Making homemade taco salad bowls is so easy and they’re perfect for holding this family-favorite taco salad including seasoned ground beef, black beans, cheese and more! Everything is topped with a creamy lime-cilantro dressing that’ll have everyone finishing their salad!
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: 30-Minute Meals
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: homemade taco bowls, how to make taco salad bowls, taco bowl salad, taco bowl shells, taco salad bowl, taco shell bowls
Servings: 6
Calories: 961kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Tortilla Bowls
6large flour tortillas
4Tablespoonscanola or vegetable oilor as needed
6oven safe bowls
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
2cupsfresh cilantrostems included is fine (1 average bunch)
½cupsour creamlite okay or Greek yogurt can be substituted
¼cupolive oilor use mayonnaise for a thicker dressing
½teaspoonminced garlicor more if desired to taste
½teaspoonground coriander
½teaspoonsaltor more if needed to taste
½teaspoonfreshly ground black pepperor more if needed to taste
½jalapeno finely dicedoptional (remove the seeds to reduce the heat)
2medium limesjuiced
Salad
1poundlean ground beef
1one-ounce package taco seasoning mixor use a homemade version
1cupcorn(canned, frozen or fresh)
6cupsshredded lettuce1 large Romaine head or iceberg may be substituted
1cupdiced tomatoesRoma, cherry, etc.
½cupsliced black olivesoptional
1cupcanned black beansdrained and rinsed (I use low salt)
½cupsour creamlite okay
1avocadosliced or 1 cup guacamole
1cupshredded Mexican blend cheeseor another shredded cheese
1jalapenofinely diced; optional (remove seeds for less heat)
1cupsalsared or green, mild to spicy
¼cupwhite or red onionfinely diced
1large or 2 small limessliced, optional for juicing
1cuplightly crushed chipsDoritos, Fritos, tortilla chips, etc., optional but if not using tortilla bowls recommended for crunch
Instructions
Taco Bowls*
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Preheat a large skillet and add a tablespoon of oil.
Heat a tortilla until it starts to bubble, flip it over, and let it get a couple of bubbles on the second side.
Remove it, place in an oven-safe bowl (such as a French onion soup bowl, mini Le Creuset, or ceramic bowl), pressing down gently making sure not to rip the tortilla, and keeping the sides up. Alternatively, flip the bowl over so the opening of the bowl is face-down on your counter, and lay the tortilla over the bowl, making sure the sides are pressed down over the bowl securely.
Repeat the process with the remaining 5 tortillas.
Place the bowls on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Tap the tortillas to make sure they are nice and crispy before removing. If the bottoms are not crisp enough, bake for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until done. While the bowls are baking, make the Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing.
Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing
Place the cilantro, sour cream, olive oil, garlic, coriander, salt, pepper, optional jalapeno, and lime juice in the canister of a food processor or high speed blender and process until smooth. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
Taco Salad
To a large skillet, add the ground beef, taco seasoning, and brown over medium-high heat, crumbling the beef as it cooks. Although taco seasoning packets usually call for adding water, I don't in this situation but use your judgement if you want more liquidy and saucy ground beef.
After the beef has browned, add the corn, and brown slightly, about 1 minute.
To the baked taco bowls (or large mixing bowl or individual plates), equally divide all the ingredients* including the ground beef, optional olives, black beans, cheese, optional jalapeno, avocado or guacamole, onions, salsa, sour cream, and optional squirt of lime juice.
Evenly drizzle with lime-cilantro dressing and serve immediately. Taco salad bowls are best served fresh.
Notes
*It isn't required to make taco bowls for this recipe. You can use a store bought version or simply serve the salad from a big serving bowl or as a plated salad. If going this route, I strongly encourage you to use the optional but recommended chips so that there's a crunchy element. I use flour tortillas because they aren't as prone to ripping as corn are. However, you can experiment with corn and see how they work for you. ** As mentioned in the blog post, nearly all the ingredients can be omitted or increased in quantity if you don't like something, don't have it on hand, or want more of something. Additionally, many other ingredients can be incorporated. See blog post for ideas and tips!Storage: All ingredients/components will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days if store separately. Lime-Cilantro dressing will also keep for up to 5 days airtight in the fridge. Extra baked tortilla bowls will keep airtight at room temp in a ziptop bag or similar for up to 5 days.