The best Healthy Taco Salad Recipe! This low carb taco salad is easy to make and Is covered in the most delicious taco dressing! This post is sponsored by my friends at ButcherBox.
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This healthy taco salad is one of our favorite quick and easy meals.
We have this at least once a week for dinner because it comes together in less than 30 minutes, it’s packed with protein and veggies, and it just tastes sooo good!
Some people think salads are boring, but I’m here to tell you they don’t have to be! We’ve got a ton of healthy salads like our Italian Chopped Salad to Blueberry Salad, but this taco salad really is one of my favorites!
The creamy taco dressing on top really brings it all together for a flavorful meal that leaves you satisfied!
This is one of my favorite weeknight dinners and I think you’ll love it too!
Why you’ll love this Low Carb Taco Salad
There is a lot to love about this salad. It’s one of our favorite for a healthy dinner because it’s:
- Easy to make– To make this salad you just have to chop veggies & brown ground beef – doesn’t get easier than that!
- Doesn’t use a ton of dishes – You’ll only need a cutting board, a pan, and a blender if you choose to make the dressing (a whisk will also work!)
- Lower carb and veggie loaded- I could eat tacos every night of the week, but sometimes I like to have a lower carb meal and I’m always looking for ways to get in extra veggies!
Healthy Taco Salad Ingredients
To make this healthy taco salad you’ll need:
- olive oil
- ground beef
- romaine lettuce
- toppings: tomatoes, olives, cheddar cheese, avocado, onion, beans
- greek yogurt
- jarred salsa
- garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and lime juice
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box. This tool is also helpful for breaking up ground meat when you cook it!
We used our favorite ButcherBox Ground Beef in this recipe. We’ve been ButcherBox members for over 5 years, and it makes our life so much easier!
ButcherBox delivers high quality meat to your door. Their beef is grass fed and grass finished! They also have organic, free range chicken and wild caught seafood.
For the next 2 weeks ButcherBox is giving my readers a special deal of free ground beef and $10 off!
Buying high quality meat at the grocery store can get really expensive, really quickly! ButcherBox saves us money and tons of time by being able to skip the store!
If you’ve ever thought of trying ButcherBox, check out this ButcherBox Review where I talk about why we highly recommend it!
How to make Taco Salad
Making taco salad is so easy!
- First, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and cooked ground meat for 10-12 minutes until browned.
- Once the meat has cooked, stir in your taco seasoning and water. Stir to coat the meat in seasonings.
- While the ground meat cooks, prep the dressing.
- Combine the dressing ingredients in a food processor or small blender. Blend until smooth.
- Assemble the salads. Chop romaine and vegetables. Evenly divide the toppings across 2 salads.
- Top the salads with cooked taco meat and dressing. Enjoy!
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR THIS TACO SALAD
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil, butter, or ghee.
Ground Beef: We like 85/15 or 80/20 ground beef. Feel free to use leaner ground beef depending on what you like. To make vegetarian you can use cooked lentils or a ground beef substitute. You’ll need to adjust your cooking time. I haven’t tried making this with ground turkey or ground chicken but I think it would work fine!
Taco Seasoning: We like to make our own taco seasoning. It’s easy to make and lower in salt. This is our favorite premade taco seasoning.
Tomatoes: You can use any type of tomatoes in this recipe.
Olives, Avocado, Onion: Feel free to skip any of these toppings if you don’t like them!
Beans: You can skip the beans or use pinto or kidney beans in place of black beans.
Dressing: The dressing is optional on this recipe but it’s really delicious! You could try this Healthy Avocado Ranch Dressing instead or buy a chipotle ranch dressing.
To Make it Lower Carb: Skip the beans if you want to make this a keto taco salad.
To Make it Lower Calorie: Skip the avocado and olives, these are higher in calories/fat. Add more tomatoes.
What to serve with this recipe for Taco Salad
This taco salad is a complete meal on its own! Here are some other things that would pair well with it.
- If you love tacos, check out this Taco Soup Recipe or these Taco Potatoes
- for more protein you can top with Garlic Lime Flank Steak or Chili Lime Shrimp or Salsa Verde Chicken
- other topping ideas: tortilla chips, Pineapple Mango Salsa or your favorite jarred salsa!
We’ve linked more of our favorite taco-inspired recipes below.
How to store Healthy Taco Salad
Storing: This will last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Pro Tip: If you want this to stay fresher for longer, you can place a paper towel in between the lettuce/toppings to absorb moisture and remove before eating!
Freezing: You can freeze cooked taco meat for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
Low Carb Taco Salad FAQs
You can top a taco salad with whatever you like! Tortilla chips, cheese, tomatoes, olives, onion and beans are all great options for topping a taco salad, but you can really use any taco toppings you like.
The best dressing for taco salad is a taco dressing made of salsa, greek yogurt and spices. You can also make a lime vinaigrette or chipotle dressing that would be delicious.
The carbs in taco salad vary, but this taco salad has 26g of carbs in it. You can make a lower carb taco salad by skipping the beans.
Other healthy taco recipes:
Looking for other easy meals? Check out these Quick Healthy Dinner Recipes! Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
Don’t forget, ButcherBox is giving my readers 2 lbs of free ground beef and $10 off!
Taco Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the salad:
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 ½ tablespoons taco seasoning
- ¼ cup water
- 8 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup black olives halved
- ½ cup cheddar cheese
- ½ cup cubed avocado
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- ½ cup black beans
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons jarred salsa
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon lime juice juice of half of a lime
Instructions
- Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and heat for one minute. Add ground meat and cook for 12-15 minutes until browned. We love this tool for breaking up ground meat!
- Once the meat has cooked, stir in your taco seasoning and water. Stir to coat the meat in seasonings.
- While the ground meat cooks, prep the dressing.
- Combine the dressing ingredients in a food processor or small blender. Blend until smooth.
- Assemble the salads. Chop romaine and vegetables. Evenly divide the toppings across 2 salads.
- Top the salads with cooked taco meat and dressing. Enjoy!
Ashley says
SO GOOD!!! Made this for dinner for a couple nights this week–stored the dressing and meat separate from the salad and it stores super well!
We love this recipe and will be adding it to our regular rotation!