This Make Ahead Taco Salad recipe first appeared on Organized Island 4 years ago. It is amazing how fast the time has gone by. I have since changed up the recipe a bit so today I present the new and improved Make Ahead Taco Salad recipe. With busy schedules, I love making this the day before we have it. Hope you enjoy!
Make Ahead Taco Salad
Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg Taco seasoning (any brand)
1 head of lettuce, shredded
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 small can kidney beans (rinsed & drained)
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1 tomato, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 bottle Catalina salad dressing (any brand)
1 bag Corn or tortilla chips
Directions:
Cook ground beef in a frying pan over low-medium heat until brown. Add taco seasoning mix packet, but do not add any liquid. While beef is cooking, combine shredded lettuce, onion ,beans, avocado, tomato and cheese in a bowl. Add ground beef to the mixture. If you are going to serve this Taco Salad the next day or later today, cover the bowl and refrigerate until serving time.
When ready to serve, add salad dressing (I use about 1/2 of a bottle, but you can add more if you like). You can also use a light Catalina dressing and it is really good. The sweetness of the dressing is a nice offset to the mild spices in the meat seasoning. This taco salad with Catalina dressing recipe is a great salad to take to barbeques and picnics. It is crisp and refreshing and a wonderful way to use vegetables from the farmers’ market.
This recipe serves 6-8.
This taco salad can also be made using black beans instead of pinto beans, it just depends on your family’s tastes.
Serve with tortilla chips or corn chips and enjoy! What is your favorite salad for dinner?
I used to make something like this all the time! Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks for joining the CHQ Blog Hop last week! We hope you’ve found some fun new blogs to follow!!
xo, Meredith @ http://www.waittilyourfathergetshome.com
your salad looks so colorful and delicious xD
Thank you for your sweet comment!
Looks yummy, followed you over from comment let on Call Me PMc, Tailgating. following on facebook.
Thanks Paula! Following you too 🙂
I love this make ahead idea, Raquel! My oldest love Taco salad and I can actually make it for his school lunch 🙂
Yes, it is a great packable salad! Thanks for your comment Bibi!
Looks fantastic!! I love Taco Salad :o)
Thanks for joining Keep Calm & Link Up last week! We hope to see you again this Thursday evening! xo, Meredith @ http://www.waittilyourfathergetshome.com
I’ll be there Meredith!
I love Catalina dressing! That’s & a salsa ranch make the best dressings for taco salads! Now, I want your salad!
Thanks for sharing this at MTM Mondays!
Thanks Jaime!
Mm…kidney beans! And catalina dressing! Our school lunch used to have a hot taco salad day and it was a hit, apparently. In my homeroom classroom, someone used to make a countdown to it! They called it Countdown to HTSD. (Hot Taco Salad Day) ha!
And since the cafeteria served it once a month, there was always a countdown for like.. 30 days.
And on the exact day, it would say “Happy HTSD!”
(I swear I didn’t expect that story to be so long)
That is such a cool story Tamara! Our cafeteria food was so blah but sounds like yours was great!
You had me sold at “make ahead”. That taco salad looks so good 🙂
Thank you Ashley!