It didn’t really occur to me to share this recipe with you. I’ve been making some version of taco salad for over 10 years now and its a staple family favourite. I guess I figured, everyone knows how to make taco salad, right? Well the more I thought about it, I have collected quite a few handy tricks to make this the perfect taco salad (in my opinion), so I figured it really was worth the share after all.
My first innovations started with ditching the taco seasoning packet. Not only are they expensive, they’re often loaded with sodium (way more than you need), MSG, artificial flavours & colours, and other unnecessary chemicals. Now, I’m sure there are some cleaner options on the market by now, but once I figured out what spices to combine to make my own taco seasoning, I never looked back! No more need to go buy a special packet every time I want to make taco salad, I’ve always got the spices I need on hand, at a fraction of the price, and I know exactly what I’m consuming. If it is worth it to you to spend a little extra and have the convenience of a spice mix, by all means go ahead and do so! Just be careful to read the label and look for varieties that are gluten and MSG free, with ingredient names you know and understand. If you’ve been around here with me on the blog since I started, you may notice that the seasoning blend I use on the meat is pretty much exactly the same as in my Ground Turkey Nourish Bowl recipe – and you are correct! It’s a versatile blend of spices and liquid flavours that is slightly smokey, with a bit of a kick but nothing my spice wimp family can’t handle, and a really nice depth of flavour. We all love it! If you like your taco meat to have a thicker sauce, like the spice mix packets, you can always add a tbsp or two of cornstarch or arrowroot powder whisked into some water to thicken it, but I find after simmering and reducing the sauce it’s perfect just the way it is. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t add that I always double my beef recipe so I can freeze half for later – so handy to have on hand for a quick meal either again for taco salad, or for nourish bowls, taco soup, burritos, enchiladas, you name it!!
Homemade guacamole is another game changer. I still remember the first time I attempted making guacamole just after my husband and I got married. My cooking experience was extremely limited, but I was gung-ho to try some recipes and unleash my inner chef. I meticulously acquired each ingredient and followed the recipe to a ‘T’. However, I had never even handled a real avocado before and had no clue about ripeness and all that jazz. I remember dangerously fighting with this rock hard vegetable? fruit? object of wrath? just trying to cut it, let alone pit, scoop, and chop it. After haphazardly extracting what I could (much sweat/frustration/anger later), I threw it in my food processor with the other ingredients and hoped for the best. Ugh, it was revolting. Bitter, with rock hard unripe avocado lumps littered throughout. I figured I must not like avocados?
Avocado purchasing and storing tips:
Ahhhhh, we all start somewhere, right?! In case you are at the very beginning of your cooking journey, let me advise you that avocados (a fruit!), need to be ripe before using! You should be able to make a slight indent in the skin with your thumb when squeezing it whole, but it should not be so mushy that it just squeezes with no effort (over ripe). The inside should be a nice light green colour without brown spots (I’ll scoop around it if there’s just a bit, but if there is a lot of brown, you won’t want to use it). When I buy avocados from the store, I look for them to be just under ripe – firm with a faint bit of give. I’ll leave them on the counter for a day or two until perfectly ripe and then store in the fridge where they’ll stay ripe for at least a few more days. However, avocados are temperamental beings so I suggest buying them with a plan to use them in the next few days! The flesh browns quickly once exposed to air. To keep it from browning, you want to keep it tightly wrapped with plastic wrap and no air bubbles between. Keeping the pit in a half of unused avocado will also help keep it from browning. You can also throw an avocado pit into a bowl of leftover guacamole before covering with plastic wrap and this will also help keep it from browning (a tip I learned from a Mexican home cook when we travelled to a remote area there on a Mission’s Trip years ago, so you know its legit!).
Ingredient swaps and substitutions:
You’ll notice my guacamole recipe calls for green onions, where as most recipes will call for regular onion. I find that raw onion irritates my stomach, so switching out to green onions makes it much more tolerable for me. Feel free to use regular raw onion if it does not bother your stomach! You could even add a bit of onion powder if you can’t tolerate regular or green onions at all. Also, you should know that I often make this guacamole with a few missing ingredients if I don’t have everything on hand. This time I only had avocado, tomato, garlic, lime, red chili flakes, and salt and pepper. It was still delicious! I would say the absolute bare essentials are avocado and lime and then your pantry ingredients – salt, pepper, red chili flakes. But the other ingredients really do round it out nicely, so I definitely use them when I can! Once I figured out using ripe avocado’s, I’ve always found a potato masher to be the best tool to mix my guacamole. It gives a nice creamy texture, but doesn’t puree the vegetables to a pulp like a food processor will. My absolute favourite potato masher is this one from Ikea. I love the nice long handle and sturdy, fuss free design. There’s just enough of a wavy pattern to mash everything effectively without having tiny spaces that collect food and are hard to clean!
Roasted peppers are a delicious addition to taco salad and a great way to pack in some extra vegetables. You can make them in the oven or stovetop, whatever you prefer! If peppers are the one ingredient you don’t have on hand, by all means skip them! They are not essential. You could add other additions like beans or corn if you like!
Chips are a very important component (and a great way to get kids interested in eating the plethora of other veggies you’ll be offering with this meal!). I get the giant bags from Costco to feed my giant family at a reasonable price. My favourite variety is the Que Pasa Salted Tortilla Chips, and a close second is the Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips. They are both gluten free with good crunch and just the right amount of salt (am I the only one that finds the regular varieties at the grocery store WAY too salty?!)!
