A taco salad for kids made with fresh ingredients. These taco salad bowls are quick and easy to make for any lunch or dinner meal. Customizable to your family and ready to serve in just 10 minutes. Gluten-free instructions included.
A healthy taco salad made with less than 10 ingredients in under 10 minutes!
My family LOVES Mexican…the delicious flavors combined with the fresh ingredients make Mexican dishes a staple in my home.
This recipe was developed in partnership with Produce for Kids.
While traditional tacos will always be a top favorite, this healthy taco salad recipe is definitely a new go-to. Using the Dole Chopped Chipotle & Cheddar Salad Kit is a time saver and is an easy way to encourage my kids to eat more veggies.
The Chopped Chipotle & Cheddar Salad Kit is a mix of green and red cabbage, romaine lettuce, kale, sweet carrots and green onions. Plus, the kit has cheddar cheese, cheddar tortilla strips, and DOLE®’s Chipotle Ranch Dressing. The fact that the kit is approved by both kids & my husband says something… 🙂
Use this as meal prep lunches for the week by dividing the taco salad bowls out into individual containers – leaving the dressing and tortillas off until serving. If you’re going with avocados, wait until right before eating to cut those up or they will turn brown. Simple, healthy, and super tasty!
How To Make
- In a medium pan, brown beef until cooked through. Drain.
- To ground beef, add chili seasoning, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and water. Stir until well blended.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients of the Dole chopped chipotle & cheddar salad kit, except the dressing.
- Add the seasoned ground beef to the salad mixture, stir.
- Drizzle taco salad with dressing.
- Top with additional veggies, if desired, and serve.
TIME SAVER: Use a taco packet instead of adding the seasonings to the ground beef.
WHAT OTHER VEGGIES DO YOU ADD?
I have found that if I add a variety of chopped vegetables to the table, my kids are more likely to add at least 1 vegetable to their meal. For this taco salad, I add the following to the table:
- Cilantro
- Avocado
- Grape or cherry tomatoes
- Red onion
- Jalapeños
- Black olives
DIETITIAN TIP: Add a can of rinsed black beans to the table as a taco salad topping to increase your family’s intake of fiber. 1 cup of beans provides 12g of fiber, which is almost half of the daily requirement!
MEAL PLANNING TIP: Cook a large batch of ground beef when making this recipe. Add to other lunch or dinner dishes throughout the week or freeze for later meals.
More Mexican Dinner Recipes Kids Love
CKC Features both Gluten-Free Guidance and Kids Cooking Instructions: If you’re new to eating gluten-free we understand it’s overwhelming trying to figure out which foods may contain gluten and which ones don’t. All of our gluten-free recipes marked with this symbol ✅ represent foods that need to be checked for gluten or cross-contamination.
The ⭐️ symbol in the recipe below denotes the steps in which kid cooks may need a helper (depending on age). If there is no ⭐️ symbol, that step (or recipe) doesn’t require a helper.
Taco Salad for Kids
Ingredients
- 1 prepackaged salad kit ✅
- 1 pound lean ground beef ✅
- 1 tablespoon chili seasoning ✅
- 1 tablespoon cumin ✅
- 2 teaspoons garlic powdeg ✅
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups water
- Optional: diced tomatoes, avocados, black olives, green peppers, black beans
Instructions
- ⭐️Brown the beef then season. In a medium pan, brown beef until cooked through. Drain. To ground beef, add chili seasoning, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and water. Stir until well blended.1 pound lean ground beef, 1 tablespoon chili seasoning, 1 tablespoon cumin, 2 teaspoons garlic powdeg, 1 teaspoon salt, 4 cups water
- Blend the salad. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients of the salad kit, except the dressing. Add the seasoned ground beef to the salad mixture, stir.1 prepackaged salad kit
- Serve. Drizzle the taco salad with dressing. Top with additional veggies, if desired, and serve.Optional: diced tomatoes, avocados, black olives, green peppers, black beans
Notes
Nutrition
If you enjoyed these recipes make sure to leave a comment and a star rating below!
Then follow us on social media and tag #createkidsclub if you make the recipe. We love seeing what you come up with!
Brit says
I used a sunflower salad kit and it was awesome!