This Mexican inspired taco salad is healthy, easy to make and economical. It makes enough taco salad for 4 hungry people and is full of the goodness of lean beef mince, avocado, lettuce, tomato and a delicious lower fat salad dressing. I'll also share my secret tip for cooking the mince so that the fat drains away easily! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader.
I've been making this Mexican taco salad for the last few weeks and I cannot stop. I first saw the idea of using Thousand Island dressing through an Amish TikToker called Lovina and it was so clever because of the added flavour. I adapted it to make it healthy with a yogurt based dressing, lots of black beans and lean mince but it doesn't taste lacking at all. This makes a huge lot of taco salad, enough for a generous serve for 4 people for dinner.
10 Helpful Tips For Making The Best Taco Salad
1 - My secret for cooking the minced beef is to simmer it in water rather than frying it! It keeps the mince more moist (even a lean one) and you can just strain the stock and fat away with a sieve. I actually keep the beef stock because Teddy absolutely loves it but you can also freeze it to make soup too.
2 - I usually make a double batch of the mince because I usually order it 500g/1.1lb lots and that way I can use the whole taco seasoning sachet. I keep the remainder in the fridge or freezer so that I have it handy for another batch.
3 - I like using the taco seasoning sachets that don't have flour in them because we don't really cook the beef that much with the seasoning. Just check the packets to have a look at the ingredients (the Mingle one is good and only has spices #notsponsored).
4 - If you don't eat beef try this with other types of mince.
5 - Always season the tomatoes with salt and pepper as they always need a little extra help.
6 - You can use either thousand island dressing or burger sauce. These have a bit more flavour than plain mayonnaise.
7 - Adding brown sugar might seem odd but I promise this really works and makes the flavour really pop.
8 - Be generous with the corn chips. The crunch is what makes this salad so moreish. I serve the taco salad with an extra bowl of corn chips for each person so they can add them fresh.
9 - Sometimes I add corn to this, sometimes I don't. I personally prefer this without corn unless it's really nice, sweet corn.
10 - The only bad news - this is best eaten within an hour of making! Although I have eaten it the next day and just added fresh corn chips.
Taco Salad
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40g/1.4ozs red onion (around 1/3 a medium onion), diced
400g/14ozs tin black beans, drained weight around 260g/9ozs
80g/3ozs shredded cheese
50g/1.7ozs pickled jalapeno slices
1 avocado
240g/8.5oz or 4 cups corn chips, crushed
Taco Salad Dressing
55g/2ozs thousand island or burger sauce
55g/2ozs full fat natural Greek yogurt (not sweetened) or sour cream
1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lime juice
Lime wedges to serve
Step 1 - If you want to make the tortilla bowl, spray both sides of a tortilla with olive oil spray and press down into a round baking dish. Bake at 180C/350F for 15 minutes. Cool and use as a bowl to serve the tacos.
Step 2 - Then make the beef mince as it needs time to cool down. Place 3 cups of water onto boil and then add the beef mince. Then using a wooden spoon break the mince up. Cook for 5 minutes or so until the mince turns brown. Then strain (reserving the stock for soup, but Teddy also loves this!). Place the mince back in the pan and add the taco seasoning and cook for a couple of minutes and mix it in well. Spread the mince out in a bowl or on a metal plate and place in the fridge or freezer to cool quickly.
Step 3 - Cut the lettuce into small pieces and then dice the tomatoes. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Dice the red onion and drain the black beans well running under cold water until the water runs clear.
Step 4 -To make the salad dressing whisk the dressing/sauce, yogurt, brown sugar, salt together in a bowl and then whisk in the lime juice til smooth.
Step 5 -Place the lettuce in the largest bowl you have and add the tomato, onion, black beans, cheese and jalapenos. Once the beef has cooled down add this too. Then add the dressing and toss. Lastly cut the avocado into chunks and fold these through. Check for seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve with corn chips sprinkled on top and in a cup on the side so that you can add them in so the salad stays crunchy.
Dear Reader, you'll start seeing a few more beef, lamb and pork recipes here. This is mainly because a few weeks ago Mr NQN got his blood tests back and it turns out he is very, very low in iron. It probably stems from last year when he got the results that he had high cholesterol he went vegan, then vegetarian because his instinct is to go as vegan as possible because that's how he grew up. He did start eating meat but it was mainly chicken. But unfortunately it also meant that as a result he now has dangerously low levels of iron that the doctor is concerned about. It's not a matter of taking iron supplements which I thought would be the easy solution.
The doctor told him that he specifically needed to eat lean red meat which he took as a bit of a surprise because there's also the family complication of hemachromatosis. This is a disorder where the body absorbs and stores too much iron and this runs in the Elliott family. This amount of excess iron can damage organs like the liver, heart and pancreas and his brother Manu has it (I used to be able to smell the iron coming off his pores!). But Mr NQN is a carrier and doesn't have the disorder but he thought that this would somehow cover it off.
Thankfully he loves this taco salad and it is such an easy one to put together using lean beef that he doesn't grumble which he sometimes does when he has to eat beef and lamb. Honestly the carry on is a bit much but this doctor's order to eat it is the universe's way of perhaps telling him that moderation is the key.
So tell me Dear Reader, is there something that you don't like to eat but you have to?
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