This Dorito Taco Salad is the perfect quick and easy, veggie-packed dinner! It's made with a fresh, crisp romaine, topped with ground beef, black beans, tomato, corn, red pepper, and shredded cheese, then finished out with nacho Doritos and Catalina dressing!
1packagetaco seasoning(or see simple taco seasoning in post)
1tomato(chopped or ½ cup canned, diced, drained)
1head romaine lettuce(or another variety)
1cupsweet canned corn(drained)
1cupshredded cheddar cheese
½red pepper*(finely chopped)
¾cupcatalina dressing
2cupsnacho flavor Doritos(broken - about 80 grams)
optional: jalapenos, sour cream, cilantro, salsa, red onion, green onions, lime wedges, pico de gallo, black olives, etc, for topping.
Instructions
Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain grease if necessary (using paper towels to soak it up works great!) and stir in beans and taco seasoning. Remove from the heat to cool.
Cut the tomato and squeeze out excess liquid -- this keeps the salad from getting soggy.
In a large salad bowl, combine lettuce, tomato, corn, cheese and pepper. Top with cooled ground beef.
Stir in dressing and top with Doritos or, if making ahead, leave dressing and Doritos off and allow everyone to add their own before eating.
Notes
Tips:
If you prefer your pepper softened, you can add it to the ground beef to cook.
To prep ahead, prepare the taco meat, slice the veggies and shred the cheese. Then have everyone assemble their own so that all the ingredients stay fresh.
Substitutions:
You can swap the ground beef for pork, chicken, turkey, shredded chicken breast, or a meatless variety.
You can leave out or add more of any of the ingredients and toppings listed above -- you do you! I've listed more great salad add ins in the recipe ingredients.
Storage:Once the taco salad is fully assembled, I do recommend serving it right away so the lettuce is nice and fresh and the Doritos are nice and crispy.However, different taco salad components can be prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge. First, the beef/bean mixture will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can serve it cold or reheat it with a drizzle of oil in a skillet. This is perfect for meal prep! Second, the tomato and pepper can be chopped and stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.