Taco Salad with Catalina Dressing

Chopped vegetables with seasoned ground beef in bowl.

4.67 from 6 votes. Tap stars to vote

It's at home on the appetizer table or as a casual dinner! Taco Salad with Catalina Dressing has loads of fresh, chopped veggies, spicy ground beef, and a sweet-spicy flavor.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Total Time35

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Servings: servings

Calories: 546kcal

Author: Nancy Mock

Ingredients

2¼ cups sweet corn sliced from approximately 3 cooked ears of corn on the cob, or use frozen or canned corn kernels
2 medium tomatoes (I use Roma tomatoes)
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
4½ ounces can diced green chiles
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup Catalina dressing (sometimes labeled as California French)
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (or cheddar cheese)
Tortilla Chips

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the veggies:

Put the corn kernels into a large bowl. Slice the tomatoes in half; scoop out the seeds, then dice them. Add the diced tomatoes to the bowl.
Slice open the green and red bell peppers, remove the membranes and seeds, then dice the peppers. Add these to the bowl with the corn and tomatoes. Pour the green chiles (with the liquid) in as well, and stir all of the veggies together. Hold this aside while you cook the beef.

Cook the beef:

Crumble the ground beef into a medium-sized skillet and brown it over medium heat. When all of the beef is browned, drain off the excess grease then add the spices to the pan: chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, black pepper and oregano, along with a ½ cup of water.
Stir the spices and water in with the beef and bring everything to a simmer. Cook the mixture for 3 to 5 minutes until the beef is fully seasoned and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat.

Assemble the salad:

Spoon the beef and sauce into the bowl of veggies. Pour in the Catalina dressing; stir to combine the beef, veggies, and dressing. Sprinkle in the shredded Mexican-blend cheese and fold it into the salad.
Serve the taco salad immediately with tortilla chips: portion it into bowls if you're having it for dinner like we do! You can set the whole bowl of taco salad out as an appetizer with a big bowl of tortilla chips next to it.
Leftover taco salad can be stored in a covered container for up to 2 days. Makes about 10 cups.

Notes

Use cooked, fresh sweet corn sliced right off the cob if it's in season. Otherwise, use good-quality canned or frozen sweet corn instead.
I like Roma tomatoes because they have fewer seeds and thick walls—so you get a lot of diced tomato with less mess! Romas are great to use in salsas, too.
Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to two days

Nutrition