Taco Tuesday just got a little more delicious with this kid approved Dorito Taco Salad recipe. Perfect for potlucks too!
Potlucks and summer bbqs are the perfect time to whip up a delicious salad. From our broccoli salad to our easy macaroni salad, we’ve got something everyone will love.
Why this Recipe Works
Where are my Doritos lovers? This easy taco salad recipe is for you.
A while back, I was tossing together a salad for lunch. We had some leftover ground beef to use up and I figured I’d put it in a bowl with some lettuce, tomato, onions, cheese and tortilla chips.
Except we were out of my favorite regular corn tortilla chips! All we had was a bag of Doritos. And thus began a new tradition of making Dorito Taco Salads for lunch! Much like our favorite walking tacos!
I’ve made Dorito Taco Salad on many occasions since then. My kids love it and it’s the ultimate easy meal I can throw together at a moment’s notice (especially if we already have cooked beef on hand).
This is a salad that doubles as a comfort food which means it’s a meal that makes everyone happy. You can change it up with different flavors of doritos, different kinds of dressings or even adding different vegetables to the mix. You can also try our delicious Doritos Casserole if you prefer!
With so many ways of customizing your taco salad to your family’s taste preferences, you almost can’t afford to NOT have this recipe in your mealtime tool box.
FAVORITE Tex Mex Recipes: 7 Layer Taco Dip | Carne Asada
Taco Salad Dressing
Any salad dressing you like on a taco salad will work well here!
Our family’s favorite is Catalina dressing but I’ve also made this with French dressing.
My friends who like ranch dressing have told me it’s delicious on this taco salad, too, although I haven’t personally tried it.
The Mexican seasoned ground beef brings so much flavor to the salad that you really only need a light coat of dressing to finish it!
What kind of Doritos to use in taco salad
I recommend the taco flavor Doritos for this taco salad recipe!
We’ve enjoyed it with the regular Nacho flavor chips as well. I can’t speak to the other flavors, like Sweet Chili or Cool Ranch, but if you try them in this recipe, let me know how it turns out!
No Doritos? Tortilla chips or Fritos work in a pinch. You could even use the santa fe tortilla strips that go on salads!
What you’ll need
{Ingredients at a glance; scroll down for the amounts I use!]
- Ground beef (lean)– use our easy slow cooker taco meat for today’s recipe.
- Taco seasoning
- Iceburg lettuce, chopped
- Roma tomatoes, diced
- Black olives, sliced
- Green onions, chopped
- Pinto beans (or black beans)
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Catalina or French salad dressing
- Dorito chips
Four Easy Steps
STEP 1. Brown the ground beef on the stove top and drain off excess fat. Stir in the taco seasoning mix.
STEP 2. Toss the ground beef with the lettuce, olives, onions, beans, tomatoes and cheese in a large bowl.
STEP 3. Toss salad with enough dressing to coat.
STEP 4. Add the Doritos right before serving!
Leftover Ground Beef
Like I mentioned before, I’ll often use leftover beef from tacos or nacho night for this recipe! I like the beef warmed up before adding it to the salad but cold beef works in a pinch, too.
Don’t have beef or prefer not to use it? You can also substitute ground turkey in this recipe!
Keep it meatless and skip the beef all together!
Tips for Taco Salad
- Wait to add the dressing and doritos until you’re about to serve the salad. That way the chips stay crunchy and the veggies don’t get soggy.
- If you’re packing this taco salad for a portable lunch, keep the dressing in a separate container or zip log bag. Then add it to the tupperware container of salad ingredients and shake to combine when you’re re ready to eat.
- Does everyone in your family have different tastes? Put all the ingredients out on the counter for a “Taco Salad Bar” and let everyone assemble their own bowl!
- Need a little more heat? Serve this salad with a side of salsa or hot sauce for sprinkling on top, or sliced jalapenos! You can also add a little extra chili powder or cayenne pepper to the beef along with the taco seasoning if you like.
- GARNISH. Feel free to top with sour cream, guacamole, and sliced black olives if desired!
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Dorito Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 1 head of iceburg lettuce chopped
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- ¼ cup sliced black olives
- ¼ cup green onions chopped
- 1 can pinto beans (or black beans), drained and rinsed 15 ounce
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup Catalina or French Dressing
- 2 cups Doritos we like taco flavored, but nacho works too
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Once no pink remains, drain off excess fat.
- Add the packet of taco seasoning to the beef and stir until fully coated. Set aside.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the chopped lettuce, tomatoes, olives, green onions, beans, cheese, and ground beef.
- When ready to serve, toss salad with dressing (just enough to coat), and add the Doritos. ENJOY.
Notes
- Wait to add the dressing and doritos until you’re about to serve the salad. That way the chips stay crunchy and the veggies don’t get soggy.
- If you’re packing this taco salad for a portable lunch, keep the dressing in a separate container or zip log bag. Then add it to the tupperware container of salad ingredients and shake to combine when you’re re ready to eat.
- Does everyone in your family have different tastes? Put all the ingredients out on the counter for a "Taco Salad Bar" and let everyone assemble their own bowl!
- Need a little more heat? Serve this salad with a side of salsa or hot sauce for sprinkling on top, or sliced jalapenos! You can also add a little extra chili powder or cayenne pepper to the beef along with the taco seasoning if you like.
- GARNISH. Feel free to top with sour cream, guacamole, and sliced black olives if desired!
Video
Nutrition
With cool fresh veggies, Mexican spices and crunchy cheesy chips in every bite, this Dorito Taco Salad gets rave reviews from everyone who tries it. Best of all, it comes together in no time at all and uses ingredients you already have in your fridge!
We love this salad. My hubby likes with black olives. So keep them separate and he adds as much as he wants. Make this about every other month.
This is great, for a low carb option we used Nacho Quest protein chips. Great easy dinner!
Is it good with cold Hamburg? Wondering if I should leave it out and heat before serving?
It’s good cold!
I like to mix taco seasoning with sour cream and use that as the dressing. Still get the taco seasoning flavor. Also, have been known to use homemade salsa as the dressing.
We made this for dinner tonight. It was amazing! Added ingredients we liked, black beans and corn, and left out things that are not favorites, like black olives.
This is a great summertime dinner as well! Very very good!
My daughter an grand children will love this an I can get red of some hamburger at the same time thank you