Black Bean Taco Salad

This easy Black Bean Taco Salad is filled with healthy veggies topped with cheese, sour cream, salsa, and tortilla strips. Seasoned black beans take the place of meat for a deliciously light meatless meal!

this recipe

After all of the holiday eating that we just did and because I always try to start off the new year eating better, I have totally been craving salad this week…and a big taco salad is always tops on my list!

Usually, I make taco salad with the leftover meat, shells, and toppings from the tacos we had for dinner the night before. But sometimes I want a taco salad when we didn’t just have tacos!

And, a lot of those times, I want to go meatless. Most often, it’s because I love eating vegetarian now and then, but sometimes it’s because I don’t have any meat on hand or defrosted – or I just don’t feel like dirtying a pan (you have days like that too, right?).

Black beans make an excellent replacement for meat. Not only are they delicious, they’re full of vitamins, minerals, and protein. For this salad, I toss them with some taco seasoning to make them extra flavorful.

To build the salad, we start off with some crisp romaine lettuce. Then we add the seasoned black beans, red bell peppers, corn, and grape tomatoes.

Last, but definitely not least, are the toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, green onion, and – the best part – crunchy corn tortilla strips (and I highly recommend taking the 15 minutes to make my Quick and Easy Baked Tortilla Strips)!

Doesn’t that all just sound awesome? It so is!!

Side Note: Can I just say that I can’t believe that I buried the black beans under all those toppings so that you can hardly see them in the pictures? Sheesh!

Ingredients you need:

• Romaine lettuce
• Black beans
• Taco seasoning
• Red bell pepper
• Corn
• Grape or cherry tomatoes
• Salt and pepper
• Mexican blend shredded cheese
• Sour cream
• Salsa
• Tortilla strips
• Green onion

You can use canned black beans or home-cooked. I prefer the taste and texture of home-cooked beans. If you have an Instant Pot, they are super easy to make (check out my recipe for Instant Pot Black Beans).

The corn can be fresh, fresh cooked, frozen (thawed), or canned (drained), whichever you prefer.

You might also like my recipes for Homemade Taco Seasoning and Quick and Easy Homemade Salsa.

Here’s a look at how to make Black Bean Taco Salad:

Tips & Tidbits:

• I think this salad is absolutely perfect as is, but feel free to add more or less of any ingredient to suit your own personal tastes.
• Iceberg lettuce can be used instead of romaine lettuce.
• Taco sauce can be used instead of salsa (try my Homemade Taco Sauce).
• I personally think seasoning a salad is important for good flavor, so I recommend adding some salt and pepper to taste before adding the toppings.
• A squeeze of fresh lime juice would be a delicious addition to this salad.
• This recipe makes one big taco salad, but you can easily scale up the recipe to make as much as you need.

Let me tell you, this salad tastes as good as it looks! It’s perfect for lunch or a light dinner when you’re in the mood for some Mexican food.

I hope you try this recipe for Black Bean Taco Salad and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!

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