Taco salad
Warm, well-spiced beef and black beans over cold crunchy lettuce with cheddar, crushed chips and a creamy salsa dressing.
- 25 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.72 a serving
- 640 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup salsa
- ½ cup sour cream
- 8 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 2 cups tortilla chips, lightly crushed
- 1 avocado, diced (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¾ tsp salt
Each serving has about 640 calories, 39 g protein, 38 g carbs and 37 g fat, and costs about $3.72 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No romaine lettuce? Green leaf lettuce or iceberg lettuce or butter lettuce works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No avocados? Guacamole works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat a large over medium-high. Add the beef and break it into small with a wooden spoon.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Medium-high heat
Cook 7 to 8 minutes, now and then, until with no pink left anywhere.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: If there is a pool of fat, tilt the pan and spoon most of it into a mug to throw away later. Never pour it down the sink.Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Turn the heat to medium, sprinkle in the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano and salt, and for 1 minute .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
in the tomato paste, beans and ½ cup water and let it bubble 3 to 4 minutes, until it looks saucy but not wet.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
the salsa and sour cream together in a small bowl to make the dressing.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Divide the lettuce and tomatoes between 4 bowls and spoon the warm beef on top.
Top with the cheddar, crushed chips and avocado, and with the dressing.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Packing it for lunch? Keep the beef in one container to warm up, and the lettuce, chips and dressing separate so nothing wilts or goes soft.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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30-minute dinners ›High-protein dinners ›What to make with black beans and avocados ›What to make with ground beef and cheddar ›What to make with lettuce and tomatoes ›