Quick and Healthy Taco Salad
Quick and Healthy Taco Salad
If you want to know how to make an easy taco salad, try this low calorie, healthy taco salad with homemade healthy refried beans. Unlike most restaurant versions, this quick and healthy taco salad is low fat, low cholesterol, plant based and oh, so good!
You might wonder what goes in a Quick and Healthy Taco Salad?
Just about anything I can think of! I added homemade, healthy refried beans, quinoa taco filling, shredded non-dairy cheese, lettuce, tomato, scallions, homemade salsa, and I topped it with a non-dairy sour cream that is so easy to make you won’t believe it!
This taco salad has so much flavor your family is going to flip for it! You won’t need to run to the border after you find out how easy this salad is to make!
First layer is the taco salad bowl itself.
How do you make a tortilla bowl? Well, I tried three different ways of making the taco bowl –
- placing a tortilla over the outside of a greased mixing bowl
- placing a tortilla on the inside of a greased mixing bowl
- placing a tortilla in a small greased skillet
I preferred the shape of #1, however you really have to grease the bowl well and twist a little to get the tortilla off without breaking it. Let’s just say, it was challenging. So, I’m suggesting #2 or #3, depending on how large of a salad you would like. #2 will give you a smaller bowl and smaller salad and #3 will be larger. It’s really up to you.
You can use a Pyrex bowl, they are oven safe at this temperature.
Click HERE to learn How To Make a Tortilla Bowl for Taco Salads.
Second layer is the homemade healthy refried beans.
You can use any bean you like – kidney, pinto or black. I prefer black beans, so that’s what I used. This was one of those times where I thought, “what took me so long to make my own refried beans?!”
They are so simple to make and make them healthy. I typically buy organic refried beans, so it costs me a little cash. These are much more inexpensive and only take a few minutes. I made them while my tortilla bowl was baking. EZ!
Click HERE to find the Easy Healthy Refried Beans recipe. YUM!
Third layer is the quinoa taco filling.
You can totally skip this layer and your taco salad will still be delicious, however the quinoa filling adds a really nice texture and seasoning. If you have time, I definitely recommend it. I put my spin on Minimalist Bakers recipe by adding a little more seasoning and omitting the salsa and I shaved off a few minutes of cooking time.
Next layer is the veg!
You can add lettuce, tomato, onions, black olives, avocado, scallions… whatever veg you love on your tacos. Keep in mind the calorie count for this Quick and Healthy Taco Salad doesn’t include olives or avocado, so budget accordingly.
Then comes the non-dairy cheese.
You can create your own cashew cheese or keep it super easy and use store bought non-dairy cheese. I typically use Daiya cheddar cheese.
Final layer is non-dairy sour cream.
Are you ready for the easiest sour cream recipe – EVER?! I used 1 container of Forager Organic Non-dairy Plain Cashew Yogurt and mixed it with 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Done! Simple, Easy, Tangy and makes a lot.
It’s not as thick as dairy sour cream, but you don’t have the cholesterol, fat and allergies either.
Check out how Quick and Healthy this Taco Salad really is –
Quick and Healthy Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 4 tortilla bowls
- 2 cups easy healthy refried beans
- 2 cups quinoa taco filling
- 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 jalapeno, chopped optional
- 4 scallions chopped
- 1/2 cup salsa
- 1/2 cup non-dairy cheese
- 1/2 cup non-dairy sour cream
- 1 handful cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Bake Tortilla Bowl.
- While Tortilla Bowl is baking, make refried beans.
- Layer 1/2 cup of refried beans in the bottom of the tortilla bowl.
- Layer 1/2 cup of quinoa taco filling on top of the refried beans.
- Layer lettuce, tomatoes, onion, scallions and jalapeno (if using).
- Top with salsa, non-dairy cheese and non-dairy sour cream.
- Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
Nutrition
I used to run to the border and eat the taco salads, but this salad is –
SO MUCH BETTER!!
You will save 423 calories! 36 grams fat! 101 mg cholesterol!
If you want to make your own salsa (SO EASY), check out this recipe for Chipotle Salsa in my FREE E Book – A Few Small Bites: Healthier Versions of Classic Snacks.
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