Spicy beef taco salad is one of those recipes that gets everyone in the family excited for meal time. It’s a mix of hot and cold: jalapeños (green or red) to kick start that fire and a cooling yogurt sauce to mellow it out again. Plus, this is a meal that’s just fun to eat.
Taco salad is the perfect candidate for a sharing platter between friends. If that jalapeño heat is of any concern for family sharing, you can control it easily. You can, instead, serve them on the side of the meal. This way, each person controls the spiciness to match to tolerance.
You could also tame down the heat by using some chili powder instead of fresh jalapeños, though you lose that fresh bright bite that’s so good here. Though that does showcase how versatile this salad is. Feel free to experiment with some extra ingredients. For instance, adding chopped crispy bacon is a totally delicious twist to this recipe.
See it being made:
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Spicy Taco Beef Salad
Ingredients
- ½ pound ground beef
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 jalapeno pepper (red preferred, green ok) or another red chili pepper
- ¼ cup taco mix homemade or store-bought
- ½ iceberg lettuce
- ½ cucumber
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 large tomato
- 1 bag tortilla chips
- 1 cup sharp cheese strong cheddar worlds well
- ½ cup natural Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (use your favorite)
Instructions
Cook the beef and vegetables
- Place a frying pan over medium heat and add the ground beef. Using a wooden spoon, separate the meat and cook until browned.
- Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Add them to the pan and combine with the beef until onions have cooked.
- De-seed and chop the jalapeño pepper (or chili chosen) and add to the beef mixture. Add the taco mix and stir to combine.
- Cook for an additional 5 minutes, then set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Make the salad
- Cut the lettuce, cucumber, bell pepper, and tomato into chunks and add to a large serving bowl. Add the beef and shredded cheese
- In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt and hot sauce.
- Add the tortilla chips to the salad and toss together then drizzle the sauce on top.
- Serve immediately to avoid soggy chips!
Hey, you forgot the avocado!!!!!