Mexican Side Salad with Creamy Avocado-Cilantro Dressing — A Mexican twist on the classic wedge salad with black beans, peppers, corn, crunchy tortilla strips, and more!! Easy, healthy, and the dressing is so flavorful!!
Simple Mexican Side Salad
One of the things I like to do after I dine a restaurant is see if I can recreate what I ate. And then tweak it to taste exactly how I want it, aka make it better.
This easy and healthy salad was inspired by a similar salad I ate at a restaurant but has more veggies for added texture and the dressing has amazing flavor.
The Mexican salad dressing is an easy blender dressing that comes together in one minute flat and it’s packed with flavor from avocado, cilantro, Greek yogurt, lime juice, green onions, garlic, and a pinch of cayenne. It’s thick, creamy, and reminds me of this Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing but with avocado.
I topped the salad with cheese and baked tortilla strips. The slight saltiness of the cheese and the crunch of the tortilla strips takes the salad from good to great.
Why bother with croutons when you can have tortilla strips?
Mexican Side Salad Ingredients
For the side salad itself, you’ll need:
- Corn tortillas
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Iceberg lettuce
- Corn
- Red bell peppers
- Canned black beans
- Red onion
- Grated queso fresco (or a Mexican cheese blend)
And to make the dressing for the Mexican salad, you’ll need:
- Avocado
- Fresh cilantro
- Greek yogurt
- Lime juice
- Green onion
- Garlic
- Salt, pepper, and optional cayenne pepper
- Granulated sugar
How to Make a Mexican Side Salad
This Mexican wedge salad is very simple to prepare, and the dressing can be made in advance if desired. Here’s a look at how the salad is made:
- Make the tortilla strips: Loosely scatter the tortilla strips onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, and bake until crisp and lightly golden brown.
- Make the salad: Place each wedge of lettuce on a separate plate and evenly sprinkle with corn, red peppers, black beans, and red onion.
- Make the dressing: To the canister of a blender, add the dressing ingredients and blend on high speed until smooth and well combined.
- Drizzle desired amount of dressing over each salad, evenly sprinkle with cheese, tortilla strips, and serve immediately.
Can This Recipe Be Made in Advance?
The dressing can be made in advance, but the salad itself cannot.
You will have extra dressing which will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week. Extra tortilla strips will keep airtight at room temp for up to 5 days.
Tips for Making This Mexican Green Salad
The salad is naturally vegetarian (vegan if you use vegan cheese or omit it) and gluten-free.
You don’t have to use iceberg lettuce if you don’t care to make this as a wedge salad. You can just as easily make the Mexican side salad using spinach, Romaine, or another leafy green.
If the dressing is too thick, add a tablespoon of water at a time to the blender to loosen it up.
What to Serve with a Mexican Side Salad
This green salad is an easy side dish to pair with your favorite Tex-Mex or Mexican entrees! Try the salad with:
- Taco Spaghetti
- Chicken Salsa Verde Enchiladas
- Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Loaded Vegetarian Burritos
- Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Loaded Ground Beef Nachos
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Mexican Side Salad with Creamy Avocado-Cilantro Dressing
Ingredients
Salad
- 8 small, 4-inch corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, cored and quartered into wedges
- ½ cup corn, I used frozen
- ½ cup red bell peppers, diced small
- ½ cup cooked black beans
- ½ cup red onion, finely minced
- 1 cup grated queso fresco, a shredded Mexican cheese blend may be substituted
Dressing
- 1 medium ripe Hass avocado, peeled and pitted
- 1 ½ to 2 cups cilantro leaves from about 1 medium bunch cilantro, stems discarded, loosely packed in measuring cup
- 6 ounces Greek yogurt, I used 0% fat; sour cream may be substituted
- 3 to 4 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 green onion, trimmed and sliced into about 6 segments
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
- ½ to 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, optional and to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water, optional and as necessary for consistency
Instructions
- Make the tortilla strips: Preheat oven to 375F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or foil to save cleanup time, loosely scatter the tortilla strips, evenly drizzle with olive oil, evenly sprinkle with kosher salt, toss with hands to coat evenly, and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until crisp and lightly golden brown; set aside. While strips bake, assemble the salad.
- Make the salad: Place each wedge of lettuce on a separate plate and evenly sprinkle each wedge with corn, red peppers, black beans, and red onion; set aside.
- Make the dressing: To the canister of a blender, add the avocado, cilantro, Greek yogurt, lime juice, green onions, garlic, salt, pepper, optional cayenne pepper, sugar, and blend on high speed until smooth and well combined. If necessary for consistency, add the water. Taste dressing to check for seasoning balance and make any necessary adjustments, i.e. more salt, pepper, sugar, lime juice, etc.
- Drizzle desired amount of dressing over each salad, evenly sprinkle with cheese, tortilla strips, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Mexican Salad Ideas:
Loaded Chicken Taco Salad with Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing – Fast, easy, fresh and healthy! All your favorite taco flavors in one big kickin’ salad that everyone will love!
Avocado, Black Bean and Corn Salad with Lime-Cumin Vinaigrette – Everything tastes better with avocado! Easy, healthy and tons of flavor!
Mexican Bean Salad — Such a fast and easy recipe to make! Plus, it’s loaded with flavor and textures galore. Two kinds of beans, juicy corn and tomatoes, crisp peppers, and green onions are tossed in a lime-chili-cumin vinaigrette that’s perfectly light!!
Creamy Corn and Zucchini Salad — A healthy EASY salad that’s ready in 15 minutes and so flavorful!! Corn, zucchini, cilantro, queso fresco and more are tossed in a DELISH creamy lime sauce!!
Layered Taco Salad — A classic taco salad that everyone LOVES, it’s EASY, and it’s ready in 20 minutes!! There’s ground beef, refried beans, red peppers, tortilla chips, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes!!
Taco Pasta Salad — EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and loaded with great Mexican-inspired ingredients including corn, black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, and more!! Perfect for picnics, parties, and potlucks!!