Taco Salad
A delicious alternative to Taco Tuesday in a big salad with lots of healthy veggies and toppings.
Ingredients
Meat Mixture
- 1 lb ground beef lean is best
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ½ can 540 ml black beans, rinsed and drained 540 ml or 18 oz can - use only half
- 1 jar taco sauce 215 ml or 7 oz, hot or mild
Taco Seasoning
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- pinch cayenne pepper optional, use more for more heat
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Salad
- warm taco or tortilla chips
- 2 heads Romaine lettuce
- 1 carrot, julienned or shredded
- ½ cucumber, sliced
- ½ sweet red pepper, sliced
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Toppings - use as many as you like
- cherry tomatoes, halved
- sliced black or Kalamata olives
- green onion, minced
- red onion, thinly sliced
- avocado slices
- fresh cilantro
- pickled jalapeno peppers
Taco Salad Dressing
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup salsa hot or mild
- 1 lime, quartered
Instructions
- Chop onion. Brown ground beef, breaking up larger pieces as it cooks. Add onion while cooking beef to use fat from beef instead of adding extra oil. Mince garlic and add to beef for the last few minutes.
- Add chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper (if using) and salt and pepper to the meat. Cook for a minute or so to ensure spices release their best flavours.
- Rinse and drain black beans. Add to meat mixture and heat through. Add taco sauce and stir to combine and heat meat mixture.
- Arrange taco or tortilla chips on a baking sheet and warm in oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes if desired.
- Prepare salad by shredding or cutting lettuce, carrots, cucumber and sweet red peppers. Prepare other desired toppings and arrange on a platter.
- To assemble salad, place a layer of chips on a large plate, add lettuce mixture and top with warm beef mixture. Add shredded cheese and desired toppings. Drop sour cream and salsa by spoonfuls over salad. Squeeze fresh lime over top.
Notes
The nutritional value is based on a large dinner sized salad with lean ground beef, 12 large restaurant style Tostitos and regular full fat sour cream and cheese.
Due to the variations in nutrition facts of the optional toppings, I have not included these in the calculations.
For a healthier version, use less beef, low fat cheese and sour cream and skip or reduce the amount of chips.
Nutrition
Calories: 852kcalCarbohydrates: 66.2gProtein: 48.7gFat: 45.6gSaturated Fat: 21.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 154.9mgSodium: 2156mgPotassium: 714.2mgFiber: 11.3gSugar: 7.2g
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