Taco Salad Bowls
Learn how to make restaurant-style taco salad bowls at home with this easy recipe. They're quick, highly customizable, and fun thanks to the taco shell bowls. All substitutions/variations can be found in the notes section below.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 can black or pinto beans drained and rinsed
- thinly chopped romaine or iceberg or mixed leafy greens
- 6 flour burrito-size tortillas see notes below for gluten-free
Fixings - Choose 3
- cherry tomatoes, halved
- sliced olives
- bell pepper, diced any color
- avocado or guacamole
- shredded cheese dairy-free or regular
- sour cream or plain yogurt dairy-free or regular
- cilantro, roughly chopped
Instructions
Make the tortilla bowls
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Lightly brush or spray each side of the tortilla with oil and sprinkle the top with salt. Press the tortilla into an oven-safe bowl placed on top of a baking sheet and poke a few times with a fork to prevent air bubbles from becoming too large.
- Bake for 18 minutes or until the edges are brown and starting to crisp up, then carefully take them out of the bowls. Invert the tortilla bowls directly on the baking sheet, and put them back in the oven for another 4 minutes. Transfer the tortilla bowls to a cooling rack to allow them to cool before assembling.
Cook the taco meat
- Brown the ground meat in a skillet over medium heat, season with two tablespoons of taco seasoning, and stir in the beans.
Assemble the taco bowls
- Place each cooled tortilla bowl in a shallow bowl or plate and add the chopped lettuce, followed by the taco meat and beans, and fixings of choice. Serve your dressing on the side.
Notes
SUBSTITUTIONS:
No ground beef or turkey? - use chicken or shrimp.
No tortillas? - Skip the bowl and serve with chips instead.
Gluten-free? – Siete is the only brand I know of that makes gluten-free burrito-size tortillas, but they're quite pricey. You can also use a regular-size gluten-free tortilla pressed into a smaller oven-safe bowl or ramekin.
Make it vegan - omit the ground meat and use 2 cans of beans tossed with the taco seasoning (heat in a skillet if desired).
Vegetable variations - zucchini corn salad, tomato confit, marinated portobello mushrooms, quick pickled vegetables, or black bean and corn salad.