Healthy Taco Salad in Jar

This Healthy Taco Salad is made with perfectly seasoned ground turkey, black beans, veggies, and all of your favorite taco toppings. This delicious salad is easy enough to make for dinner on taco Tuesday or to meal prep into a mason jar salad for lunches all week. You can even serve it at your next taco bar party!

We eat a lot of tacos and salads in our house, so it seems only natural that a healthy taco salad recipe would make its way onto our menu.

While I like eating salads for dinner, my favorite way is to layer ahead of time into a portable portion-controlled mason jar salad – including this ground turkey taco salad.

This southwest chicken salad, protein quinoa salad, detox salad, and Thai peanut salad are a few other favorites I like to layer into mason jars. Or check out all of my mason jar salads. 

Want to make your own? Follow this how-to make a mason jar salad tutorial I put together.

Let’s get to this delicious taco salad recipe!

Reasons you’ll love this recipe.

• Super easy to make! The longest part of this recipe is cooking the taco meat, which only takes about 15 minutes.
• Healthy. This taco salad is gluten-free, high in protein, and it will fill you up without any bloat or guilt. 
• Delicious. Juicy taco meat and the perfect blend of taco seasoning, flavors, and fixings.
• Customizable. Use all of your favorite taco toppings to make this salad irresistible.
• Make-ahead. You can layer this salad into mason jars or store the taco meat and the other ingredients in the refrigerator to have ready for a quick dinner salad after work.

Ingredients

Ground turkey. I use organic ground turkey breast with a 93/7 lean to fat ratio, keeping the saturated fat low. My favorite place to purchase ground turkey is from Wegman, Whole Foods, and online at Butcher Box.

Black beans. You can also use pinto beans or any favorite bean to add that punch of fiber to this salad. For a low carb taco salad then leave the beans out.

Taco seasoning. This homemade taco seasoning is delicious and free of chemicals, preservatives, or additives. It’s perfect to use if gluten-free, paleo, or on a Whole30 diet. If you use store-bought seasoning, then make sure to read the label, so you know what’s in it.

Salsa. I love using salsa as a salad dressing in this healthy taco salad, it provides excellent flavor without extra fat and calories. Switch up the salsa to enjoy different flavors.

Plain Greek yogurt. Instead of sour cream, I like to swap in greek yogurt for a healthier, lower-fat option.

Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion. These are the go-to vegetables I like to have in mason jar salads. Of course, any hearty vegetables will work.

Avocados. There’s so much I love about avocados in taco salad, and the creaminess, flavor, and healthy fats are just a few. You can also use guacamole in this layer. If you have leftovers the freeze avocado to use in smoothies or avocado toast later on.

Lime juice. Giving the avocado a squirt of lime juice keeps them from browning while sitting in the mason jar salads and also gives the salad a fresh flavor.

Pickled jalapeños. For all the spicy fans, you’ll love layering in some pickled jalapenos. Not only will you get a nice kick of heat, but the flavor is outstanding.

Chopped romaine lettuce. Any lettuce will work, but for that crunchy authentic taco salad flavor, then romaine is the way to go.

FAQs

Cooking Tips

• You can swap in other taco meats – ground beef or shredded chicken are delicious in this recipe. Try this crockpot taco meat, Slow Cooker Mexican shredded chicken, or salsa chicken in this healthy taco salad.
• Keep the avocados from browning by squirting lime juice or lemon juice over them. This tip is essential if you’re using avocados in a mason jar salad recipe. I have been using avocados in my mason jar recipes forever, and they always stay green all week using this hack.
• When you layer the taco salad into a mason jar, you will eat the taco meat cold throughout the week. The salad is still delicious, but layer the salad without the meat if you prefer warm taco meat. Keep the meat in another container and warm up a portion in the microwave when you’re ready to eat.
• It’s easy to bulk up this taco salad with veggies. Bell peppers, onions, corn, zucchini are all tasty and add a nice crunch to the salad.
• You can also mix in grains. Brown rice, quinoa, or even pasta can be layered or mixed into this salad.
• If you have leftover taco meat, then store it in the refrigerator or freeze it to use in tacos, pizzas, salads, taco dip, or other Mexican-inspired recipes.
• Make this a spicy taco salad by using hot salsa, hot pickled jalapenos, or fresh chopped jalapeno peppers. You can also spice up the taco meat by adding cayenne pepper or ground chipotle chili pepper. Change it up depending on your tastes.
• A lot is going on in the healthy taco salad recipe, and I tend to leave the cheese out. However, you can sprinkle in some cheddar cheese, taco cheese, or even pepper jack is tasty.
• For a burst of fresh flavor, add some cilantro or green onions with romaine lettuce or sprinkle on top if making it for dinner.

Supplies

• Large skillet
• Ground beef chopper
• 32-ounce mason jars
• Plastic mason jar lids
• Pyrex simply store containers

Free Mason Jar Salad Class!!

In our FREE Online Mason Jar Salad class, I’ll walk you through the magic of transforming lunchtime by spending 30 minutes on a Sunday to prep delicious, healthy salads that’ll fuel your entire week.

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How to Make Healthy Taco Salad in a Jar

In these instructions, I’m going to show you how to layer taco salad in a mason jar to enjoy lunches or dinner all week. I’ll give some other meal prep tips so you can enjoy this as a quick weeknight meal.

• In a large skillet, cook the ground turkey until it’s no longer pink. Break up the meat into small pieces as it cooks. 
• Add the black beans, taco seasoning, and ¼ of water. Stir together and continue to cook until the taco mixture is hot and the water boils down. Remove from heat and let the taco meat cool.
• After the taco meat cools down, you can put the rest of the salad together. You don’t want to put hot taco meat in the mason jar salad because it will cause the other ingredients to wilt. 
• Carefully cut the avocado and remove the pit. Then remove the flesh from the skin and chop it into small pieces. Squirt the lime juice over the avocado to help to prevent browning.
• Divide the ingredients among mason jars starting with salsa, then adding greek yogurt, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, jalapeños, avocados, taco meat, then lettuce. 

• After layering everything, place the lid on, close tightly, and stick them in the fridge.
• When ready to eat your taco salad, shake it real good and pour it into a bowl.

Serving suggestions

This healthy taco salad is delicious with crushed organic tortilla strips or chips.

If you’re serving this taco salad for dinner, then Mexican rice or Mexican potatoes are delicious sides. You can even make homemade cornbread.

Storage Tips

• You can make these healthy taco salads in a jar up to 5 days ahead of time.
• If you’re planning on eating these salads for dinner, then you can make the taco meat ahead of time and store it in an airtight container and refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat the taco meat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until hot, or you can also eat the meat cold.
• You can also freeze taco meat dinners later on. After the taco meat cools, place in airtight containers or portioned out silicone trays (like Souper cubes) and freeze, reheat in the microwave or a skillet. 

More Healthy Salad Recipes

• California Salad in a Jar
• Steak Salad in a Jar
• Dorito Taco Salad in a Jar
• Cobb Salad in a Jar

See all of our healthy salad recipes.