Ground Beef Taco Salad

You will love this classic Tex-Mex dish that takes around 20 minutes to make! This easy Ground Beef Taco Salad is full of amazing flavor from savory beef, cool sour cream, and spicy salsa!

You all know I always talk about my love of tacos. I can eat taco anything, any day of the week! One of my favorite versions to make is a nice Taco Salad!

I love crisp lettuce piled high with taco seasoned beef, cheese, sour cream, salsa and some tortilla chips on the side. It is such a refreshing and fulfilling meal.

Taco Tuesdays can always be fun by changing up the type of tacos being served!

How to make a Taco Salad:

Make this recipe by preparing all the salad ingredients. It’s super simple and can be made however you like to enjoy tacos!

Ground beef: Cook and crumble your ground beef and then season.

Seasoning Options: You can use a store-bought seasoning or make your own. My Homemade Taco Seasoning is a great thing to use to season your beef!

The prep time for this recipe is very quick.

Other Ingredients: Prep your lettuce, dice tomatoes or any other toppings you want then you are done!

Ingredient Notes:

• Ground Beef: You can easily change this for ground turkey or even ground chicken. I like to use an 85/15 ground beef for this recipe.
• Oil: Any oil you prefer to use at home will work for this recipe. I prefer to use avocado oil because of the temperature.
• Taco Seasoning: Any seasoning you like best will work rather it be store bought or a homemade taco seasoning.
• Salsa
• Romaine Lettuce: I like to use romaine lettuce best, but you can use another lettuce that you like to use enjoy best. Iceberg is a good alternative.
• Optional Toppings: Tomatoes, Onions, Jalapenos, Cheese or Sour Cream

Directions:

Step One – Warm oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add ground beef and cook and crumble. Drain off fat as needed.

Step Two – Once ground beef is browned add in taco seasoning and salsa. Stir to coat the meat in seasoning.

Step Three – Wash and dice romaine lettuce.

Spoon taco meat onto salads and serve with desired toppings.

Should I serve my taco salad hot or cold?

Well, the best answer for this question is, YES!!!

You can definitely serve this recipe as fresh as you can make it. Meat right from the pan on top of freshly cut lettuce, topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, tomatoes right from the fridge is exactly how this meal is supposed to be enjoyed.

If you want though you can let the meat cool, then refrigerate it and crumble on top of the salad. Typically, you do want the meat to be warmed up, whether that be on the stove top or microwave is up to you!

Which brings me to my next question!

Can I make Taco Salads ahead of time?

You definitely can make a taco salad ahead of time!

Cook your meat as according to the instructions. Allow the meat to cool, then place into an air-tight food storage container. Place in the refrigerator or freezer.

When ready to serve be sure to thaw meat out if frozen, but then warm up in the microwave or on the stove top.

If warming up on the stove top you may want to add two tablespoons of water to the meat to add some moisture back in for cooking.

Once warmed up, mix in some additional salsa if you want! Serve as usual.

What Can I serve with my Taco Salad?

I typically like to have my taco salad as a stand-alone meal, but some Mexican Rice can add an additional hearty option to go along with this salad! Or you can make my Chipotle Copy-Cat recipe Cilantro Lime Rice.

Can I make this recipe gluten free?

Now this taco salad can essentially be gluten free as I am not making a tortilla shell. Also leave off your tortilla chips if they are made with flour.

This is my dad’s favorite way I make tacos. He has had to live gluten free for many years now, so he really enjoys taco salads.

Toppings for a taco salad:

Some of the best toppings for taco salad are shredded cheese, sour cream, and salsa. Sliced avocados or sliced fresh jalapenos would be very flavorful as well.

Make yourself a homemade Pico de Gallo or Guacamole or a Fiesta Ranch dressing if you want to get creative! I hope you enjoy and love this recipe as much as my family does.

Try some of my other favorite Taco recipes:

Taco Soup Recipe – My all-time favorite soup recipe that you are going to LOVE! Taco Soup is filled with all your taco favorites. 

Easy Taco Pasta – Seasoned with taco seasonings this Easy Taco Pasta Salad is the perfect summertime side dish. 

Taco Stuffed Shells – My all-time favorite stuffed shell recipe! Taco filling and topped with cheese you are going to love these easy Taco Stuffed Shells. 

If you tried any of my recipes, I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below. You can also connect with me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST. I would love for you to follow along and discover more amazing recipes.

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