• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Med Diet
  • Subscribe
The Matbakh
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Med Diet
  • Subscribe
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Med Diet
    • Subscribe
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Salads

    Beef Taco Salad with Avocado Lime Dressing

    By Lily・Published: Mar 8, 2023・Updated: Jun 25, 2024・Post may have affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    This beef taco salad with avocado lime dressing is filling, fresh, well-balanced, and yummy. It's made with taco meat, homemade avocado lime cilantro dressing, tortilla chips, and chopped vegetables.

    healthy ground beef taco salad

    Make this salad for meal prep, or a macro-friendly eating style. Personally, this is one of my macro-friendly meals when tracking macros because it keeps me full, tastes delicious, and has a great carb/fat/protein split.

    Taco Salad

    This classic taco salad is colorful, vibrant, and full of texture. If you have leftover taco meat from taco night, this is a great way to use it!

    I've played around with different spices, veggies, and dressings, and this is the best taco salad recipe that's tasty, quick, and uses a lot of fresh ingredients.

    lean ground beef taco salad with avocado cilantro dressing

    Ingredient Notes

    ingredients to make taco salad.
    • Taco meat: I prefer lean ground beef, but you can also use ground turkey or ground chicken. Use homemade taco seasoning or store-bought taco mix packets.
    • Avocado lime cilantro dressing: This salad dressing is so simple. It's made with four ingredients: ripe avocados, fresh cilantro, lime juice, salt, and water.
    • Salad vegetables: Use any type of vegetables that you like. My go-to for this recipe are romaine lettuce, bell peppers, green onion, and grape tomatoes.
    • Toppings (optional): This easy recipe can be doctored up with your favorite toppings. Add sour cream, cheddar cheese, pinto beans, black olives, sweet corn, hearty black beans, or whatever your heart desires.

    See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for quantities.

    Quick Overview

    quick overview for how to make easy healthy taco salad

    Steps 1, 2, 3, & 4: Wash and chop the veggies.

    Steps 5, 6, & 7: Make the taco meat and avocado lime dressing.

    Step 8: Assemble the taco bowl.

    How To Make Taco Salad

    cutting a yellow bell pepper

    Wash the vegetables. Chop the bell pepper.

    placing the chopped bell pepper into a bowl

    Set chopped bell pepper aside.

    cutting the washed romaine lettuce

    Rough chop the romaine lettuce.

    chopping green onions.

    Chop the green onions.

    chopping small tomatoes.

    Cut the grape tomatoes into bite-sized chunks.

    browning ground beef in a skillet.

    Add the lean ground meat to a large skillet on medium heat.

    ⭐️ Cooking tip: Personally, I don't add oil or fat when cooking meat. There's fat already in the ground beef, so cook the meat at a medium temperature for the fat content to melt out. This reduces fat content and calories. ⭐️

    adding homemade taco seasoning to the browned beef.

    Brown the ground meat (about 3 to 5 minutes), breaking up the clumps. Add the taco seasoning. Mix together.

    add water to the taco meat.

    Pour some water.

    slow simmer the taco meat.

    Simmer the taco meat for 5 to 7 minutes on medium-high heat until the meat sauce thickens up.

    taco meat cooked.

    Set the meat aside to cool down.

    blend the avocado, cilantro, lime, and salt together.

    In a blender, add the ripe avocados, fresh cilantro leaves, lime juice, garlic cloves (if using), a pinch of salt, and water.

    blended avocado lime cilantro dressing.

    Blend on high. The avocado lime dressing will be a little fluffy.

    taco salad with tortilla chips and avocado lime dressing

    In a large bowl, add the chopped vegetables as the base. Top with the beef mixture and creamy avocado taco salad dressing. Serve with tortilla chips. I crunch mine with my hands.

    Tips and Tricks

    • I recommend homemade taco seasoning mix. It takes just 5 minutes to mix and you can bulk batch enough for 8 lbs of meat. There are no fillers or additives, and you can adjust it to your liking.
    • Make spicy ground beef by adding some extra chili powder.
    • This easy taco salad recipe is so easy to customize- just add your favorite taco ingredients and play around!
    • Use leftover taco meat from lean ground turkey tacos!
    homemade taco salad

    Variations and Substitutions

    • Substitute red onion for green onion.
    • Use lean ground turkey or ground chicken instead of beef. If using very lean meat, I recommend using a tad bit of olive oil to brown the meat.
    • Make your own dressing or use store-bought creamy salsa dressing.
    • Pour the taco salad ingredients into a taco shell instead of using chips. Alternatively, bake some corn tortillas and use those instead of fried chips.
    • Add some hot sauce or sour cream on top!
    homemade ground beef taco salad

    FAQs

    What is an avocado lime dressing made of?

    Creamy avocado lime dressing is made with ripe avocados, lime juice, fresh cilantro, salt, and water.

    How do you cut lettuce for taco salad?

    The best lettuce for a taco salad is crispy lettuce, like romaine hearts. Wash the lettuce leaves. Using a cutting board and chef's knife, roughly chop the lettuce into 1" chunks.

    Join The Tribe

    Subscribe to The Matbakh Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Pinterest pages. We also have a saucy newsletter.

    📋 Recipe

    authentic taco salad with avocado lime

    Beef Taco Salad with Avocado Lime Dressing

    Author: Lily
    Course: Main Dish, Salad
    Cuisine: Mexican
    Prep: 10 minutes mins
    Cook: 10 minutes mins
    Total: 20 minutes mins
    5 from 11 votes
    Print Pin Rate Email
    Servings 4
    This beef taco salad with homemade avocado lime dressing is a delicious salad that has it all: Mexican food flavors, fresh colorful vegetables, and lots of flavor. Make this recipe for weekday meal prep or using leftover taco meat.

