Vegetarian Taco Salad

I love a good salad, and it is nice to have different salad options.  We have been making this taco salad for as long as I can remember, and it is such an easy recipe.  Plus, it is versatile, and you can make different variations.  It is also easy to make for a family because you can set it up like a salad bar, and each person picks what they want as things to mix in.  For example, my daughter loves black olives, so she adds quite a few to her taco salad.

This is our vegetarian version, but you could of course, make a version with real meat, or even sub out any ingredients with dairy for a vegan version.

Ingredients:

Vegetarian crumbles (we like Morningstar Farms)
Tortilla chips 
Lettuce (I usually get organic romaine hears)
Tomatoes
Sour cream
Shredded cheese (taco / Mexican)
Black Olives
Taco seasoning
Optional: hot sauce, cilantro, guacamole, jalapeños, etc.

Vegetarian Taco Salad

Directions

I start by cutting up the veggies – lettuce, tomatoes, and black olives (if not pre-sliced).

Crumble tortilla chips in the bottom of your bowl.  I usually get organic Tostitos or other organic yellow corn chips.  As a treat, sometimes the kids use Doritos!

Place lettuce and tomatoes on top of the chips in your bowl.

Add in other toppings, like olives, sour cream, and shredded taco cheese.  The possibilities are endless!

Heat up some vegetarian crumbles.  You can either saute in a pan or microwave, and mix in taco seasoning.  Sprinkle on top of the salad.  If I am preparing a salad for just myself, I prepare about 1/2-1 cup worth of crumbles.

Lettuce Wraps

Mix all your ingredients together, and enjoy!  It looks messy, but it’s so delicious!

Vegetarian Taco Salad

This is also a great recipe to have on hand for if you are serving guests.  Everyone can assemble their own salad just like you would at a taco bar.  And in our house, we usually keep canned black olives, chips, sour cream, and frozen meat crumbles on hand so that it is easy to make this salad even if we haven’t planned ahead (since we usually have lettuce and tomatoes on hand).