Top-down photo of black bowl with taco salad ingredients, shredded lettuce, avocado, shredded cheese, taco meat, and tomatoes
February 4, 2024

Beyond Beef Taco Salad

February 4, 2024

Beyond Beef Taco Salad

Top-down photo of black bowl with taco salad ingredients, shredded lettuce, avocado, shredded cheese, taco meat, and tomatoes

Who doesn’t love Taco Salad? Make a plant-based or vegetarian version of this crowd pleaser using spiced Beyond Beef, crispy lettuce, ripe tomatoes, shredded cheese, juicy tomatoes, and of course taco chips. Ready in about 15 minutes, this salad is easy to customize.

Infographic with top-down image of bowl of taco salad. Text reads: Making Beyond Beef Taco Salad with smaller images showing start with crispy lettuce (image of lettuce), top with spiced beyond beef (image of beef on top of lettuce), scatter some tomatoes (image of lettuce, beef, tomatoes, handful of shredded cheese(s), (image of shredded cheeses on top), it's sour cream and salsa time, (image showing that), and then a squiggly arrow pointing to the larger image of the finished Beyond Meat Taco Salad, with the text, add taco chips, eat!

Taco Salad Ingredients

Taco salad is very customizable. Here’s what we put in ours:

  •  Lettuce – we like iceberg or romaine – something crunchy!
  • Spicy Beyond Beef – we sauted the Beyond Meat in a tiny amount of oil, and added tomato paste, water, chili powder, and garlic. Chili powder is a mix of spices, so depending on the blend you’re using you might want to add extra cumin, onion powder, and/or cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes) for more heat.
  • Juicy Tomatoes – we like cherry tomatoes, halved, but you could use any kind of ripe tomatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces.
  • Shredded Cheese – we went with a mix of cheddar and mozzarella. Choose your favourite plant-based or dairy cheeses, one or two types. Cheddar, mozzarella, or Monterey Jack would all make good options.
  • Next, we add a dollop of sour cream, or a vegan alternative. We sometimes use plain yogurt too.
  • Salsa – use your favourite salsa
  • Taco chips – of course! It’s taco salad. Use your favourite corn tortilla chips. We like to add these last so they stay crunchy. If you are looking for a low carb version of this salad, you can omit the taco chips (but still call it taco salad…)

Optional Toppings

  •  Avocado or guacamole. Ripe avocados are best – their creamy texture plays beautifully with the rest of the ingredients.
  • Black olives. If you love olives these make a great addition.
  • Sliced bell peppers. Add some sliced bell peppers (green, red, yellow, orange – whatever you like) to up the veggie factor and add extra crunch.

Visual Overview: Making Taco Salad

This recipe makes 4 servings. For each serving: 

Step 1: Put 1 cup of lettuce in a bowl. 

Top-down shot of chopped romaine lettuce in a white bowl, against a black background. Prep step number 1 for making Beyond Beef Taco Salad

Start with about 1 cup of lettuce per bowl.

Step 2: Add 1/2 cup of spiced taco meat. 

Top-down shot of chopped romaine lettuce and Beyond Beef Taco meat mix in a white bowl, against a black background. Prep step number 2 for making Beyond Beef Taco Salad

Add 1/2 cup of spiced taco meat.

Step 3: Scatter about 1/2 cup of tomatoes. 

Top-down shot of chopped romaine lettuce, Beyond Beef taco meat mix, and cherry tomatoes, in a white bowl, against a black background. Prep step number 1 for making Beyond Beef Taco Salad

Scatter on about 1/2 cup of tomatoes.

Step 4: Add handfuls of shredded cheese. 

Top-down shot of chopped romaine lettuce, taco meat, tomatoes, and shredded cheese in a white bowl, against a black background. Prep step number 4 for making Beyond Beef Taco Salad

Next add a couple of handful of shredded cheese - about 1/2 cup.

Step 4: Add dollop of sour cream. 

Top-down shot of chopped romaine lettuce, taco meat, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and sour cream in a white bowl, against a black background. Prep step number 5 for making Beyond Beef Taco Salad

Add a dollop of sour cream.

Step 4: Top with salsa and garnish with taco chips.

Top-down photo of black bowl with taco salad ingredients, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, taco meat, and tomatoes

Top with your favourite salsa and garnish with taco chips.

