photo by www.RealSimple.com
This Real Simple dish makes a delicious and nutritious quick weeknight dinner.
I like to use soaked crockpot pinto beans and serve with a side of homemade tortilla chips.
Time-saving Tip: I love to “Cook Once, Eat Twice or More!” So to save time, I like to buy a few pounds of ground turkey (or grassfed ground beef) and brown it in a skillet over medium-high heat with some finely diced onion.
Then, I divide the cooked meat into 1-2 cup portions and freeze it for future use. That way, I have precooked ground meat on hand to make quick dinners on busy nights, such as crockpot chili, shepherd’s pie, spaghetti with meat sauce, and of course, this quick and easy taco salad recipe.
Easy & Delicious Taco Salad (GF)
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey or grassfed ground beef
- 1/2 tsp organic Mexican seasoning (I like Spice Hunter brand)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup fresh salsa (homemade salsa is best)
- 2 tbsp cultured sour cream
- 1 head organic romaine lettuce, cut into pieces (about 8 cups)
- 2 cups cooked soaked crockpot pinto beans or black beans
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 cup grated raw milk cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- Optional: Organic GF tortilla chips
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add two tablespoons of olive oil, the ground turkey (or beef), Mexican seasoning and salt.
- Cook, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5-6 minutes.
- Pour off any excess liquid. Then, stir in 1/2 cup of the salsa and cook until heated through, about one minute.
- In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and remaining 1/2 cup of salsa to create the taco salad dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the lettuce, turkey mixture, pinto beans, avocado, cheese and olives into separate bowls. Serve buffet-style so your family can make their own salad.
- Top with the taco salad dressing. (Recipe inspired by Real Simple.)
Hi – is there a printable list of all the ingredients for the weekly food plan? or do I have to prit our each recipe and bring it to the store?
Best wishes
C
Hi, Catherine. I know many of the fee-based meal plans include shopping lists. However, there currently is not a shopping list provided with my free meal plans, because I have not yet found a way to be able to do this in a time efficient manner. I wish I had the time to create the shopping lists manually, but they simply are too time consuming at this point. What I do recommend is either using Ziplist (which is free) to set-up a recipe box online where you can import recipes and then have all the ingredients pulled into a shopping list you can adjust and add to. Or paid meal planning services like Plan to Eat allow you to also import any recipe on the internet and create a shopping list from the ingredients listed. Personally, I create my shopping list the old fashioned way – with a pen and paper. I look at each recipe and determine what I already have and what I need to make it. Then I write on my shopping list any needed ingredients for the recipe, as well as needed staples for the week. Lots of blessings, Kelly 🙂
This taco salad is a favorite of ours! I allow my kids to choose their toppings (cheese is always first!) but this exposure to salad made them more open to trying other salads too. Thanks!
Thanks for taking the time to leave a kind note. So glad you and your family enjoyed it – and that it encouraged your kids to give other salads a try too! Blessings, Kelly 🙂
This was SO good! I just noticed we forgot to top ours with cheese… oh well, it was so delicious we didn’t miss it. 🙂 Thanks for this easy recipe.
Hi Kelly,
I’m excited to bring this to a church potluck tomorrow. Can you comment a bit about the raw cheese? (or direct me elsewhere on your site, if you have a discussion of it). Where do you buy raw cheese? Once again, so thankful for all the work you do on this site, and your passion to bless others with the knowledge and resources God has given you.
Thank you!
Andrea
Hi, Andrea. Thanks for your kind words. We use either raw cheese or grassfed cheese. Both are healthier options. Raw cheese is made from raw milk and grassfed cheese is made from the cow’s milk of grassfed-only cows (which is what cows are supposed to eat – grass!). You can find either at most whole food type stores. We get these via our Azure Standard co-op. Here’s more info: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=121 Hope this helps. Blessings, Kelly 🙂
I’ve been having trouble running the household with my mom gone and two adult men who are very set in their eating ways. Its hard to find meals that everyone will like, and to plan menus when I have never really had to do it for anyone but myself. The night before I found your website I was sitting in bed crying because I was having so much trouble and the rest of my family hated the food I made them. Since I have found you, meal planning has become so much easier and the recipes are great. Thanks for putting in so much work to help out struggling chefs like myself.
Precious people like YOU are the reason I do this and feel so blessed that God has enabled me to serve in this way. Thank you for your kind words – you have blessed me! I am so happy to know that this site is helpful to you and your family! May God bless your sweet heart. I can see how much you love your family and want to encourage you to keep meal planning, in no time at all you’ll become a pro! Blessings, Kelly 🙂