This healthy Taco Salad recipe will be on the table in less than 30 minutes! It has a crispy tortilla bowl filled with seasoned ground beef, lettuce, beans, corn, and all of your favorite toppings!
Looking for more 30 minute meals? Try these Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas, Salmon Bowls, or Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps!
Why I love this recipe:
- Quick – This taco salad bowl is ready in under 30 minutes and can be fully prepped in advance.
- Customizable – Everyone gets to pile on their favorite toppings, making it a meal everyone will enjoy. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to use up the veggies in the fridge.
- Healthy – This meal is high in protein, veggies, and flavor. It really is the best taco salad recipe.
Ingredients:
- Taco Meat: Lean ground beef, or ground turkey seasoned with store-bought or homemade taco seasoning. We also like to add black beans and corn to the taco meat.
- Lettuce: Romaine, iceberg or other green leafy lettuce.
- Toppings: Use what you have and what you like including: tomatoes, olives, avocado, cheese, onion, and cilantro.
- Dressing: Add a big scoop of salsa, sour cream and guacamole on top of your taco salad and that’s all the dressing you’ll need! You could also use ranch, or Italian dressing.
- Flour tortillas or tortilla chips: I like to make my own baked taco salad shells with flour tortillas (see instructions below), but store bought bowls or tortilla chips also work. If you make taco salad often, these baking molds are fun to make perfect shaped shells from any size tortilla.
How to Make Taco Salad:
Prep Ingredients: Brown the ground beef in a skillet then remove grease and add taco seasoning. Stir in the black beans and corn. Chop lettuce and tomatoes then shred cheese, set aside.
Assemble: Place each tortilla bowl on a plate or in a shallow bowl; add a handful of romaine lettuce; add meat mixture; add veggies; sprinkle with cheese; add a dollop each of sour cream, salsa, guacamole then a sprinkle of cilantro.
Serve homemade taco salad with horchata, or an ice cold lemonade. For dessert, try my sopaipillas, Tres Leches Cake, or fresas con Crema (strawberries and cream).
Homemade Baked Tortilla Bowls:
Prep: Brush a thin layer of canola or vegetable oil on both sides of 8” flour tortillas. Place a 4’’ ramekin or similar size oven-safe bowl, face down, on a cookie sheet. Lay a tortilla over it. Place a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil on top of the tortilla and press down, scrunching the foil and tortilla around the ramekin until it’s shaped like a tortilla bowl (think basket-style coffee filter). Now flip the whole thing over so it’s open end up. Repeat for however many tortilla bowls you’re going to need (and an extra or two in case one breaks!).
Bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 5 minutes. Take cookie sheet out of oven, use tongs to carefully remove each ramekin and then return the tray to the oven to cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven, carefully lift each shell out of the foil then place bottom up, foil down on the cookie sheet. Gently secure the rim of the tortilla inside the foil so it doesn’t burn. Return to oven to cook for 7-10 more minutes or until crisp and golden.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The taco meat and tortilla shells can be prepped a day or two in advance, stored separately. Reheat the meat mixture in the microwave or in a skillet. All of the veggies and toppings can be chopped and ready, just keep them in separate containers in the fridge.
To Freeze: Allow meat mixture to cool completely then store in freezer safe bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
Recipe Variations:
- Vegetarian: replace meat with cooked, crumbled tofu, or add additional beans or sautéed veggies.
- Vegan: Substitute vegan cheese and crumbled tofu.
- Keto/low-carb: Skip the shell and try out this keto / gluten-free Tortilla bowls recipe.
- Make Walking Tacos: Scoop the taco meat into a bag of fritos chips, and add your favorite toppings.
- Taco Salad Bar: If you are serving to a crowd or if everyone has different preferences, set up a build your own taco salad bar!
- Chicken Taco Salad: Instead of the ground beef, use this chicken taco meat!
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Recipe
Taco Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef , or ground turkey
- 2 Tablespoons Taco seasoning , or 1 packet
- ½ cup water
- 1 can black beans , drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn (canned or frozen)
- 1 head romaine lettuce , chopped
- 6 (8 inch) flour tortillas , or 1 bag tortilla chips
Topping options:
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes , halved
- ½ cup Sliced Olives
- ½ cup shredded cheese
- ¼ cup chopped red or green onion
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- Salsa
- Sour Cream
- Guacamole , or chopped avocado
Instructions
- Meat Mixture: Add ground beef to a skillet over medium heat. Cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon into small pieces, until cooked through. Remove grease. Add taco seasoning and water and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in black beans and corn.
- Assemble: Add baked tortilla shell (recipe follows) or tortilla chips to the bottom of a shallow bowl. Top with a handful of lettuce, then taco meat and desired toppings. Add salsa, sour cream and guacamole (or avocado) on top.
Optional Baked Tortilla Bowls:
- Brush a thin layer of canola or vegetable oil on both sides of 8” flour tortillas. Place a 4’’ ramekin or similar size oven-safe bowl, face down, on a cookie sheet. Lay a tortilla over it. Place a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil on top of the tortilla and press down, scrunching the foil and tortilla around the ramekin until it’s shaped like a tortilla bowl (think basket-style coffee filter).
- Now flip the whole thing over so it’s open end up. Repeat for however many tortilla bowls you’re going to need (and an extra or two in case one breaks!).
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 5 minutes. Take cookie sheet out of oven, use tongs to carefully remove each ramekin and then return the tray to the oven to cook for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from oven, carefully lift each shell out of the foil and place bottom up, foil down on the cookie sheet. Gently secure the rim of the tortilla inside the foil so it doesn't burn. Return to oven to cook for 7-10 more minutes or until crisp and golden.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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This post was originally published on June 2020. Updated January 2022 and January 2024.
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What another big win for Lauren, this recipe was amazing, quick delicious and such a family friendly meal. This is really a meal you can modify and really make your own, you can add whatever veggies are in your fridge and a great recipe to use up all the “left over” in the fridge that we all have. Another great recipe.
A really good combination of flavors. No guessing about spices if you follow the recipe. I added Mexican blend cheese, sour cream, mild temp salsa and fresh tomatoes. Liked it very much.
We had it more like a salad in a bowl some taco chips but skipped tortilla.
It’s a fast yummy recipe. Thanks
My husband and I were craving taco salad. We really liked this recipe! Instead of the tortilla bowls, we crushed some tortilla chips over the salad. So good! Thank you for sharing 🙂 We’ll be making this again in the future, for sure!
Can’t thank you enough for changing my family’s dinners. Your recipes are wonderful.
We can’t thank you enough for the support!
This salad was delicious and filling. I especially loved the dressing and the the spices on the turkey. I have mad ethos twice in one week because it was so good. I highly recommend it! 🙂
Can you make these taco shells in advance or must they be eaten immediately?
Sure! You may want to rewarm/toast them before serving.
We have loved every recipe we have tried from Taste Better From Scratch!!! This one gave us a unique variant from tacos adding corn and black beans which also helps our kids learn to expand their food choices:)
We used an air fryer to make the taco bowl, excellent recipe, thank you.
This was a win-win! A win because these are easy and delicious, and a win because it was a fun way to get my kids involved with dinner prep (they loved making and molding the shells). This was a great new addition to our already regular taco nights.