Healthy Taco Salad
The Healthy Taco Salad balances roasted mini bell peppers and ground turkey seasoned with taco spices, combined with fresh romaine, tomatoes, corn, avocado, and shredded Mexican cheese. The salad is brightened with a creamy southwest yogurt dressing featuring lime, cumin, and fresh cilantro. The roasted peppers add a tender, slightly sweet note, while the crunchy tortilla chips provide texture contrast. This salad suits a satisfying lunch or light dinner that offers protein, vegetables, and a creamy, fresh dressing without extra heaviness.
Ingredients
Turkey Taco Meat
- 12 bell peppers mini
- olive oil spray or avocado oil spray
- 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons salsa fresh
Salad
- 1 romaine lettuce washed, rinsed, dried and chopped, large head
- 1/2 cup grape tomato chopped, or cherry tomato
- 1/2 cup sweet corn thawed, frozen
- 1/4 cup Mexican cheese shredded, plus more to taste
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper de-seeded and chopped (optional)
- 1 avocado chopped into chunks
- 1/4 cup tortilla chips broken into pieces
- cilantro for garnish, chopped
- hot sauce to taste (optional)
- salsa to taste, fresh
Creamy Southwest Dressing
- 4 ounces yogurt plain, Greek
- 1 teaspoons lime juice
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup salsa fresh
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro fresh
Instructions
- Roast peppers: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place peppers on a baking sheet, spray with olive or avocado oil cooking spray, sprinkle on a little salt and pepper and place in the oven to roast for 20-30 minutes, or until peppers are soft. Let peppers cool, remove stems and any large seeds and then dice into small pieces. The diced up peppers should measure out to be about 1/3 cup.
- Make dressing: Add all ingredients for the dressing into a blender and blend until fully combined and smooth. You can also use an immersion blender for this.
- Cook turkey: Add oil to a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add turkey. Break meat into small pieces using a spatula or meat chopper as it cooks. Cook for about 6-8 minutes or until the turkey is no longer pink. Add taco seasoning, salsa and roasted peppers to the pan and toss to combine. Set aside.
- Prep salads: While the turkey it cooking start to prep your salad ingredients. To build salads, start with a base of romaine lettuce in each bowl and add the toppings — turkey taco meat, tomatoes, corn, cheese, jalapeño, avocado and chips.
- Serve: Drizzle a little dressing over each salad and serve with chopped cilantro and extra dressing. Add some fresh salsa and a few drops of hot sauce if using. Another option is to place all the salad ingredients into a large salad bowl and toss with dressing, then portion into two-four bowls for serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 3 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 526
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1salad | |
| Calories | 526kcal | 26% |
| Carbohydrates | 34g | 11% |
| Protein | 41g | 82% |
| Fat | 25g | 38% |
| Saturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 15g | 88% |
| Cholesterol | 113mg | 38% |
| Sodium | 573mg | 24% |
| Fiber | 10g | 40% |
| Sugar | 15g | 30% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.