Cool Ranch Doritos Taco Salad is so simple to make and will be loved by even the pickiest eaters. It combines the great flavors of taco salad with deliciously spicy Cool Ranch Doritos in one tasty salad entree.
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All you need are some common ingredients that you probably already have: a bowl, tortilla chips, taco seasoning mix, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and Cool Ranch Doritos!
It’s an easy recipe for lunch or dinner. Get ready to have your taste buds sing!
The inspiration behind this salad is the Doritos Los Taco. You know, the one that makes you go, “Wow!”
Let’s take a look at how to make this easy salad that has lots of flavor and is perfect for a weeknight meal.
📝 Ingredients
For this tasty taco salad recipe, you need the following:
INGREDIENTS FOR TACO SALAD
- a pound lean ground beef
- taco seasoning
- Cool Ranch Doritos
- lettuce mixture
- tomatoes diced (or 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half)
- shredded cheese
- cucumber
- black olives
- Ranch Dressing
👩🏻🍳 How To Make Cool Ranch Doritos Taco Salad
It’s a really easy salad to make. Really. (I think I might have mentioned that a time or two already.)
Cook ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat until it is no longer pink. For best results, drain cooked ground beef on a paper towel to drain the grease. Place the cooked beef back in the pan and add the taco seasoning (follow the directions on the packet).
Once the beef mixture has cooked, set it aside.
Assembling the Salad
Place a layer of crushed Cool Ranch Doritos on a plate. (You can use a baked tortilla bowl, but I don’t recommend it.)
You can either crush the chips directly on the plate or you can crush them in the bag.
Next, the following ingredients top the chips:
- lettuce
- chopped cucumbers
- shredded cheese
- seasoned ground beef
- cherry tomatoes
- olives
- Ranch dressing
✏️ Recipe Notes
Make this salad your own. Top it with your favorite toppings. Below are some items that go well with this salad:
- pinto beans or black beans (simply drain them and add them to the salad)
- chili beans
- avocado
- chopped cilantro
- restaurant style salsa
- lime wedges
🔄 Substitutions and Variations
Lettuce – Shredded lettuce, pre-cut Romaine lettuce, chopped iceberg lettuce, or a prepackage blend of lettuces work well.
Cheese – Use your favorite cheese. Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, Mexican cheese blend, and Cheddar cheese are good options.
Taco Seasoning – You can make your own homemade taco seasoning by combining chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Salad Dressing – While Ranch dressing is the default for this recipe, Avocado-Lime Dressing or Jalapeno Ranch are also good options.
Ground beef – You can replace the beef with ground chicken or ground turkey.
🙋🏻♀️ FAQ
Yes and no. You can prep all of the items and store them in the refrigerator separately. When you are ready to make the salad, reheat the meat in the microwave until it is warm throughout. After the meat has warmed, then you can assemble the salad. You don’t want to store warm meat with cool salad ingredients.
📖 Recipe
Tossed Cool Ranch Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 1 Cool Ranch Doritos
- 1 8 oz. package shredded lettuce
- 1-2 to matoes diced (or 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half)
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- 1 cucumber peeled, sliced, and cut into quarters
- 1 small can of sliced black olives
- Ranch Dressing
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in skillet until thoroughly cooked. Add taco seasoning and cook according to directions on package. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Hold bag of Doritos in both hands and crush chips.
- Place small layer of chips on plate. Next, add shredded lettuce. Top with ground beef, tomatoes, cheese, cucumbers, and olives.
- Drizzle with Ranch dressing.
Video
Nutrition
I like to add one more layer of crunch by adding a few more crushed Doritos to the top after I have drizzled Ranch dressing on top.
Love Salads?
Be sure to check out these other delicious salad recipes:
- Spicy Roasted Corn, Chicken, and Avocado Salad – This salad is a refreshing, unique way to use fresh corn.
- Low Carb Italian Salad – This salad is perfect when you want to eat your veggies and still keep your carb intake on the low side.
- Wendy’s Southwest Avocado Salad – No, this isn’t a recipe for how to make Wendy’s delicious salad. However, it’s great for those times when you just don’t want to “cook” anything.
- Zaxby’s Salads – Zaxby’s also has delicious salads – have you tried any?
Don’t Forget To Come Back And Let Me Know How Your Taco Salad Turned Out!
Brittney says
Making This Tonight;)
Ty @ Mama of 3 Munchkins says
This looks very yummy!
Kelly @ A Girl Worth Saving says
That looks SOOO good.
Sheri says
I love Taco Salad! This looks delicious.
Elaina- @atimeout4mommy says
It’s almost 8:30 am and you have me drooling
Lisa says
Yum!!
Stefani says
I don’t normally like taco salad but yours looks delicious.
Leilani says
This looks yummy!
Marcie W. says
Way a great way to spice up a salad.
Angela@AboutAMom says
My family always enjoys a taco salad, yum!
Donna says
We love tacos and my hubby loves for me to make them… so this will be made in my home soon! 🙂
courtney says
I absolutely love tacos!
Anne - Mommy Has to Work says
Yumm! I could totally eat that!
Theresa says
This looks so good.
patti says
We used to make it with Fritos
Katy says
We love taco salad. I actually made it the night I went into labor with Bella. I think about that every time I have one.
Kathleen says
I am usually not a salad lover, but that is one salad I could definitely get into.
Andy Grant says
One word: Yum!
Mellisa says
All you had to say was Cool Ranch! yum 🙂
Jennifer @TheRebelChick says
That looks delicious!
Crystal @ Simply Being Mommy.com says
Yum, that looks tasty.
Maryann says
we used to make something similar to this.
Penelope (NYC Blogger) says
Ooh, yummy, I want this for lunch!