Rainbow Taco Salad
This Rainbow Taco Salad made with beans and roasted sweet potatoes is in heavy repetition in my house because it’s a vegetarian greens and grain bowl meal bursting with rainbow veggies. Salad bowl meals like this taco salad are super easy to make and can be customized to what’s in your pantry and around any picky eaters in your household.
So read on for all the detailed tips and tricks for making this rainbow taco salad. Or just grab your salad bowl, hit that Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make a taco salad with rainbow colors!
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Ingredients
In this taco salad, you can find:
- spicy pickled onions
- cherry tomatoes
- Mexican rice (or sub a green rice made with cilantro and other herbs)
- roasted sweet potato – peeled or not, cut into small cubes, and tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until fork-tender
- beans – canned or cooked from dry
- shredded cheddar cheese
- cooked corn kernels
- avocado slices
- lettuce and cilantro
- lime wedge
- toasted pepita
- blue corn chips
- chopped purple cabbage
If you love tacos, check out my taco meatloaf recipe!
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations and substitutions
Feel free to swap out ingredients if you don’t have or don’t like any of the rainbow ingredients I suggest. Here are some thoughts for the different rainbow colors:
- Red – use a pico de gallo or add some sliced red radishes
- Orange – if you eat meat or fish, sub in sliced pan-roasted chicken breasts or sauteed shrimp
- Yellow – use yellow tomatoes (also wrks for orange)
- Green – go with an easy 4 ingredient guacamole in place of sliced avocado
- Blue and purple – these colors are always hard. I use blueberries in my rainbow salad bowl, but blueberries aren’t exactly classic taco fare. You could use roasted or mashed purple sweet potatoes if you find can find them!
Recipe tips and tricks
Just like with my rainbow fruit tart, it’s really helpful here to lay out all your ingredients before placing them in your bowl just to confirm the color order. Alternatively, you could add your ingredients in a mishmash of colors and not worry about it.
I always start with my greens on the bottom. I like the combo of butter lettuce and cilantro, but use whichever greens you have.
Serve as is or with a salad dressing like a Catalina dressing or this honey lime vinaigrette.
Recipe FAQs
It depends on the pH of the soil it’s grown in. You can read more about this (and even do a fun kitchen science experiment) in my purple cabbage slaw recipe.
Yes! Prepare all the ingredients and store them separately. Assemble just before serving to keep everything fresh and crisp.
If you like a margarita, try my spicy margarita or a skinny margarita. For something a little more unusual, try a Oaxaca Old Fashioned or a Jalapeño Raspberry Bramble.
Related rainbow recipes
Check out other savory rainbow foods from the archives, like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Rainbow Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups butter lettuce or other lettuce washed and dried
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- 2 cups cooked Mexican rice
- 20 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 sweet potato peeled, cubed, and roasted until soft
- 1 can pinto or other red bean approximately 1½ to 2 cups of cooked beans
- ½ cup (2 ounces) shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- ½ cup corn kernels briefly cooked in olive oil, salt, and pepper
- 1 avocado sliced
- ¼ cup pepita lightly toasted
- 1 cup blue corn tortilla chips
- ½ cup red cabbage chopped or thinly sliced
- lime wedges and pickled onion for garnish
Instructions
- Divide the lettuce and cilantro into the bottom of four large bowls or on dinner plates.4 cups butter lettuce or other lettuce, ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- Arrange the rest of the ingredients in rainbow order around the bowl or plate.2 cups cooked Mexican rice, 20 cherry tomatoes, 1 sweet potato, 1 can pinto or other red bean, ½ cup (2 ounces) shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, ½ cup corn kernels, 1 avocado, ¼ cup pepita, 1 cup blue corn tortilla chips, ½ cup red cabbage, lime wedges and pickled onion
Notes
Nutrition
Bored with the recipes you’ve been cooking and baking lately? Get inspiration here:
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