Optionally, Serve it Family Style

You can also serve this family style, where you make a big bowl of the ingredients and everyone serves themselves and adds their own taco chips. This also works if you want to make a low carb version - that is, without the taco chips. 

Top-down photo of black bowl with taco salad ingredients, shredded lettuce, avocado, shredded cheese, taco meat, and tomatoes


Tips: Let's talk about meat substitutes

From plant-based chicken nuggets to ground beef substitutes and vegan sausages, grocery stores offer an ever-growing range of products for people who don't want to eat meat but like the taste of it.

While people new to plant-based eating take all sorts of different approaches, some look for animal-free versions of familiar recipes. If that sounds like you, you might also like our Beyond Meat Spaghetti Sauce,  Shepherd's Pie, Beyond Beef Meatballs, Garlicky White Bean Soup with Plant-Based Sausage, or our Grazing Platter.

We tested this recipe using the Beyond Meat brand of ground beef (aka ground round). This is not a sponsored post. We haven't tested this recipe with other brands, such as the Impossible brand, but we think it would work just as well. The cooking time for the 'meat' may vary, so read the product label before starting the recipe.

If you're interested in comparing nutritional information,  the Recipe Card has the nutritional breakdown at the bottom of it. This including calories per serving, and units of carbohydrates (carbs), protein, and fat.

PIN for Beyond Meat Taco Salad. Three images: crisp lettuce, bowl with taco salad ingredients: avocado, cheese, sour cream, Beyond Meat, tomatoes, and finished Taco Salad with sour cream

Recipe Card

Beyond Beef Taco Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Taco Salad is always a crowd pleaser. Make this plant-based or vegetarian using Beyond Beef, crispy lettuce, ripe tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream and salsa, and of course taco chips. Easily customizable with other toppings too, including avocado, black olives, and sliced bell peppers.
Servings 4
Calories 753 kcal
Author Sylvia

Ingredients

  • 4 cups lettuce, chopped
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup salsa
  • 2 cups taco chips

Taco Meat Mix

  • 2 teaspoons neutral cooking oil (We used sunflower oil).
  • 1 340 g package Beyond Beef, plant-based ground
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2-4 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • salt, to taste

Instructions

Taco Meat Mix

  • Add the oil to a frying pan and heatover a medium heat. Add the Beyond Beef ground to the hot oil and fry, breaking up the meat with a spatula, for about 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the tomato paste and about half of the water and stir in.
  • Add the smaller amount of chili powder and garlic and stir in. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Taste and add more seasoning if desired.

Assembly (makes 4 individual bowls)

  • Add about 1 cup of lettuce to the bowl
  • Top with 1/2 cup of taco meat mixture
  • Scatter on about 1/2 cup of tomatoes.
  • Scatter on about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese(ss)
  • Top with 1 tablespoon (or more to taste) of sour cream.
  • Top with 1 tablespoon (or more to taste) of salsa
  • Garnish with a handful (about 1/2 cup) of taco chips.

Notes

Storage and Reheating

If you have extra taco meat, you can store in the fridge in a well-sealed container for 2-3 days. Reheat over low heat, adding a little oil or water to the pan as needed.

Optional Add-Ins

You can customize this with your choice of avocado, olives, sliced bell peppers.

Nutritional Information

Nutritional information is an estimate only and is based on dairy-based cheese. 
 

Nutrition

Calories: 753kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 1117mg | Potassium: 1022mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2709IU | Vitamin C: 48mg | Calcium: 468mg | Iron: 7mg

Courses, Cuisines, and Keywords

Course
dinner
|
lunch
Cuisine
American
Keywords
beyond beef taco salad
|
beyond meat taco salad
|
vegan taco salad
|
vegetarian taco salad

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Hello!


We're creating a course: Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating

Yes, seriously. Trying a plant-based diet can be overwhelming and we'd like to help. 

This course is for you if: 

  • you're curious about plant-based eating, but don't know where to start 
  • you have family or friends who eat plant-based and you'd like to be able to cook for them
  • you've dabbled with plant-based cooking, but would like to expand your repertoire 

Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating will: 

  • answer your pressing questions
  • cultivate your confidence 
  • arm you with recipes

Want to learn more?  

Join our email list for updates about the course launch. You'll also get priority access to new recipes, and other subscriber privileges.