If you can’t tell, I’ve been in jar salad mode for a while now. For me, it’s super easy to accidentally skip out on lunch, so having prepared jarred salads ready to go in my fridge means that I don’t have any excuse to miss out on a meal! These Taco Jar Salad are another great option too. You get a lot of bang for your buck here since there technically isn’t any salad dressing. We’re using salsa here!

The salsa naturally gives the salad a dressing of it’s own that is low in calories and in guilt. Which means you get to load this salad up with all the more taco goodness. We’re talking beans, corn, cheese, tomatoes. All of it! Even the meat and cheese.

For today I went with an extra lean ground beef, but vegetarian meat or ground turkey works too! It’s whatever you want here. I also healthified this by using my own homemade taco seasoning which is pretty on point if I do say so myself. And I do say so. Other than that, there really isn’t much else to do here to lighten this salad up.

A fat free cheese is always nice. And of course I always opt for salt-free or reduced sodium canned products when I can. I don’t need anyone else telling me how much salt my food needs. I can do that for myself, thanks!

Taco Jar Salad

Yield: 4

Author: The Skinny Fork (Amanda Plott)

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 15 Min

Make ahead salad in a jar - taco style! There's no dressing here, just salsa and all the taco fixings!

Ingredients

1/2 Lb. Lean Ground Meat
1 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning
1 C. Salsa
2 Roma Tomatoes, Diced
1 C. Black Beans, Drained & Rinsed
1 C. Canned Corn, Drained
8 C. Chopped Romaine Lettuce
1/2 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 C. Tortilla Strips

Instructions

Lightly coat a medium skillet with non-stick spray and add the 1/2 Lb. Lean Ground Meat. Cook to brown.
Add in the 1 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
While the meat is cooling, place 1/4 C. salsa into each of the salad jars along with the roma tomatoes divided evenly, and 1/4 C. black beans.
Layer with 1/4 C. Corn, 2 C. Chopped Romaine Lettuce, and 2 Tbsp. Shredded Cheddar Cheese.
Divide the cooked and cooled meat evenly among each jar.
Top each off with 1/4 C. tortilla strips.
Seal each jar and store in the fridge until ready to enjoy.
When it's time for lunch, remove your salad jar from the fridge and give it a good shake to enjoy straight from the jar, or transfer to a bowl.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

357.8

Fat (grams)

18.87

Sat. Fat (grams)

7.26

Carbs (grams)

28.47

Fiber (grams)

7.38

Net carbs

21.09

Sugar (grams)

4.59

Protein (grams)

20.02

Sodium (milligrams)

705.85

Cholesterol (grams)

54.38

Nutritional Claims: High Fiber • Gluten Free • Wheat Free • Egg Free •Peanut Free • Tree Nut Free • Soy Free • Fish Free •Shellfish Free • Pork Free • Crustacean Free • Celery Free • Mustard Free • Sesame Free • Lupine Free • Mollusk Free • Alcohol Free • Sulphite Free