Simple Saturday: Quick and Easy Taco Salad

If you can imagine a crazy woman (probably with her coat still on), rushing around her kitchen to make dinner, then you get a pretty good idea of what my every night looks like.  On a good night I get home around 6 but most nights when I go to the gym after work it’s after 7 that I get home.  That gives me approximately 18.4 minutes to make dinner and eat before I’m likely to have a meltdown from hangriness.

This has gotten even worse lately because I haven’t been much into afternoon snacking.  I get so hungry for lunch that I eat a monster-sized lunch and don’t feel hungry for hours.  Then I get home, make a mess in my kitchen, eat a ton more, and get that fun pregnancy heartburn.  It’s a joy.

SO when I get home and need dinner like fifteen minutes ago, I need a meal that is quick and easy to make.  Enter: taco salads.  A.k.a. my fallback weekday meal.  It’s pretty much just an entire taco with extra lettuce, all chopped up, on a plate.  I don’t even make any fancy dressing for it – just salsa and sour cream.  But I’m telling you – this is one of both Marc and I’s favorite dinners.  Every time I make it, I wonder why I don’t make it every night.  It’s easy, filling, you guys – it’s so customizeable!

Some nights I add a ton of cheese on top and skip the avocado.  Sometimes I use taco chicken instead of ground beef.  I’ve also been known to add black beans and leftover rice or quinoa, too.  So many options.

Best yet – this meal is 100% Simple Saturday approved.  The ingredient list might be a bit longer but promise – these will take no longer than 30 minutes.  You can also use a packet of taco seasoning for the beef, but I typically forget to buy one so I’ll just make my own taco seasoning.

Other tips on making this a quicker dinner:

• Chopping up your veggies the night before.
• Use pre-made guacamole instead of avocado to cut down on that prep time.
• Use bagged romaine instead of chopping your own

Like this recipe?  Then you’ll love these, too:

Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

Slow Cooker Taco Chicken

Taco Soup

Fish Tacos with Avocado and Corn Salsa

20 Minute Taco Salad

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 to mato diced
• 1 avocado diced
• 1 cup corn I used frozen and just heated it in the microwave for 2 minutes
• salsa for topping
• sour cream for topping
• tortilla chips crushed for topping
• green onions for topping
• shredded Cheddar cheese for topping
• 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce you can use bagged or chop your own

Instructions

• In large skillet over medium-high heat, add ground beef.
• Cook, breaking into small pieces, until no longer pink.
• Meanwhile, you can cut up the tomatoes and avocado and crush the tortilla chips.
• Once beef is cooked, add the seasonings and stir to evenly distribute.
• Place 2 cups of lettuce onto each plate, then top with ~1/2 cup beef, tomatoes, avocado, corn, salsa, sour cream, tortilla chips, and green onions.
• Serve and enjoy!

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