Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad is a festive and scrumptious recipe that you’re sure to enjoy. With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, I thought I’d share one of my favorite Taco Salad recipes. I include two different versions of meat: the original version which includes cooking the ground beef with Lipton Onion Soup Mix. The other one is gluten free and a healthier version using my Homemade Taco Seasoning mixed with ground beef.

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I prefer using taco-flavored cheese which is cheddar cheese with taco seasonings added. However, I couldn’t find any when I was shopping at the store last week so I purchased Pepper Jack cheese and Colby Jack cheese and used a combination of those cheeses to increase the heat slightly. I’ve always used plain Fritos corn chips for the recipe, but you probably could use the chili-cheese Fritos if you really want to amp up the flavors.

This is actually my Mom’s Taco Salad recipe that she started making when I was in high school. She made this several times during those years after I got married. We had young children then, so we used to make the drive across the state of Florida and visit on three-day holiday weekends six to seven times per year so the kids could visit their grandparents.

Mom always made our favorite foods while we were visiting, including this wonderful recipe.  When we weren’t watching kids or eating all of her delicious treats, we played cards (hearts, spades and euchre) into the middle of the night!

This was the first Taco Salad recipe I ever had and used this one exclusively until the early 80s and 90s when Tex-Mex began to become so very popular across the country. I decided to make it for a potluck fellowship our Sunday school class had a couple of weeks ago. But because several of the gals in our class are on gluten free diets, I made the original version and one with meat flavored with Homemade Taco Seasoning which has no preservatives, gluten, or MSG. My mom always served her Taco Salad with Easy French Dressing. But this time I served it with a Jalapeno Ranch dressing that Litehouse makes. I really love their cilantro dressing but it was not available at the time.

If you’re looking for a dynamite Tex-Mex salad to make for Cinco de Mayo, I highly recommend my mom’s Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad recipe. It’s big on taste and low on work! It’s a full meal by itself, or serve it with something festive like King Ranch Chicken, Mexican Cornbread and Sopapilla Cheesecake. You will be in seventh heaven! 🙂

Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad is mouthwatering and sure to please.

Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad is a wonderful salad to serve for lunch or as a dinner salad/main dish.

This is a great salad to make for Cinco de Mayo parties!

Here’s what I did.

I used these ingredients for the original recipe. Layer salad ingredients in a large bowl: lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, olives and green pepper. Leave cheese, meat, Fritos and salad dressing off the salad and serve on the side to keep salad fresher.

Brown ground beef. Add half of an envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix. I usually use the onions and only part of the bouillon stuff. Otherwise, it is too strong and overpowers the meat.

To another two pounds of cooked dried beef I added these ingredients. The recipe is located in my Homemade Taco Seasoning post. (You don’t have to use this much beef, I’m just showing both versions). 

Here I’ve layered the salad ingredients in a bowl. Unless you are going to serve ALL of the salad and immediately, leave off the cheese and add it to individual servings. Otherwise, the salad will go bad more quickly, but it will last a couple of days if the cheese is left off.

Garnish each serving of salad with the meat of your choice, Fritos, cheese, and your favorite salad dressing.

Here’s the recipe.

Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad

Teresa Ambra

This mouthwatering Tex-Mex salad offers two kinds of beef mixture: one mixed with Lipton Onion Soup Mix and the other a gluten free version with Homemade Taco Seasoning. This salad is great for Cinco de Mayo or any time you want to serve a festive Taco Salad.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Salads and Salad Dressings, Side Dish

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Servings 8

Calories 429 kcal

Equipment

• 1 large salad bowl
• 1 sharp knife to cut vegetables
• 1 large skillet
• 1 hamburger chopper to cut meat down in small pieces while frying
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• 1 wooden spoon

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb. 93% lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion diced
• 6 oz. bag Fritos corn chips
• 1 or 2 large heads lettuce depending on how many you need to serve
• 4-6 roma tomatoes sliced
• 3/4 cup green olives sliced or whole
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 cucumber unpeeled and sliced
• 2 cups Taco-seasoned cheese or use a blend of Colby Jack & Pepper Jack
• 1/2 envelope Lipton dry onion soup mix I use mostly the onions and not as much of the bouillon
• 1 cup Catalina salad dressing Ranch or your favorite dressing

