Kale Taco Salad

This low-carb Kale Taco Salad has a delicious chile-lime dressing and it’s perfect for taco salad fans who like kale!

PIN Kale Taco Salad to try it later!

Ever since I fell in love with baby kale, I’ve had fun experimenting with it in different salad combinations, and this Kale Taco Salad is another baby kale salad that I really enjoyed. Besides the tasty baby kale the salad has peppers, olives, avocado, and spicy ground beef, yum!

This taco salad is low in carbs, dairy-free and gluten-free. The recipe as written is also dairy-free, but you could add a little grated cheese to this Kale Paleo Taco Salad if that sounds good; either way it’s delicious!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

• ground beef
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning, or your favorite purchased Taco Seasoning
• baby kale leaves (or thinly sliced kale)
• red bell pepper
• cherry tomatoes
• sliced olives
• avocado
• fresh squeezed lime juice
• ground chile powder
• ground cumin (affiliate link)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or other all purpose seasoning blend

What ingredients could you add to the salad?

This salad would be delicious with grated cheese added if you don’t need it to be dairy free. Other ingredients I love to add include chopped jicama and chopped red cabbage.

How to make Kale Taco Salad:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

1. Cook a pound of ground beef in a little olive oil until it’s nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks.
2. Then add 2 tablespoons of Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning and a cup of water and let the meat simmer until all the liquid is evaporated.
3. Be sure to cook until the bottom of the pan looks dry, or the salad will be soggy!
4. Take the taco meat out of the pan and let it cool slightly in a bowl.
5. Whisk together the 2 T lime juice, chile powder, ground cumin (affiliate link), Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) or use your favorite seasoning (Spike is not Paleo or gluten-free), and olive oil to make the dressing.
6. Cut up the red pepper strips and grape tomatoes. (I thought the yellow tomatoes were pretty in the salad, but red ones would also be fine.)
7. Drain a can of sliced olives (or use regular olive and slice by hand.)
8. Cut up the avocado (or two avocados if desired) and toss with 1 T lime juice.
9. Wash the baby kale in a salad spinner if needed, spin dry, and toss with the dressing. (You can also use thinly sliced kale leaves if you prefer.)
10. Add the red pepper strips, tomatoes, and taco meat and toss again.
11. Then add the diced avocado and gently toss again.
12. I saved a few avocado pieces to garnish the top of each salad. Enjoy!

More Dairy-Free Salads:

Arugula Cucumber Salad with Lemon Dressing ~ Elana’s Pantry
Tuna, Avocado, Tomato Salad ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Bite-Sized Arugula Steak Tomato Salad ~ Cheeky Kitchen
Middle Eastern Tomato Salad ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Cucumber Salad with Tahini Dressing ~ Simply Recipes

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 4 salads

Kale Taco Salad

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Kale Taco Salad has a delicious chile-lime dressing and this has has all my favorite taco salad flavors in a nutritious salad with kale!

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 T Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning (see notes)
• 1 cup water
• 5 oz. baby kale leaves (or use thinly sliced kale)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• one 6.5 oz. can sliced olives (see notes)
• 1 avocados, diced (see notes)
• 1 T fresh squeezed lime juice (see notes)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2 T fresh squeezed lime juice (see notes)
• 1/2 tsp. ground chile powder (see notes)
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Spike Seasoning (see notes)
• 3 T olive oil

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy frying pan, crumble the ground beef into the pan and cook over medium-high heat until the beef is browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. (I use an old-fashioned potato masher to break the meat apart!)
2. When the beef is well browned, sprinkle in the Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning (or your own taco seasoning) and add the water, stir to combine, and simmer on low heat until all the liquid is evaporated, about 8-10 minutes.
3. When the bottom of the pan is completely dry, remove the taco meat and let it cool in a bowl until it’s just slightly warm.
4. While the beef cooks, whisk together the 2 T lime juice, ground chile powder, ground cumin (affiliate link), Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) (if using, or other all-purpose seasoning), and olive oil to make the dressing.
5. Wash the baby kale and spin dry if needed. (I like to snip off the larger stems, but it’s completely optional.) Cut the red pepper into strips and cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Cut the avocado(s) into cubes and toss with the 1 T of lime juice.
6. Put the kale leaves into a bowl that’s big enough to hold all the salad ingredients and toss with the dressing. Add the slightly cooled taco meat, red pepper strips, and tomato halves and toss again.
7. Then add the avocado pieces and gently toss again. (I save a few avocado pieces to garnish each salad.) Serve right away.

Notes

I use my fresh-frozen lime juice for recipes like this. I like ground Ancho chile (affiliate link) but any ground chiles or even chili powder will work. Use your favorite commercial taco seasoning if you prefer. If you can’t find the large cans of sliced olives, just slice a can of regular olives. Use two avocados if they're small or if you prefer more avocado. Spike is not Paleo or gluten-free so use your favorite seasoning as needed.

If this makes more than you can use at one meal, prepare all the ingredients, then refrigerate the ingredients separately and toss ingredients with the dressing right when you’re ready to eat. You may want to let the dressing and taco meat come to room temperature for a few minutes if it’s been refrigerated.

There are ingredients in this salad that have some carbs, but many ingredients are high in fiber, so it's quite low in net carbs.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 576Total Fat: 45gSaturated Fat: 11gUnsaturated Fat: 30gCholesterol: 101mgSodium: 456mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 6.3gSugar: 3gProtein: 33g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Kale Taco Salad is great for traditional low-carb diets, including Keto for anyone who’s avoiding dairy. If you use lean ground beef and limit the avocado, this salad would make a tasty and nutritious meal for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was posted in 2013. It was updated with more information in 2021.

Share This: