Dorito Taco Salad

Let Summer begin with Dorito Taco Salad a favorite Pot Luck Salad Recipe everyone loves loaded with taco meat, black olives, romaine lettuce, and fresh veggies.  Topped with Ranch Dressing, Catalina Dressing, French Dressing, and crunchy Doritos. 

I love a traditional Taco Salad that has a hot meat sauce over cool lettuce and topped with other vegetables, cheese, and sour cream.  But this Dorito Taco Salad is a Pot Luck Winner! 

I want to show you how you can level up your summer salad game with a delicious taco salad the whole family will love and this recipe will soon be among your favorite easy dinners.

With lots of flavor even Taco Tuesday will be the best yet!  I promise.

Serves 6  |  Ready in 30 mins  |  Perfect for Dinner  |  6Qt Instant Pot

Dorito Taco Salad Recipe

Let's get to the nitty gritty, shall we?  I'm showing you how I make Dorito Taco Salad Recipe in the Instant Pot, but you can always cook up the ground beef or ground turkey on the stove just as easy.  The key is the meat mixture and using the Instant Pot means I am hands free while it's processing.  

This gives me the extra time I need to cut bell peppers into small pieces, dice up red onions or green onions, and rinse and drain pinto beans, kindney beans or even black beans.  

So choose the cooking method that works best for you!

What’s in Dorito Taco Salad?

The ingredients for Dorito Taco Salad Recipe are all pretty simple. 

This recipe can whip together in about 30 minutes and perfect for a family gathering or picnic in the park watch your child’s sport event.

• Lean Ground Beef, Ground Turkey, or even a combination of Ground Pork and Ground Hamburger.
• Lettuce - Romaine Lettuce, Green Leaf Lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce torn or cut into bite size pieces.
• Cherry Tomatoes - Leave tomatoes whole or slice in half.  Roma tomatoes diced are wonderful too
• Olives - Whole or slice, black olives add fun flavor and texture to taco salad.
• Cheese - Fiesta or Mexican blend cheese, medium cheddar, pepper jack cheese or even sharp shredded cheddar cheese add flavor
• Beans - Choose your favorite bean from Pinto Beans, Navy Beans, Black Beans, or Kidney Beans.  There is no wrong choice here.
• Bell Pepper - Red, Yellow, Orange or Green.  Dice up a Bell Pepper and add to the mix.  I love the fresh flavor it adds along with the crunch.
• Doritos - Nacho Cheese Doritos, Cool Ranch Doritos, Spicy Sweet Chili, Spicy Nacho Chips and if you can get your hand on a bag of the newer Sweet and Tangy BBQ Doritos I think they would be delicious in this recipe too!
• Dressing - Catalina Dressing is always a winner but why not try Ranch Dressing, French Dressing, or your favorite Salad Dressings including Salsa Ranch.  Yum!

How to make Dorito Taco Salad Recipe?

I like to use my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker to cook the ground beef.  But like I mentioned earlier, cooking ground beef on the stove top might be your jam.  Choose what works for you.  For me, It’s super simple to place 1 pound of ground beef on the trivet with 1 cup of water in the bottom so I can be hands free to do other things while it's cooking.

Set your Instant Pot for 9 minutes on high and allow a 5 minute natural pressure release.  When you release the pressure and open the lid make sure to discard the liquid and juices below.  Quickly rinse out the pot liner and then place the cooked ground beef back into the Instant Pot.

​Using a wooden spoon works best to break up the ground hamburger into smaller bite size pieces.  And if for some reason you find any portions that are still pink, just turn on the Saute Button and cook those portions.

Add a packet of McCormicks Taco Seasoning, store-bought taco seasoning or make your own blend and add to the cooked hamburger. 

Now to mix up the salad portion of this yummy taco salad.  In a separate bowl combine the shredded cheese, beans, olives, head of iceberg lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes and anything else you want to add as toppings and toss to combine. Then add cooled seasoned hamburger and toss again.  

Right before serving mix in some crushed Doritos Chips and 1 Cup Catalina Dressing and toss to combine.  But remember there are different kinds of dressings that you can use in this recipe.  

So change it up and have some fun! Serve Immediately and enjoy.

Is Dorito Taco Salad Healthy?

Taco Salad is a light refreshing Salad recipe that is a healthier meal option.  Loaded with fresh ingredients you can control the amount of excess calories in this recipe pretty easily.  Use a light dressing to reduce calories.

Walking Taco

Have you ever had a Walking Taco?  Let me tell you, it’s so fun! 

Take a Dorito Snack Bag and open it up, add lettuce, seasoned hamburger, cheese, tomatoes, olives, and kidney beans. 

Drizzle some Catalina Dressing on top and close the top of the bag and shake. 

It's like enjoying a salad right in the chip bag.  Perfect for Summer BBQ's, Campouts, youth activities, and family reunions too.  

Then eat your meal right out of the bag!  It’s a camping favorite.  The Walking Taco!  And the clean up is a cinch too! 

More Summer Pot Luck Salad Recipes

• Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
• Pepperoni Pasta Salad
• Strawberry Poppyseed Pasta Salad
• BLT Pasta Salad
• Taco Pasta Salad
• Mushroom and Garlic Noodles
• Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes with a creamy Pasta Sauce
• Ramen Pad Thai

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4.57 from 23 votes

Dorito Taco Salad Recipe

Your family will love this tossed Dorito Taco Salad Recipe loaded with so many yummy flavors. Add tomatoes, Cheese, Beans, Olives, Hamburger, Catalina Dressing and of course Doritos Chips!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Additional Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Devour Dinner

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 -8 Servings

Calories: 400kcal

Author: Devour Dinner

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1 Tb Crushed Garlic
• ½ Cup Yellow Bell Pepper
• 4 oz Sliced Olives
• 1 Cup Cheese
• 1 Bunch Green Onions
• 12-15 Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 Small Iceberg Lettuce
• 1 Can Kidney Beans
• 2 Tbs Taco Seasoning
• ½ Bag Doritos Nacho Chips
• 1 Cup Catalina Dressing

Instructions

• Instant Pot Directions
• Place 1 cup of water in bottom of Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker and place 1lb of ground hamburger on trivet. Sprinkle crushed garlic on top.
• Close lid and close pressure valve and set to Manual (Pressure Cook) High for 9 Minutes with a 6 minute Natural Release (NR)
• Turn Off Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker. Remove excess liquid and Trivet. Place cooked hamburger in Instant Pot and with a wooden spoon break cooked hamburger apart.
• Add Taco Seasoning and stir. Allow Hamburger mixture to cool while you prepare remaining ingredients.
• Note: If Hamburger is still pink, turn Instant Pot to Saute' and cook until hamburger reaches 165 Degrees F.
• Prepare Salad:
• Wash, Rinse and Drain Lettuce. Chop Lettuce into bite size pieces and place in large bowl
• Finely chop Green Onions and add to bowl
• Rinse and Drain Kidney Beans and olives and add to bowl
• Slice Cherry Tomatoes in half and add to bowl
• Add grated Cheese and Diced Yellow Bell Pepper to bowl
• Add Cooled Seasoned Hamburger
• Add Crushed Dorito Nacho Chips
• Pour 1 Cup Catalina Dressing on top and Toss to coat.
• Serve Immediately

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 400kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 66mg | Sodium: 858mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g

Did you make this recipe?Mention @devourdinner or tag us #devourdinner!

Recipe updated April 2023