This vegetarian taco salad is so quick and easy. It’s perfect to put in a Mason jar, and it’s great for lunch or for dinner!
I mentioned a while back that we’ve been eating salads pretty much every day for lunch lately…the Asian chicken salad and this vegetarian taco salad have emerged as my favorites. I know that it seems kind of obvious for me to tell you how to make a taco salad. Um, duh. Lettuce, meat and/or beans, cheese, toppings, chips….taco salad. The thing is, though, that if it hadn’t been for my aunt making this vegetarian taco salad when she was visiting a couple of summers ago, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it. Again, really? After I had it I felt really dopey. The difference between this and the taco salads that I was used to is that this is more salad and less chip, whereas the taco “salads” I’d always eaten were more about the chips (or the fried bowl) than about anything that one would otherwise recognize as a salad.
There are a lot of great things about this vegetarian taco salad. First of all, since there’s no meat, you can pack it all (besides the chips) up in a Mason jar for an easy lunch, no microwave or assembly required. Second, you can leave out the cheese and the sour cream or ranch dressing (or use cashew cream) for a vegan version. Third, um, this salad just tastes goooood. And it’s super easy…you can cook your own beans like I do because I’m cheap like that, or you can open a can and do 0 cooking to get this salad.
If you need a break from your standard lunch (or dinner, really), make my vegetarian taco salad (and I won’t even get upset if you add meat….)!
Yield: 1 salad
10 minPrep Time:
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Ingredients
- 2-3 cups chopped romaine lettuce (about 5-6 leaves or half a romaine heart)
- 1/2 cup cooked black beans, well drained
- 1 ounce cheddar cheese, shredded or cut into cubes (omit for vegan version)
- 1/4 avocado, diced
- 1 tablespoon salsa
- 1 tablespoon ranch dressing, sour cream, or cashew cream (or omit and use 2 tablespoons of salsa)
- 5 or 6 tortilla chips
- other taco toppings, optional
Instructions
- For a plated salad, place the lettuce on a plate and top with the black beans, cheese, avocado, and any other desired toppings. Stir together the salsa and dressing/sour cream/cashew cream and drizzle over the salad. Top with crumbled chips and serve immediately.
- To assemble into a Mason jar salad: stir together the salsa and dressing/sour cream/cashew cream in the bottom of a 1-quart wide-mouthed Mason jar. Add the avocado, then the cheese, then the black beans. Add the lettuce last and top with the lids. Refrigerate or pack in a lunchbox with an icepack until ready to serve. Pack chips separately. If you want to add other toppings, you can put them in the jar as well, just be sure that you place "wet" ingredients under the beans and away from the lettuce.
Click here to print the recipe for vegetarian taco salad!
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