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If you like tacos, nachos and plenty of cheese, this taco salad with Doritos brings all of it into one bowl. You brown the ground beef in a skillet with taco seasoning mix, then add hand-shredded iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and shredded sharp cheddar, and finish with nacho cheese chips for crunch. The dressing is blended at home from ketchup, honey, apple cider vinegar and sweet paprika. Toss it only right before serving, because the lettuce and the chips soften quickly. Make it for gatherings, picnics and barbecues, or for a quick summer lunch or dinner.
Quick Breakdown
Why You’ll Love This Doritos Taco Salad
- Only One Thing To Cook. The ground beef is the single cooked part, fried in a skillet with taco seasoning until brown and fragrant. Everything else goes in fresh, no oven and no extra pans.
- Easy Homemade Dressing. Everything for the catalina-style dressing goes straight into the blender, and one minute later it is ready to pour.
- Crunch And Freshness. Nacho cheese Doritos, hand-shredded iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded sharp cheddar all go in fresh, tossed together right before serving.
- Easy To Adapt. Pick regular or reduced-fat cheddar and Doritos to taste.
Ingredient Notes
- Ground Beef. 15 oz/450g of ground beef makes the taco filling. Break it into small chunks so it tosses easily with the lettuce and the chips.
- Taco Seasoning Mix. One packet seasons the whole batch of beef, and you can pick the original or the low-sodium version. A homemade blend does the same job.
- Catalina-Style Dressing. Tomato ketchup, honey, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chopped onion, sweet paprika and vegetable oil blend into a sweet and tangy dressing for the salad.
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese. 4 oz/115g of shredded sharp cheddar brings the tang and the salt that stand up to the beef and the dressing. Regular or reduced-fat cheddar both work, to taste.
- Iceberg Lettuce. One large head, hand-shredded, keeps the bowl cool and crisp.
- Tomatoes. Two diced tomatoes bring juice and freshness to every forkful. Use firm, ripe ones so the pieces hold their shape in the bowl.
- Nacho Cheese Doritos. 4.5 oz/150g of nacho cheese Doritos bring the crunch and the salty, cheesy taste this salad is built on. Low-sodium or reduced-fat Doritos work here as well.
What Is Doritos Taco Salad?
Doritos taco salad is a Tex-Mex main dish that brings taco night into a salad bowl. Crunchy chips, cool lettuce and warm seasoned beef all land in the same forkful.
What ties it all together is the easy homemade catalina-style dressing: one bowl, one toss, and 4 servings on the table.
Doritos Taco Salad Recipe (Yummy)
How To Make This Doritos Taco Salad Recipe?
STEP 1: Drizzle a large skillet with oil, then stir in the ground beef and break it into small chunks. Fry until the ground beef loses its raw red color. Add the taco seasoning and stir for 2 minutes more, until brown and fragrant. Season with salt, turn off the heat, and set aside.
STEP 2: For the dressing, combine the tomato ketchup, honey, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, onion, sweet paprika, and 1 tsp salt in a blender, and mix for 1 minute. Add the vegetable oil and keep blending until well combined. Adjust the seasoning, reserve ½ cup of the dressing for this salad, and keep the rest in the fridge for later.
STEP 3: Just before serving, put 1/3 cup of the dressing, the ground beef, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and Doritos in a salad bowl. Toss to coat all the ingredients, top with the remaining 2 or 3 tbsp of dressing, and serve.
How to Keep the Doritos Crunchy
- Dress It at the Last Minute. Both the iceberg lettuce and the Doritos wilt quickly once the dressing is on them, so toss the salad only when everyone is ready to eat.
- Add the Doritos Last. Put the nacho cheese Doritos into the bowl at the end, after the beef, the cheese, the tomato and the lettuce, so they meet the dressing last.
- Go Easy on the Dressing. Coat the ingredients first and spoon the rest over the top, instead of pouring everything in at once.
- Prep the Parts Ahead. Fry the ground beef with the taco seasoning, shred the lettuce, dice the tomatoes and blend the dressing in advance, then store them separately until serving time.
Tips for the Best Doritos Taco Salad
A few small things make this salad quicker to put together and nicer to eat.
- Use A Large Skillet. A wide skillet gives the ground beef room to spread out, so it browns instead of steaming and breaks into small chunks.
- Shred The Lettuce By Hand. Pull the head of iceberg apart with your hands in rough, bite-size pieces; the dressing clings to torn edges more than to thin knife-cut strips.
- Dice The Tomatoes Small. Cut the tomatoes in even, small dice that spread through the bowl instead of sinking to the bottom.
- Chop The Onion Fine. The onion goes straight into the blender, so chop it small and it blends smoothly into the dressing.
- Pick A Big Salad Bowl. A roomy bowl lets you toss the lettuce and the chips without pushing them over the rim.
- Leftovers And Extra Dressing. The dressing you do not use keeps in the fridge for another salad, and cooked ground beef is best eaten within a day or two.
Variations and Substitutions
The base salad stays as written, but a few easy swaps let you match the bowl to what is in your kitchen.
- French Instead Of Catalina. A basic French dressing tosses the salad just as well as the catalina-style one. A ready-to-use bottle is fine when time is short, but the blender version is easy and worth a try.
- Turkey Or Chicken. Ground turkey takes the place of the beef in the skillet, seasoned the same way, and chicken does the same job. For another way to use it, look at The Best Shredded Chicken Nachos Recipe.
- More In The Bowl. Beans, corn, olives, peppers or avocado go in with the lettuce and the tomato. Put them in at the last moment, so the bowl stays fresh and crisp.
- Another Doritos Flavor. Spicy Doritos bring more heat than the nacho cheese chips, and low-sodium bags keep the salt down. The crunch is the same either way.
What to Serve With Doritos Taco Salad
The sides only need to be simple and warm here. Slices of Bread Machine Jalapeno Cheddar Bread (Basic Cycle) go nicely with the sweet and tangy dressing, and a tray of Baked Mexican Potatoes turns dinner into a bigger Tex-Mex spread.
For a picnic, a barbecue or a potluck, spoon out smaller portions and set the bowl next to grilled meat, where it works as a side instead of the whole plate. For a quick summer lunch, a cold drink is all you need with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to prepare and cook Doritos Taco Salad?
Plan on 10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. Nearly all of that goes to the seasoned ground beef and the blender dressing, since the salad itself only needs a quick toss in the bowl.
Ingredients
- 15 oz/450g ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix original or low-fat to taste, or homemade
- 1/3 cup tomato ketchup
- 4 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp onion chopped
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ cup vegetable oil approximately
- 4 oz/115g shredded sharp cheddar cheese regular or reduced-fat, to taste
- 2 to matoes diced
- 1 lard head iceberg lettuce hand-shredded
- 4.5 oz/150g nacho cheese Doritos low-sodium or reduced-fat, or to taste
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- 1 - Drizzle a large skillet with oil, stir in the ground beef mixture to break into small chunks. Fry until ground beef loses its raw red color. Combine taco seasoning and stir for 2 minutes more, until brown and fragrant. Season with salt, turn off the heat and set aside.
- 2 – For the dressing, combine tomato ketchup, honey, vinegar, Worcestershire, onion, paprika, and 1 tsp salt in a blender and mix for 1 minute. Add vegetable oil and keep blending until well combined. Adjust seasoning, reserve ½ cup dressing for this salad, and keep remaining in the fridge for the future.
- 3 – Just before serving, put in a salad bowl 1/3 cup dressing, ground beef, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and Doritos. Toss to coat ingredients, top with remaining 2 or 3 tbsp of the dressing, and serve.
Notes
