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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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
Spicy Turkey Taco Salad with Baja Lime Dressing
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 650 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey or chicken
- 2-3 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds (or 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 6 cups mixed leafy greens
- 1 cup cooked black beans
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 mango, diced
- 3/4 cup cubed cheddar cheese
- crushed tortilla chips or strips
Baja Dressing
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 jalapeño, seeded if desired
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
- kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- 1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the turkey and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the chipotle chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.2. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients except the chives in a blender and pulse until mostly smooth. Stir in the chives. Dressing will keep for 1 week in the fridge.3. In a large salad bowl, combine the greens, black beans, avocado, mango, and cheese. Top the salad with the turkey taco meat and then drizzle with the dressing (below). Toss to combine and then top with tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Omg the salads that you make are FIRE. You could make a cookbook just of your salads and I would make everyone 100 times over!
That is so amazing! I am so glad you are loving the salads on my blog Libby! Thank you!
Could you please elaborate on the onion powder listed in the instruction portion of the recipe. Is this a typo or is onion powder needed?
HI! I am so sorry, that is a typo. No onion powder. Recipe fixed! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
The pot stickers were a delicious hit. But important to note they cannot be made ahead of time before cooking; they turn to mush. And they take a lot of time to construct, so you have to have lots of meal prep time for this one! Thank you!
Laura
Thank you Laura! I am so glad you liked these!
Eating this for lunch, its soooo yummy! Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad you are enjoying this! Thank you Nicole!
This is soooooo good and healthy! So easy to prepare! Not a lot of dishes to clean which is amazing during weekdays! Would love meal prep!!!! Please please do!
Thank you so much Viviana! I am so glad you are loving this recipe and I hope you try it!
Looks delish! Unfortunately, I have that unlucky gene where cilantro tastes like soap (which is extra awful because Mexican food is my favorite!) – any suggestions for a substitute? Maybe parsley?
Hey Dee! I would actually use basil, but parsley would be fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
Too spicy for me, but will definitely make again with a little less seasoning. We loved how it felt more complete than a thrown together taco salad but still east! Our dressing was super watery but still tasty.
Hey Molly,
Thanks for making this recipe!! So sorry to hear it was spicy for you! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
Made this for dinner tonight – so good! I make taco salad for dinner fairly regularly, but never thought to dress it with anything more than a bit of salsa and sour cream. This dressing made such a flavor impact! I’m already trying to think of additional ways to use the leftover dressing throughout the week 😀 Loved the chipotle chili powder as well, that will definitely be replacing plain chili powder in my pantry.
I am so glad you enjoyed this Laura! Thank you for trying it out!
I love, love reading your posts and trying your recipes, they are amazing! Yes, more salads please!
Another cookbook in the near future? YES PLEASE!
Thank you so much Sue!
This is a taste explosion, exotic yet familiar. My husband, with his mouth full, said, “this is fantastic!” That dressing I know I will use again and again – so flavorful and zippy. Made this with ground beef because that’s what we had, perfection. Holy chipotle, Batman!
I am so glad you loved this Julie! Thank you for trying it!
I’m all about this salad and the Baja dressing sounds so good!! Can’t wait to make this 🙂
I hope you love this Laura! Thank you so much!
I love the healthy January recipes, and am excited to try this salad!
I think that meal prep ideas/recipes would be great and super helpful : )
I am so glad you are liking Healthy January! Thank you Alicia!
Definitely more salads! I love your big, creative salad recipes!
Thank you so much Christine!
a very nice reprise of a taco salad I used to make but this one is much better with all of the ingredients and the dressing that you’re brought to this elevated version, thank you
Thank you Sabrina!
Oh, wow, I already had a different meal planned for tonight, but decided your Baja dressing would be wonderful compliment to the seared steak salad I had planned. It’s got a great smoky arbol pepper marinade for the meat, so this cool citrusy dressing sounded like it would be a delicious last-minute substitution. I’ll have to try the whole recipe sometime soon.
I hope you love this recipe and especially the dressing tonight! Thank you Nan!
I just made this recipe this evening & it is delicious! It came together quickly & easily. The Baja Dressing is such a bright note to the salad, loved it. I also served it with corn tortillas so we could make wraps out of the salad too. I didn’t have cumin seeds so I used ground cumin & it tasted terrific. I will definitely make it again. Thanks for posting it!
I am so glad you loved this Amy! Thank you!