Name: Ground Beef Taco Salad with Cumin-Lime Crema
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: ½ cup sour cream; 2 tbsp mayonnaise; 1 lime, zested and juiced; ½ tsp ground cumin; 1 lb ground beef (80/20); 1 small onion, diced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp chili powder; ½ tsp smoked paprika; ¼ cup water; 1 large head romaine, chopped; 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (15 oz); 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved; 1 avocado, diced; 1 cup shredded cheddar; 2 cups tortilla chips, crushed; To taste kosher salt

Ground Beef Taco Salad with Cumin-Lime Crema

Browned beef and crushed tortilla chips over crisp romaine, pulled together with a tangy cumin-lime crema instead of a bottled dressing.

Serves

Prep

15 min

Cook

15 min

Written

August 1, 2026

Ingredients

½ cup sour cream

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 lime, zested and juiced

½ tsp ground cumin

1 lb ground beef (80/20)

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp chili powder

½ tsp smoked paprika

¼ cup water

1 large head romaine, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (15 oz)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 avocado, diced

1 cup shredded cheddar

2 cups tortilla chips, crushed

To taste kosher salt

Method

Whisk the sour cream, mayonnaise, lime zest and juice, and cumin in a small bowl and season with salt; refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Heat a large dry skillet over medium-high and add the ground beef in an even layer; let it sit undisturbed for 2-3 minutes until the underside is deeply browned before breaking it up.

Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and the beef is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic, chili powder, and smoked paprika and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the water and simmer until it’s mostly absorbed and the beef looks glossy rather than wet, about 2 minutes; season with salt and let cool for a few minutes.

Pile the romaine on a large platter or in a wide bowl and scatter the black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and cheddar over the top.

Spoon the warm beef over the salad, crush the tortilla chips over everything, and drizzle with the cumin-lime crema just before serving.

Notes

Let the beef cool for a few minutes before it hits the lettuce — straight off the heat it wilts the romaine into something closer to a warm slaw than a salad. The crema is the part worth not skipping: it does the job of a dressing without the oil-and-vinegar split that a squeeze bottle of ranch never quite avoids.

Swap in ground turkey or shredded rotisserie chicken if you want it leaner. Crush the tortilla chips at the last second, not in the bowl ahead of time, or they’ll go soft under the crema before anyone’s had a bite.