For the salad components you should go with whatever ingredients you and your family prefer. We like romaine, but iceberg lettuce or any leafy green would work also. Tomatoes are a go-to for us, but you can use whatever veggies you like. Radish is a nice addition! I never want my recipes to feel taxing or exclusive – know that I make all sorts of substitutions frequently depending on what I feel like and what I have on hand, and you should feel free to do so as well! Serving the components family style leaves room for your pickier eaters to try small exposures of the different toppings without having to commit to a large portion. It’s also handy to customize where you want to ‘spend’ your calories. For me, guac is life, so I’ll happily skip or skimp on the cheese (or sub nutritional yeast!) and use just a handful of chips so as to not go completely overboard on my calorie count. I load up on greens and veggies to bulk up my plate! I honestly don’t notice a difference and I don’t leave the table feeling like my stomach could explode – always a bonus ;)!
So I would LOVE to know how you like your taco salad?! Leave me a description of how you layer up your plate in the comments below and let me know what you thought of the recipe if you tried it! It’s a very personal decision, I can tell by the way each member of my family has their own very specific order and ingredient preferences. 🙂 Talk to you soon!
Taco Salad with Guacamole
Ingredients
Taco Beef:
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef ground turkey works well also
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika (smoked works nicely here)
- 1/2 tsp seasoning salt I like Lawry's (no MSG)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce gluten free if necessary
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos liquid aminos or soy sauce work also
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Roasted peppers:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large bell peppers, seeded and sliced any colour
- 2 cloves garilc, minced
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Guacamole:
- 4-5 ripe avocados (4 large or 5 small), pitted, flesh scooped out and roughly chopped
- 1-2 tomatoes (1 large or 2 small), finely diced
- 2-3 green onions, chopped or sub 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 limes, juice of
- 1 jalapeno, finely diced or sub 1/4-1/2 tsp red chili flakes
- handful fresh cilantro, chopped optional
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Salad components:
- 1 romaine heart, washed and chopped
- 1 cup grated aged cheddar or Monterey jack cheese sub nutritional yeast or use dairy free cheese if necessary
- 1-2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1-2 limes, quartered optional
- salsa and/or sour cream optional, use dairy free sour cream if necessary
- corn tortilla chips certified gluten free
Instructions
Guacamole:
- I like to prepare this first so the flavours have a change to marry in the fridge while I make supper. Add all ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mash using a potato masher until the avocado is smooth and combined with the other ingredients.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Add more lime for more tartness, more chili flakes for heat, or more salt for flavour. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. To keep leftovers from browning, press plastic wrap right against the surface of the guacamole and press out any air all around and up the sides of the dish.
Taco Beef:
- In a large skillet over medium low heat, brown the beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go. Add onion when beef is about halfway done and cook until there is no longer any pink in the meat and the onion is translucent. Drain grease if necessary (I never do because my beef is lean and there is never excess in the pan).
- Add the dried spices and minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, coconut aminos, and maple syrup. Reduce heat to low and simmer until there is only a tbsp or two of liquid left in the pan, 5-10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Add more salt or cumin for depth of flavour, more chilli powder for heat, more Worcestershire sauce for tanginess, more maple syrup for sweetness, etc.
Roasted Peppers:
- Meanwhile, prepare roasted peppers. For stovetop, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add peppers to hot pan and saute until slightly softened and taking on colour, about 5 minuters. Add minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly so as to not burn garlic. Remove from heat. Cover until ready to serve.
- For oven roasting – preheat oven to 425F. Toss peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic. Spread in an even layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast for 25-35 minutes, until peppers are softened and browned.
Salad components:
- Wash and chop vegetables, grate cheese, etc. This can all be done ahead and stored in airtight containers in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Serve family style, allowing everyone to assemble their salads as they like. My personal preference for order of assembly is: lettuce, tomato, crushed tortilla chips, taco beef, roasted peppers, cheese, and guacamole to top it off, with a lime wedge for squeezing.
Products Used In This Post:
This post includes affiliate links, meaning I made a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you decide to click through the links and purchase anything. These are my honest opinions and I would never recommend anything to you I didn’t absolutely love and use on a regular basis. Hope you find these lists helpful!
Lodge 12-inch Cast Iron Pan – My everyday go to, most used pan. I keep it on the stovetop because I use it so often there is no point in putting it away. I keep it nicely oiled and it is better than any non-stick pan I’ve ever had. It gives the best sear and I am happy knowing there are no weird chemicals or coating potentially going into our family’s food. The size is perfect for our large family. This is probably my number one staple piece of equipment in the kitchen.
Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce – Worcestershire sauce is a staple ingredient for me for adding flavour to all sorts of soups, sauces, and meat dishes. I didn’t even realizes that the brand I was using had gluten in it, but thankfully gluten free Worcestershire sauce is readily available! Look for the ingredients to list “distilled vinegar” rather than “malt vinegar” to ensure it is gluten free, like this one from French’s.
Organic Better Than Bouillon Beef Base – This is super handy to have on hand for small amounts of broth, especially beef broth which I make far less of than chicken broth due to not having many beef bones on hand. The organic version has less sodium than the original, and I prefer it by far to the regular version!
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