Taco Salad with Chipotle Ranch
Chopped romaine lettuce loaded with your favorite taco toppings and tossed in a homemade chipotle ranch dressing & crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips. Everything you love about tacos in a bowl!
Equipment
- Skillet
- Chipotle Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 # beef taco meat* see note below
- 6 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- 15 oz. can black beans drained & rinsed
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- ⅓ cup red onion chopped
- ½ cup black olives sliced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 avocado diced
- 3 cups crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips
Chipotle Ranch
- 1 batch Homemade Ranch Dressing see note below
- 1-3 Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce depending on spice preference
- ¼ cup cilantro
- juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Cook ground beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink, breaking into small pieces. Drain any excess grease.
- Add the taco seasoning* and stir well. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- While the meat is cooling, add the lettuce and the rest of the salad ingredients to a large bowl.
- When taco meat has cooled to room temperature, mix into the rest of the salad.
Chipotle Ranch Dressing
- Combine the ingredients for Homemade Ranch Dressing (recipe link below) along with chipotle peppers, cilantro and lime juice in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
- Mix the dressing into the taco salad and toss to coat well.
- Add crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips and mix well. Serve immediately.
Notes
Beef Taco Meat
- Using a packet of taco seasoning works great to make the taco meat for this salad. If you like to use your own, I love the Taco Seasoning recipe from Gimme Some Oven. I've used both options and they both work great.
- Ground turkey or even shredded chicken could be substituted for beef.
- The base for this dressing is my Homemade Ranch Dressing.
- The amount of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce added will depend on your spice preference. I would recommend adding them one at a time and tasting until you reach the perfect spice level. I'm not a huge fan of spicy and usually add 2.
