Celebrate Independence Day with this fun and festive Patriotic Taco Salad Flag! Perfect for your Fourth of July BBQ or Labor Day picnic, this recipe uses grape tomatoes for the red stripes, Monterey Jack cheese for the white stripes, and crushed blue tortillas with piped sour cream for the stars. It’s a crowd-pleaser that’s as tasty as it is patriotic!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fun and Festive: This delicious-themed taco salad is perfect for any patriotic holiday celebration. It combines the classic flavors of a taco salad with a fun and festive presentation.
- Great Conversation Piece: The vibrant colors of this salad mimic the American flag, making it a great conversation starter and centerpiece for your party table
- Versatile: This versatile taco salad can be easily adapted to accommodate dietary preferences and restrictions.
- Crowd-Pleasing: Whether you’re hosting a large gathering or a small family get-together, this patriotic taco salad will impress your guests and add a festive touch to your celebration.
Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need
- The Taco Meat: My go-to recipe for taco meat includes ground beef, taco seasoning, Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chiles, and water.
- The Taco Salad: In addition to the taco meat, I used canned fat-free refried beans, shredded lettuce, and crushed tortilla chips for the taco salad.
- The American Flag: To mimic an American flag, I used grape tomatoes for the red stripes, shredded Monterey Jack cheese for the white stripes, and crushed blue tortilla chips with dollops of sour cream for the stars.
Making the Taco Meat
- I started by browning and crumbling ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat for the taco meat. Once the ground beef was done, I drained it well.
- Then, after wiping the skillet with a paper towel, I returned the cooked ground beef to the skillet and added the taco seasoning, Rotel tomatoes, and water.
- I stirred the ingredients together and cooked the taco meat over medium heat until most of the liquid evaporated. This took about 15 minutes.
Making the Taco Salad
Once the taco meat was done, I built the taco salad.
- I started by spreading the refried beans on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch dish.
- Next, I spooned on the taco meat and spread it evenly over the refried beans.
- After that, I added the shredded lettuce on top of the taco meat.
- Finally, I sprinkled on crushed tortilla chips.
Mimicking the American Flag – Step-by-Step Directions
I topped the taco salad with ingredients to mimic the American flag.
- I started by placing a layer of grape tomatoes that I had cut in half lengthwise along the long side of the dish. I repeated this for the second red stripe, about an inch and a half from the first stripe. I repeated this for the third and fourth stripes, leaving a space where I wanted the star layer to go.
- I carefully placed the shredded cheese between the tomatoes for the white stripes and also added the shredded cheese in the space where the stars would go.
- Finally, I sprinkled crushed blue tortilla chips in the area I had left empty for the stars. Then, using a small star tip, I piped some sour cream as stars on the blue tortilla chips.
This patriotic taco salad was fun to put together and a delicious way to celebrate any American holiday. Its eye-catching design and mouth-watering flavors make it a perfect addition to your 4th of July or Labor Day menu. Plus, it’s easy to prepare and can be customized to suit your taste. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can prepare the components of the taco salad ahead of time and store them separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator. However, it should be assembled just before serving to keep the taco salad fresh and crunchy.
You can substitute ground beef with ground turkey or chicken. Just ensure you season the substitute well to maintain the delicious taco flavor.
Add them to the salad just before serving to prevent the tortilla chips from getting soggy. You can also serve the chips on the side, allowing guests to add them as they like.
You can replace the ground beef with black beans, kidney beans, or a meat substitute. To make it even more filling and nutritious, add extra veggies like bell peppers, corn, and avocado.
I like to use shredded iceberg lettuce. However, Romaine lettuce also works well in this recipe.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- I routinely transfer the cooked ground beef to a colander to drain the excess fat and then rinse it well under hot water to remove residual fat. I know that some would disagree with my doing this since I’m rinsing away the ground beef taste. However, I’ve consistently found that the real taste comes from the added ingredients. It’s your call as to whether you want to rinse the cooked beef or not.
- I like my cooked ground beef to be crumbled as finely as possible. Once I have rinsed the ground beef and it cools slightly, I rub it between the palms of my hands to further crumble it.
- For the white stripes, you could use Monterey Jack cheese, white Cheddar cheese, or Mozzarella cheese. Each cheese is slightly different in color, with Mozzarella cheese typically being the whitest. However, I thought the Monterey Jack cheese was close enough to the color of the Mozzarella cheese.
- When I started building the American flag, I had intended to use sliced black olives with sour cream piped into the centers for the star layer. However, the black olives didn’t lay flat because of the uneven layer beneath them. Therefore, I used the crushed black tortilla chips with piped sour cream for the star layer.
- Combine the sour cream with cornstarch to thicken it and make it more pipable.
Other Patriotic-Themed Recipes
If you’re searching for other patriotic-themed recipes, look no further.
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Patriotic Taco Salad
Equipment
- 9 x 13-inch dish
Ingredients
For the Taco Meat
- 1 pound (16 ounces) ground beef (See Tip 1)
- 1 ounce package taco seasoning (See Tip 2)
- 10 ounce can Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chiles
- ½ cup water
For the Taco Salad
- 16 ounce can of refried beans (See Tip 3)
- Prepared taco meat from above
- 6 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
- 4 cups crushed tortilla chips
For the Red, White, and Blue
- 12 to 16 grape tomatoes cut in half lengthwise (See Tip 4)
- 1 ½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- ½ cup crushed blue tortilla chips
- ¼ cup sour cream (See Tip 5)
Instructions
For the Taco Meat
- Brown and crumble ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain and rinse well to remove as much fat as possible. Once the cooked ground beef cools a bit, further crumble it by rubbing it between the palms of your hands.
- Wipe the skillet used for cooking the ground beef with a paper towel. Then, return the cooked and crumbled ground beef to the skillet. Add the taco seasoning, undrained Rotel tomatoes, and water; stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.
For the Taco Salad (See Tip 6)
- Spread the refried beans on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch dish.
- Add the cooked taco meat, spreading to cover the refried beans.
- Top with the shredded lettuce and finish with the crushed tortilla chips
For the Red, White, and Blue
- Start by placing a layer of halved grape tomatoes along the long side of the dish. Repeat for the second red stripe, about an inch and a half from the first stripe. Repeat for the third and fourth stripes, leaving a space where the star layer will go.
- Carefully place the shredded cheese between the tomatoes for the white stripes and also add the shredded cheese in the space where the stars will go.
- Finally, sprinkle crushed blue tortilla chips in the area left empty for the stars. Then, using a small star tip, pipe sour cream as stars on the blue tortilla chips.
- Yield: 8 servings.
Video
Tips/Notes
- For the taco meat, I’ve used ground beef, ranging between 85% and 93% fat. Since I drain and rinse the cooked ground beef, the fat percentage is not that important.
- Rather than using store-bought taco seasoning, use 3 Tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning.
- I used fat-free refried beans in this recipe, but you can use regular refried beans. You could also substitute rinsed and well-drained black beans.
- The number of grape tomatoes will depend on their size. However, for the best presentation, try to use grape tomatoes that are about the same size.
- If the sour cream is a bit runny, thicken it with 1 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch.
- This salad is best if assembled right before serving. Otherwise, the tortilla chips will become soggy.
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