Taco Salad with Doritos & Catalina Dressing

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Taco Salad with Doritos & Catalina Dressing is one of my all-time favorite recipes. This salad is a perfect blend of crunchy, savory, and tangy goodness! Plus, it’s incredibly easy to make, making it ideal for busy weeknights or lazy weekends. This is one of those salads that your family will ask for again and again.

Why You’ll Love this Taco Salad

Catalina dressing brings a unique sweet and tangy flavor to this taco salad! It pairs perfectly with savory taco ingredients like seasoned ground beef or beans, crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, creamy avocado, and shredded cheese. Then I take it another step further and throw in some crushed Doritos into the salad for that extra crunch and flavor! It’s SO good!

Wait, Doritos in Taco Salad?!

Yes! Doritos in a Taco Salad! If you haven’t tried it, you must. It’s one of my favorite things to eat ever! See here and here for proof. What can I say…I love Doritos. Throw a few Doritos into your taco salad. You will surely thank me.

Ingredients Needed for Taco Salad with Doritos + Catalina Dressing

Most of your usual suspects needed for this taco salad…plus Doritos and Catalina Dressing!

• Avocado oil: To sauté the onion. Olive oil will also work!
• Onion: Finely diced to infuse flavor into the ground beef mixture.
• Ground beef: The star of the show, providing hearty protein. I used 80/20 ground beef.
• Homemade taco seasoning mix: Enhances the flavor with a blend of spices. Homemade or a store-bought packet of taco seasoning is fine!
• Water: Helps to simmer the taco seasoning with the ground beef.
• Catalina dressing: Divided for dressing and flavoring the salad. Easily found down the salad dressing aisle in the grocery store.
• Iceberg lettuce: Shredded for a crisp base.
• Black beans: Drained and rinsed for added protein and fiber. Also could use chili, white or pinto beans.
• Colby jack cheese: Shredded for a creamy, cheesy topping. Or use cheddar cheese, Mexican blend cheese, etc.
• Dorito Chips: Crushed for that signature crunch. Use Simply Organic, Nacho Cheese or Cool Ranch Doritos. Whatever other flavor you love!
• Optional toppings: diced tomatoes, diced green onions, white or red onion, sliced avocado or guacamole, sour cream, more Catalina dressing or salsa, black olives, fresh cilantro.

Variations:

• Substitute ground turkey or chicken for beef for a lighter option
• Use different types of cheese such as pepper jack or cheddar for a twist
• Add bell peppers or green chiles for extra flavor
• Swap out Doritos for tortilla chips or Fritos for a different crunch
• If Catalina dressing isn’t your thing, I have a few options for you to consider- try my Basic Salsa Recipe as a dressing! Sour Cream is always a great option but consider sprucing it up by making this fish taco sauce (sour cream, lime, seasonings etc.) One of my readers suggested a thousand island dressing mixed with a little bit of hot sauce! Spiciness mixed with all that freshness. I also have this Caesar Avocado Dressing that you can try.

How to Make Taco Salad with Doritos + Catalina Dressing

Ready for an easy dinner? For full recipe details, including ingredient measurements, see the printable recipe card down below. Here are step-by-step directions for making this taco salad:

Sauté Onions

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced onion and cook for a few minutes until transluscent.

Add Ground Beef

Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up meat into smaller pieces as you go. 

Reduce heat to a low to medium heat and tip pan to one side to allow grease to gather and dab with a paper towel to remove most of the grease. 

Add taco seasoning and water. Stir and simmer for about 3 minutes. Next, add 1/2 cup of the Catalina dressing and stir to combine. Turn heat off.

Combine Everything Together

In a large bowl, add lettuce, cheese, the remainder of the Catalina dressing, meat mixture, black beans, and doritos. Toss to combine. 

Add Desired Toppings + Serve!

Serve in individual bowls and garnish with tomatoes, green or red onion, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, black olives or any other favorite toppings. Eat at room temperature or chilled.

Customize Your Taco Salad

The beauty of this recipe is that you can customize it with your favorite taco toppings. If you don’t love cilantro, leave it out. If you rather go with corn chips than Doritos, go for it. Here are a couple of customizable suggestions:

• Veggies: grill corn, add red onions, use a different type of tomato, or just use what you have at home!
• Chips: Doritos not your thing? Use Fritos or tortilla chips
• Cheese: use Monterey Jack, Queso Blanco, or another type of cheese that you love.
• Taco Meat: I have a plethora of homemade taco meat that you can use: Turkey Taco Meat Recipe, Crockpot Chicken Taco Meat Recipe, Slow Cooked Carnitas (Mexican Pork) and Uruguayan Asado.

Storage + Make Ahead Directions for Dorito Taco Salad

This taco salad is definitely best enjoyed fresh, but you if do have some leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe.

To Make Ahead: I would suggest preparing the meat mixture and then storing it separately from everything else until ready to serve. Then combine everything and serve.

More Taco Recipes to Love!

• Vegetarian Black Quinoa Taco Salad
• Easy Taco Soup
• Baja Fish Tacos
• Skirt Steak Soft Tacos
• Taco Casserole
• Taco Sloppy Joes
• Taco Rice

This Taco Salad with Doritos and Catalina Dressing is the perfect way to shake up your Taco Tuesday routine. With its flavorful ingredients and easy prep, it’s sure to become a family favorite in no time! The printable recipe card is below! Have a great day, friends! 🙂

If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.