mexico) or Mexican chicken soup.

While it’s fun to experiment, this easy taco salad recipe is definitely the simplest — and it’s still packed with all my fave Mexican flavors — so I make this one most of all. Don’t forget the skinny margaritas!

• Heavy Bottom Skillet – One of my favorite sets! The larger one is the perfect size to make this recipe for taco salad, and has a heavy bottom for browning the beef evenly.
• Nesting Bowls – This set of bowls includes all different sizes. I used the large from this set to mix the salad in the pictures above.

Recipe Card

4.92 from 276 votes☝️ Click stars to rate or click here to leave a review!

Taco Salad (Healthy & Easy!)

Make this fresh, easy taco salad recipe in just 20 minutes, using common ingredients, like ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and cheese.

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Total: 20 minutes

Author: Maya Krampf from WholesomeYum.com

Servings: 6 (adjust to scale recipe)

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See Also

Low glycemic eating made easy

US Customary – Metric

Ingredients

Tap underlined ingredients to see the ones I use.

• 1lbGround beef▢
• 1tspAvocado oil(or any oil of choice)▢
• 2tbspTaco seasoning(store-bought or home-made)▢
• 8ozRomaine lettuce(chopped)▢
• 1 1/3cupGrape tomatoes(halved)▢
• 3/4cupCheddar cheese(shredded)▢
• 1mediumAvocado(cubed)▢
• 1/2cupGreen onions(chopped)▢
• 1/3cupSalsa▢
• 1/3cupSour cream▢

Instructions

Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.

1. Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add ground beef. Stir fry, breaking up the pieces with a spatula, for about 7-10 minutes, until the beef is browned and moisture has evaporated.

2. Stir taco seasoning into the ground beef until well combined. If you like, you can also add 1/4 cup of water when adding the seasoning and let it simmer a bit.

3. Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the ground beef. Toss everything together.

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Try More Of My Recipes

• Easy Taco Soup Recipe

• Big Mac Salad

• Taco Casserole (Taco Bake)

• Mexican Shrimp co*cktail

Recipe Notes

Serving size: 1/6 of entire recipe

Recipe from The Easy Keto Carboholics’ Cookbook.

Nutrition information is estimated based on 85/15 ground beef and typical tomato salsa.

Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.

Calories331

Fat24.8g

Protein19.7g

Total Carbs9.2g

Net Carbs4.6g

Fiber4.6g

Sugar2.8g

I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.

Course:Main Course, Salad

Cuisine:Mexican

Keywords:gluten-free, keto, low carb, nut-free, sugar-free, taco

Calories: 331 kcal

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Taco Salad Recipe

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