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Making Thursday night tacos a thing, with this Spicy Turkey Taco Salad with Baja Dressing. Chipotle chili seasoned turkey taco meat, mixed with fresh greens, black beans, avocado, mango, and a little cheddar cheese too. Topped with tortilla chips for crunch, and finished with a creamy Baja style dressing that’s spicy and cooling. SO GOOD. If you’re looking for a non-boring salad, this is it!

overhead photo of Spicy Turkey Taco Salad with Baja Dressing

Raise your hand if you ate tacos at least once or twice a week growing up? My brothers and I were served ground beef tacos all the time as kids. Tacos were an easy, quick dinner that my dad could make in under 30 minutes. They were a dinner that every single one of his kids would eat. So all 7 of us…

OK. So back then Asher was non-existent (which is soooo weird to think about life without Asher!), and Red was just a baby. So I guess it was more like 5 of his kids. Still, we all ate them, and we all loved them. Mom and I preferred hard shells with melted cheddar. While the boys ate theirs rolled up in a flour tortilla burrito style. Absolutely nothing fancy about it, but we loved them.

Still do.

And no, we definitely were not eating mango salsa back then. Though it would have been really good, and I wish we did.

raw limes

It’s really hard to believe, but I don’t have a ground beef taco recipe on HBH. I have plenty of other taco recipes, but nothing like the tacos we ate as kids. Probably because they were nothing that special. But I don’t know, maybe I can come up with something good to share some day soon.

In the meantime, I have this taco salad. It’s DELICIOUS, and much, much better than the tacos we ate as kids. Both mom and dad agree.

It’s big, it’s green, and loaded with spicy homemade turkey taco meat, black beans, mangos, avocado, cheese, tortilla chips, and topped with the best Baja style dressing. Again…delicious! And not boring, which is very important when it comes to salad eating around here. I like my salads loaded, colorful, sprinkled with carbs, and always topped with cheese.

Baja dressing

Here are the details.

For the taco meat, I seasoned it with smoky chipotle chili powder, smoked paprika, and cumin. I love this combo, as it leaves the meat really flavorful, a touch smoky, and not too spicy.

For the greens, I know romaine is traditional in a taco salad. But I wanted to use a green that would hold up well for meal prepping, and also be good for taking on the go. So I went with kale. It’s a little thicker and tends to wilt less than romaine. It’s the perfect green to make a salad with the night before. That said, you can of course use whatever leafy green you love most!

To finish this salad off, I went with a Baja Dressing. Oh how I love this dressing! It’s creamy, cooling, spicy, extra limey, and addicting. The dressing alone makes you want to eat salad. It kind of reminds me of a spicy ranch, but so much better. I used plain greek yogurt to keep it creamy, fresh jalapeños for some spice, a little honey to balance everything, and then fresh cilantro and chives for a somewhat herby flavor.

Trust me, it’s one of the better salad dressings I’ve ever made.

close up photo of Spicy Turkey Taco Salad with Baja Dressing

This is the perfect salad to meal prep with too! You can make everything ahead of time. Even tossing the salad together and then packaging it up in glass containers (these are my favorite). I recommend keeping the meat and greens separate, just in case you might want to reheat the meat (which I like to do).

Just as much fun as a desk salad as it is as for a nice weeknight dinner!

PS. I’d love to know if you guys are enjoying these healthy January recipes. I’m trying to keep them, fun, fresh, and filling, all at the same time! Let me know if you’d like to see more salads! Or maybe some meal prep?

If you make this turkey taco salad, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!