Dorito Taco Salad with Catalina Dressing

This Taco Salad with Catalina Dressing is such an easy dinner recipe, that has tons of flavor! In less than 30 minutes, this taco salad recipe is ready for dinner, similar to this Doritos Nachos recipe!

Nacho Cheese chips (such as Doritos) combined with seasoned taco meat, iceberg lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, Catalina salad dressing, optional green onions, and any of your other favorite taco toppings, make this one of our favorite dinner recipes and even salad recipes!

Any way I can get a salad in to my meal plan for the family, it’s a win! Yes, I may be adding Doritos to the salad, but that crunch combined with the softness of the ground beef and the cold crisp lettuce, is delicious.

Jump to:

• Key Ingredients
• Instructions
• Taco Salad Topping Ideas
• Recipe FAQs
• What to Serve with Catalina Dressing Taco Salad
• How do you Store Leftover Taco Salad?
• More Taco Recipes You’ll Love
• Recipe
• Comments

Key Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Catalina dressing taco salad! (Plus any other fun toppings you may want to include. I’ll give my favorite taco topping ideas below, too!)

• Ground Beef – Once the ground beef is cooked, you’ll want to drain any excess grease. You could also use ground turkey, chicken (like our chicken street tacos), or even ground pork if you prefer. Or, mix things up by using grilled shrimp, or even salmon, shredded beef (like in our shredded beef tacos) or juicy steak bites.
• Chips – Our favorite chips for this recipe are nacho cheese chips (we also used them in this Dorito Chicken Casserole) but you may also choose to use other flavors, such as ranch, taco-flavored or plain! Or, you may also find that you want to use corn chips, such as Fritos like we used in this walking taco casserole.
• Cheese – Shredded cheddar cheese is delicious on taco salad. We highly recommend shredded it yourself if you can but pre-shredded from the store is easier and a great option! You can also use pepperjack, fiesta blend shredded cheese or even shredded Colby Jack cheese.
• Lettuce – Crispy, iceberg lettuce is a popular option for taco salad but you can also use romaine and even a mix of spinach and your favorite lettuce.
• Seasoning – to keep things easy I used a storebought package of taco seasoning but you can also make your own taco seasoning out of spices that you probably have on hand!

Find a complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Instructions

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

If making this for dinner and want to make it as one big batch, it’s best to serve it right after mixing it all together since the lettuce can get soggy (even though my husband actually preferred it this way, so you may too).

Making it for a crowd? Taking it to a potluck? Keeping the items separately and combining them right before serving, is best. (Also see our other salad recipes for a crowd.) Or, you can also make individual servings by layering items together on each plate.

STEP 1: Cook beef. Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat, and drain any grease after it is fully cooked.

STEP 2: Taco seasoning. Mix the taco seasoning and cooked ground beef together. TIP: Some packets of taco seasoning call for water – and that’s ok to add it to this as well. However, we only add a splash of water instead of what the packet calls for, so it doesn’t make the taco salad watery.

STEP 3: Chop lettuce. Make sure your head lettuce has been washed, and dried (we love using this salad spinner), and chop or tear the lettuce in to small, bite-size pieces.

STEP 4: Assemble. Depending on how you plan to serve this taco salad, could depend on how you handle this step:

→ If serving to a crowd: it’s a great idea to place all of the chopped lettuce in to a large serving bowl or on a platter. Then, top with cooked seasoned taco meat, shredded cheese, crushed Doritos, and Catalina dressing, and toss then serve.

→ If serving individual servings: this recipe divides in to 4 separate servings really well. So using a ¼ of each ingredient for one serving (i.e. lettuce, taco meat, chips, cheese, dressing) on a serving plate/bowl, will help make sure that leftovers won’t get soggy whether you store them for later, or someone eats at a different time than you.

Recipe FAQs

What to Serve with Catalina Dressing Taco Salad

A delicious guacamole recipe, quick pico de gallo, or cowboy queso pairs wonderfully with taco salad and they can also be great additional toppings!

Or this cold taco dip is great for serving a crowd as well, and this hot taco dip next to a cool taco salad is a great pair!

How do you Store Leftover Taco Salad?

As I mentioned earlier, if you plan to have leftovers, it’s best to store the ingredients separately so the lettuce and chips do not get soggy. However, sometimes that’s not how it works out and you’ll have leftover taco salads that have already been mixed together, and that’s ok!

Simply store the individual ingredients in the refrigerator (besides the chips), or store the mixed taco salad in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.

If you find that you have leftover taco meat that you won’t be using for a taco salad, here are my favorite ways for using leftover taco meat.

More Taco Recipes You’ll Love

If you’re a taco lover like we are in our house, I know you’re going to also love these taco reader favorites:

Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!

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