Taco Salad Recipe

There is nothing special about this taco salad. It’s basic and you can alter it to your tastes and preferences, but what it IS is an excellent vehicle to carry this simply addictive cilantro-ranch Chuy’s Dip ! My photo actually shows a sour-cream/salsa dressing I prefer on mine, but my husband and rest of the fam prefer the Chuys Dip on theirs. Feel free to add avocado, broken Doritos or tortilla strips, red onion, roasted corn or anything else you like on yours. Its still hot here in Texas and we wanted something quick, cool and easy to throw together and this was perfect.

Oh, also, I had these cute muffin cup liners so I made quick, sweet cornbread muffins from a box mix to go with. 🙂

Ingredients

• Green salad lettuce mix of your choice – I like an “American mix” or crunchy Romaine lettuce for this.
• Good flavorful tomatoes of your choice. I like the sweet dark cherry tomatoes. Just wash and pat dry a big handful or two of them and slice in half.
• Fresh grated cheddar cheese – my preference to top most anything with is Tillamook Medium. For our family of 3 here at home, I just grated up about half a cup.
• Ground beef – I used a pound for our family of 3, with intention for leftovers the next day for lunch.
• Your favorite taco seasoning mix – about half a packet if you’re doing the prepared packet seasoning mix.
• Dry Ranch seasoning mix – I used half a packet I had left in my cabinet.

Instructions & Serving Suggestions

• I throw my lettuce mix in a glass bowl or container and let everyone build their own salad to their own preference.
• Prep other salad veggies and cheese and put in individual containers for folks to build their own taco salads, or add to your lettuce mix if you like a premade salad.
• Brown ground beef and drain extra fat. Add in seasoning packets with a splash of water from the sink and simmer til meat absorbs the seasonings. Reserve in saute pan, or add to bowl to cool and chill if you prefer a totally cold taco salad.
• Top or provide this Chuys Dip as a dressing, or make a sour cream/salsa dressing (just equal amounts salsa of your choice and sour cream, blended with a fork), or other dressing of your choice.

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