    Ingredients
     
    US Customary - Metric

    Taco Meat

    • 3 tablespoon homemade taco seasoning or taco seasoning packets, see note 1
    • 1 lb ground beef
    • ¾ cup water

    Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

    • 2 large avocados
    • 4 lime
    • 1 cup cilantro leaves
    • pinch of salt
    • 1½ cup water
    • 2 fresh garlic cloves optional

    Salad

    • 3 romaine hearts different from a whole head of lettuce, see note 3
    • 2 bell peppers
    • 2 green onions
    • 20 grape tomatoes
    • tortilla chips

    Instructions

    Chop Veggies

    • Wash and chop the lettuce, bell pepper, grape tomatoes, and green onion.

    Make the Taco Meat

    • In a large skillet on medium heat, add the ground beef. Cook the beef while continuously breaking up the clumps.
    • Once the meat is browned, add the taco seasoning. Mix together. Add the water. Simmer the taco meat for about 5 to 7 minutes.

    Make the Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

    • Wash and remove the leaves from the cilantro.
    • Remove the seed from the avocado. Scoop the avocado into a blender. Squeeze the lime juice into the blender. Add water, cilantro leaves, and garlic (if using) into the blender. Blend on high until you have a fluffy mixture.

    Assemble the Salad

    • Add all of the veggies to a salad bowl. Top the salad with avocado lime dressing and taco meat.

    Equipment

    vitamix blender.
    Blender
    mercer cutting knife.
    Chef's Knife
    acacia wood cutting board.
    Cutting Board
    Large salad bowl

    Video

    Notes

    1. Alternatively, use store-bought taco packets. One store-bought packet is equivalent to 3 tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning used for 1 lb of ground meat.
    2. If homemade taco seasoning doesn't have cornstarch already mixed in, I recommend using 2 teaspoon of cornstarch for every 3 tablespoons of taco mix. 
    3. Romaine lettuce hearts are just the center of a romaine head of lettuce. They are crisp, which is why I like to use them for salads. Substitute a whole head of lettuce in lieu of 2 romaine hearts. Alternatively, use iceberg lettuce.
    4. Storage: Store the meat, avocado dressing, and vegetables in separate containers. When ready to serve this flavorful salad, reheat the taco-seasoned ground beef (separately), then assemble the salad. The avocado lime dressing stays green- yay! Just keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 294 kcal | Carbohydrates: 27 g | Protein: 28 g | Fat: 10 g | Saturated Fat: 3 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g | Trans Fat: 0.4 g | Cholesterol: 70 mg | Sodium: 148 mg | Potassium: 1062 mg | Fiber: 7 g | Sugar: 7 g | Vitamin A: 10316 IU | Vitamin C: 113 mg | Calcium: 100 mg | Iron: 5 mg

    More Fresh Salads

    • quinoa tabbouleh parsley salad close up
      Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad
    • dried cranberries, pecans, gorgonzola cheese, apples, and baby spinach in a bowl
      Apple Gorgonzola Spinach Salad With Candied Pecans
    • bulgar wheat tabouli
      Lebanese Tabouli Salad (Tabbouleh)
    • Persian shirazi salad in a white bowl
      Persian Shirazi Salad

    About Lily

    Howdy! My name is Lilian, but my friends call me Lily. I'm the founder and one of the recipe authors here at The Matbakh. I enjoy sunsets, long walks to the fridge, meaningful relationships, and anything related to food. I'm so happy you are here!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 11 votes (6 ratings without comment)

      Leave A Comment Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Patricia

      March 10, 2023 at 11:42 pm

      5 stars
      This is perfect for lunch or dinner! Love all the textures and how easy it is to put together for a great meal!

      Reply
      • Lily

        March 11, 2023 at 9:32 am

        Thanks!

        Reply
    2. Rachna

      March 10, 2023 at 10:21 pm

      5 stars
      This salad had the perfect textures. The winner for me was the avocado dressing with lime. Loved its clean fresh flavors that really lifted the salad.

      Reply
      • Lily

        March 11, 2023 at 9:32 am

        Thanks for the comment - the avocado lime is one of my faves!

        Reply
    3. Natalie Marie

      March 10, 2023 at 9:00 pm

      5 stars
      This looks SO delicious, but the avocado lime sauce def stole the show!! Can't WAIT to try it out.

      Reply
      • Lily

        March 11, 2023 at 9:29 am

        Thanks for the comment!

        Reply
    4. Andrea

      March 10, 2023 at 8:07 pm

      5 stars
      This taco salad looks and sounds fabulous. Love all the fresh ingredients and flavors.

      Reply
      • Lily

        March 10, 2023 at 8:18 pm

        Thanks Andrea!

        Reply
    5. DJ

      March 09, 2023 at 9:06 am

      5 stars
      I made this tonight using Gardein Beefless Crumbles and it came out incredibly tasty. Thanks so much.

      Reply
      • Lily

        March 11, 2023 at 9:30 am

        Thank DJ, that sounds like a delicious mod!

        Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    lily at the matbakh

    I'm Lily

    I'm an American Lebanese living in Texas. My kitchen, or matbakh, is a hodgepodge of recipes from the U.S. and Mediterranean region.

    ABOUT ME

    Mediterranean Desserts

    • basbousa semolina cake with honey and yogurt
      Basbousa Semolina Cake
    • baklava rolls
      Walnut Baklava Rolls
    • mafroukeh close up
      Mafroukeh Pistachio Dessert With Cream
    • pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing.
      Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

    Footer

    Stay Connected

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
    • X

    ↑ back to top

    Legal

    Privacy

    Terms

    Accessibility

    About

    The Matbakh

    About Me

    Med Diet

    Resources

    Shop

    Recipes

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2020 - 2025 Amooni Media LLC

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.