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This taco salad will beat the heat on hot days. Very easy to make.
Calling All Taco Lovers
If you love tacos and want a nice easy salad that’s practically fuss-free this recipe is for you.
It’s got all the major ingredients–and any others you want to throw into the mix–that will definitely satisfy all your taco lovers.
There’s plenty of flavor in the ground beef and it contains an ingredient some may consider a bit unusual, but it works well here.
I think I improved on the original recipe by using more exotic chili powders. However, you don’t have to do that. The least-expensive one will do just fine.
Double Duty?
Can this dish serve a double purpose? The answer is, “Yes it can!”
Not only is this a nice light supper on hot days, but I think it’s a pretty nifty appetizer too!
You can put this out as part of a buffet for any party and I’m sure it will be well received. I mean, who doesn’t like tacos, right? It looks like a dip but your guests will need plates for this.
Another good thing about this taco salad is that you can use up all those broken tortilla chips you always are left with
Chili Powder
One thing I want to mention here is the chili powder.
The original recipe I mentioned in the first paragraph used the most common variety. That’s fine and will work quite well.
However, I recently bought some more interesting varieties so I mixed them together in equal parts. I used ancho chili powder and chipotle chili powder. Since I’m quite fond of the smokiness of chipotle, I appreciated the flavor immensely.
Now, ancho chili powder is a bit on the hotter side. That seemed to blend very well with the chipotle, but if you’re serving people where you’re not entirely sure of their fondness for heat, I’d advise not using ancho. It’s always best to play it safe when you’re feeding a crowd of people.
Now, a final word on heat–I used fresh jalapeño peppers and left the seeds. For less heat, toss the seeds (and some of the internal ribs) for something milder, or use the original’s canned and pickled variety.
The Recipe
Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup California-style French dressing Catalina
- 1 tbs chili powder
- 1 tbs ancho chili powder
- 8 cups iceberg lettuce torn in small pieces
- 2 cups tortilla chips broken up
- 5-6 cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1 fresh jalapeno pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 1 avocado diced
- 1 cup Mexican-blend shredded cheese
Instructions
- Brown ground beef; drain. Stir in the salad dressing, garlic powder and the chili powders; set aside.
- Spread lettuce over a large platter. Top with the broken tortilla chips.
- Place ground beef mixture on top of the lettuce/chips.
- Top with remaining ingredients.
