Need an easy main dish salad for dinner or a potluck? Try this easy Doritos Taco Salad recipe that’s ready in about 20 minutes.
With ground beef, lettuce, all the taco fixings, and a tangy Catalina dressing, it always gets rave reviews!
Taco Salad with Doritos – A perfect family salad!
When it’s sweltering outside, main dish salads are a must. If your family likes Tex Mex flavors as much as mine does, you’ve got to try it.
I’d had it at several potlucks, and always ended up going back for seconds. It really is so tasty!
Ranch is the only dressing my kids will eat, so when they saw that I was adding catalina, they were all very sceptical. My youngest daughter was hesitant to even taste it.
But after one bite, they were all hooked! And the youngest- she ended up going back for seconds. That’s a definite win in my book. 🙂
HOW TO MAKE DORITO TACO SALAD
- PREP – Wash all of the produce. I like to run my lettuce through a salad spinner.
- TACO MEAT – Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium high heat. Drain off the fat, then add the taco seasoning and the water. Turn heat to low, then simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- CHOP – While the meat is simmering, chop the lettuce, tomatoes, red pepper, avocado, and green onions. Grate the cheese.
- ASSEMBLE – In a large serving bowl, toss the lettuce with all the vegetables, the cheese, beans, and olives.
- SERVE – Right before serving, stir in the seasoned ground beef, dressing, and broken Doritos.
Can I make this taco salad ahead of time?
This salad is definitely best served fresh; it can’t be assembled ahead of time. As it sits in the fridge, the chips get soggy and the lettuce wilts. If you think you won’t finish it in one sitting, I recommend only adding the meat and chips to the portion that you will be eating.
You can however, do some prep work a day or two before. Make the meat mixture, as well as chopping all of the ingredients except for the avocado. Store them separately in the refrigerator for up to two days.
When you are ready to serve, heat the meat mixture, then toss all the ingredients together. No one will ever know! 😉
VARIATIONS:
- We like this salad with Cool Ranch Doritos, but you can use the traditional nacho cheese flavor Doritos, or even plain tortilla chips or Fritos.
- Instead of using catalina dressing, you can use French dressing. My family thought 3/4 of a cup of dressing was perfect, but you can add more if you really love dressing.
- A cup or two of corn is a tasty addition. You can use frozen corn, thawed, or canned corn, drained.
- Instead of kidney beans, you can use pinto beans or black beans.
- Iceberg lettuce is great for this salad because it’s nice and crisp, but you can use romaine or leafy green lettuce instead.
- Sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo can be served on the side as garnishes.
MORE MAIN DISH SALADS:
- Cheeseburger Salad
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
- Cold Chicken Pasta Salad with Grapes
- Chinese Cabbage Chicken Salad
- Bruschetta Chicken Pasta Salad
- BBQ Chicken Salad
- Asian Chicken Pasta Salad
DORITOS TACO SALAD RECIPE
Dorito Taco Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ¼ cup taco seasoning or a packet of taco seasoning
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 head iceberg lettuce chopped (about 14 cups)
- 1 2.5 oz can sliced black olives
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 avocado diced
- 2 green onions sliced
- 3 ounces cheddar cheese shredded (1 – 1 1/2 cups)
- ¾ cup Catalina dressing
- 2 ounces Doritos broken in pieces (we like Cool Ranch)
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook the ground beef over medium high heat until it is completely browned. Drain off any fat.
- Add the taco seasoning and water to the meat. Turn heat to low, and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- While the meat is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Rinse and shred the lettuce. (I like to run it through a salad spinner.) Rinse and chop the tomatoes, red pepper, avocado, and green onions.
- In a large bowl, toss the lettuce with the vegetables, beans, olives, and cheese.
- Right before serving, stir in the dressing and broken Doritos. Serve immediately.
- If desired, you can serve sour cream, guacamole, and additional Doritos on the side.
Notes
- You can use romaine lettuce, leafy green lettuce, or really any type you like. Feel free to switch out any of the other toppings as well. This salad is versatile!
- If you think you will have leftovers, just let people add their own toppings. Store the leftover meat, vegetables, lettuce, and other ingredients in separate airtight containers in the fridge. When ready to serve, just heat up the meat.
Nutrition
Trust me, taco salad with catalina dressing and doritos is a flavor explosion in every bite! If you make it, leave a comment and let me know how you like it. 🙂
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This recipe is so delicious. So much flavor and my whole family loved it.
Glad it was a hit at your house as much as it is at mine!
This is one of the easiest! Doritos tacos is definitely a must try! Tried it after my brother’s game day and it was a hit! It is incredibly tasty and satisfying!
I have just recently tried tacos and liked it allot. I am definitely a foodie person and I love trying new recipes or adding an extra spice to already go to recipes so, I would love to give this recipe a try and from the looks of it, it’s gone be worth a try.
I always love to meet a new foodie! I hope you love this salad, it really is delicious, and so easy!