Easy Dinner (AKA: Mom Hack): Easy Taco Salad Recipe

Alright. Full disclosure here. This is barely even a recipe. It’s actually a solution. Easy Taco Salad.

We have been running wide open around here with summer and sports and everything in between and somewhere during all the chaos we found ourself sitting around the dinner table eating a thrown together (literally) easy taco salad meal out of pie plates. For reals. You might remember that I’m a huge fan of pie plates. (see my watermelon pie plate mom hack here) They come in so handy, are easy to wash and they have really high sides which prevent from spillage. Thus: the perfect way to serve a thrown together (literally) easy taco salad. (see where I’m going with this?)

Here’s why I find this shareable. While eating this recipe the first night, my hubby said “I could actually eat this once a week!”. I made note. We eat it once a week. Maybe more. Maybe way too much more, but whatevs. It’s yummy, easy, actually pretty healthy and clean up is a breeze.

Taco Salad Ingredients

I realize I won’t be winning any big recipe awards with this one, but that’s the beauty of the recipe. It’s kind of about throwing whatever you have on hand into a pie plate. Maybe I should re-name it “Surprise Taco Salad”?

Since it does require a few main ingredients, I’ve gotten into the habit of making sure that I have most things on hand: cooked ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, chili beans (we actually change up the beans based on what we have: black, garbanzo, kidney), shredded cheese, onions, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce, Doritos and either catalina or ranch dressing. Honestly, as long as you have a few of the basics, you can’t go wrong. The point is to chop up whatever it is that you have on hand, and making a meal out of it. If your garden is producing, even better! Some of our best versions of this salad came from nights when we were literally plucking things out of the garden boxes.

Taco Salad Instructions

Chop it all up and throw it all together. This is where the pie plates come in handy. We each grab an empty pie plate and I toss a couple of handfuls of lettuce into each one and let each person add items to their salad as desired.

I’m telling you, this is truly the easiest meal ever but what I love about it even more is that it’s also really delicious and the end result is that we are all sitting around the table together with our big pie plates full of fresh and yummy taco salad. Honestly, such a mom win and a game changer.