Instructions

 

• In skillet, brown beef.
• Use a hamburger chopper to break the meat down into small pieces; drain if necessary.
• Sprinkle onion soup mix over meat; stir in water (as per package—about ½ cup).
• Simmer, uncovered 10 minutes.
• In salad bowl, layer lettuce, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, olives, cucumber and cheese.
• (If you cannot find Taco cheese, purchase regular sharp cheese and add some taco seasoning mix-- like ¼ -1 tsp.); toss well.
• Spoon meat over top of salad, top with corn chips.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

NOTE: If you are not serving this immediately, refrigerate salad and meat separately until ready to serve. Microwave the beef about 30 seconds to a minute or so until warm. Place heated meat over individual salad plates, or on top of the salad if desired.

 

NOTE: If you are not eating ALL of this salad the day you make it, leave off the cheese, meat and Fritos and serve them separately so the salad will stay fresh longer.

 

NOTE: You can also add Homemade Taco Seasoning to the meat and eliminate the dry onion soup mix if you’re trying to maintain a gluten free diet.

 

^© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 429kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 21gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 1104mgPotassium: 445mgFiber: 3gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 577IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 242mgIron: 2mg

Keyword beef, cheese, gluten free, ground beef, main dish, olives, salad, Tex Mex, tomatoes

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

You can amp up the flavors of Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad by using chili-cheese Fritos and a Habanero cheese instead of Pepper Jack cheese.

Doesn’t Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad look marvelous? I’m ready to dig in right now!

You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!

Chicken Fajita Salad

Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Dressing

Mexican Bean Taco Salad

Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad

Teresa Ambra

This mouthwatering Tex-Mex salad offers two kinds of beef mixture: one mixed with Lipton Onion Soup Mix and the other a gluten free version with Homemade Taco Seasoning. This salad is great for Cinco de Mayo or any time you want to serve a festive Taco Salad.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Salads and Salad Dressings, Side Dish

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Servings 8

Calories 429 kcal

Equipment

• 1 large salad bowl
• 1 sharp knife to cut vegetables
• 1 large skillet
• 1 hamburger chopper to cut meat down in small pieces while frying
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• 1 wooden spoon

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb. 93% lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion diced
• 6 oz. bag Fritos corn chips
• 1 or 2 large heads lettuce depending on how many you need to serve
• 4-6 roma tomatoes sliced
• 3/4 cup green olives sliced or whole
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 cucumber unpeeled and sliced
• 2 cups Taco-seasoned cheese or use a blend of Colby Jack & Pepper Jack
• 1/2 envelope Lipton dry onion soup mix I use mostly the onions and not as much of the bouillon
• 1 cup Catalina salad dressing Ranch or your favorite dressing

Instructions

 

• In skillet, brown beef.
• Use a hamburger chopper to break the meat down into small pieces; drain if necessary.
• Sprinkle onion soup mix over meat; stir in water (as per package—about ½ cup).
• Simmer, uncovered 10 minutes.
• In salad bowl, layer lettuce, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, olives, cucumber and cheese.
• (If you cannot find Taco cheese, purchase regular sharp cheese and add some taco seasoning mix– like ¼ -1 tsp.); toss well.
• Spoon meat over top of salad, top with corn chips.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

NOTE: If you are not serving this immediately, refrigerate salad and meat separately until ready to serve. Microwave the beef about 30 seconds to a minute or so until warm. Place heated meat over individual salad plates, or on top of the salad if desired.

 

NOTE: If you are not eating ALL of this salad the day you make it, leave off the cheese, meat and Fritos and serve them separately so the salad will stay fresh longer.

 

NOTE: You can also add Homemade Taco Seasoning to the meat and eliminate the dry onion soup mix if you’re trying to maintain a gluten free diet.

 

^© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 429kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 21gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 1104mgPotassium: 445mgFiber: 3gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 577IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 242mgIron: 2mg

Keyword beef, cheese, gluten free, ground beef, main dish, olives, salad, Tex Mex, tomatoes

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!