Taco Salad Meal Prep

5 from 12 votes

This Taco Salad Meal Prep is a healthy way to change up your meals with a Tex Mex inspired salad bowl filled with taco beef, lettuce, salsa and guacamole!

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If you’re looking for more fun meal prep ideas like my last chicken meal prep, consider making a taco salad! You can load it up with lettuce, beef, chicken or turkey and all your favorite toppings. It’s a healthy, easy way to prep lunch for the week.

Taco salads prepped in glass meal prep containers

What goes in a taco salad bowl

If you’re trying to figure out what goes into a taco salad bowl, it’s really whatever you’d like. I always recommend some type of protein as the base. That could be ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey or even chicken breast or steak cut into bite-sized pieces. For a vegetarian taco bowl, consider mixing black beans and corn and even adding a grain to it like brown rice or quinoa.

Otherwise, fill up the taco salad bowl with lettuce, tomatoes (or salsa) and anything else you would normally top your taco with. I like including shredded cheese, guacamole or avocado, sour cream and diced green chiles.

Ingredients for the recipe: taco beef, lettuce, salsa, cheese, green chiles

How to make taco salad bowls

Once you have your ingredients prepped, it’s all about making the taco salad bowls. If you’re using the meal prep containers like I am, I recommend keeping the lettuce and the protein separate. You want the lettuce to stay crispy and fresh after a few days in the fridge so it’s best to keep it dry and divided.

Three clear glass meal prep containers with lettuce

Then, add in the taco beef or whatever protein you’re using and all the accompaniments. For taco salad meal prep purposes, I love using small reusable containers within the meal prep containers to keep the accompaniments separate. This is especially great for salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Three clear glass meal prep containers with lettuce, taco beef, and accompaniments getting added

Depending on the size of the meal prep containers you’re using and your appetite, you can really pile up these taco salads as much as you’d like. I found that one pound of ground beef goes a long way to make 4 hearty taco salad meal prep containers that are super filling for lunch or dinner.

Tips for making taco salad meal prep

  1. Vary the toppings. When you’re making a taco, it’s all about the abundance of salsa, avocados, sour cream and cheese. For this meal prep variation, the same idea works. Get a good balance of fresh, spicy and salty toppings to pull all the flavors together.
  2. Keep ingredients separated until ready to eat. With all the toppings and sauces, it’s important to keep everything in separate containers or compartments so that the greens don’t wilt, and the items all stay as fresh as possible.
  3. Keep the meals for up to 4 days. For most prepared meals, especially this one with ground beef, the safe zone is 3-4 days. Use this handy fridge and freeze storage chart from the FDA for more guidelines.
  4. Freeze only the taco beef for best results. Since this recipe is a salad bowl type of meal prep, it’s best to only freeze the cooked beef and no other ingredients, since they don’t freeze well.
Taco salad meal prep containers

These taco salad meal prep containers are great for Sunday prepping to last you for a few days. You can prepare everything the same day, store in the fridge and enjoy for lunch or dinner throughout the week. This is a smart choice if you’re looking for low-carb meal prep ideas that are loaded with flavor and texture!

For more salads

For more tex mex recipes:

If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feelgood Taco Salad Meal Prep recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!

Taco Salad Meal Prep

This Taco Salad Meal Prep is a healthy way to change up your meals with a Tex Mex inspired salad bowl filled with taco beef, lettuce, salsa and guacamole!
5 from 12 votes
Servings 3 servings
Course Salad
Calories 272
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Video

Ingredients
  

For Taco Beef

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
  • ½ cup tomato sauce

For Assembly

  • Shredded romaine lettuce
  • Shredded cheese
  • Guacamole
  • Sour Cream or Taco Ranch
  • Salsa

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a medium skillet cook the onions until they soften slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Add ground beef, season with salt, pepper and taco seasoning, then cook until no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Add tomato sauce and stir to combine.
  • Transfer the taco beef into 6 meal prep containers. Add shredded lettuce and condiments of choice, keeping items in separate containers or compartments for best freshness.
  • Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Notes

Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. They will last about 3-4 days in the fridge. I use the Bentgo 3-Compartment Glass Containers to store them, and it’s great for reheating in the microwave.
Freezing Instructions: You can also freeze the cooked taco beef for up to 3 months. To re-heat, thaw in the fridge overnight and then in the microwave when ready to eat.
Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. However here are some common substitutes that would work well in this recipe.
  • Instead of lettuce, you can substitute with Napa cabbage, green cabbage, purple cabbage, or any other greens you like.
  • Instead of ground beef, you can substitute ground chicken, ground turkey, chicken breast or even steak. If you want to make them vegetarian, I would recommend using black beans and corn instead of the ground beef.
  • If you want to make it a fuller salad, consider adding brown rice, quinoa or even cauliflower rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 272kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 94mg, Sodium: 173mg, Potassium: 657mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 128IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 4mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Cuisine American, Tex Mex
Course: Salad

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Comments

  1. From what I have seen recipes are healthy especially the salads. Other meals looked and sounded easy and delicious.

  2. Could you please tell me what brand your glass 3 compartment meal prep containers? They look really nice. Thanks you!