Aunt Agnes’ Mexican Salad – Guest Kitchens
This delicious, 30-minute Mexican Salad recipe comes from Lora Roberts, a dear Southern Plate Family member I met on my book tour. It uses simple ingredients like savory ground beef, crisp lettuce, crunchy Doritos, and sweet Catalina dressing to create pure comfort in a bowl. Enjoy this taste of an East Tennessee family tradition!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Aunt Agnes’ Mexican Salad
- Ready In: 30 minutes
- Serves: 4
- Calories: 141 cal
- Main Ingredients: 1 lb ground beef, 1 c. shredded cheese, 1 can pinto beans, 1 large onion, 1 bottle Catalina dressing, 1 or 2 tomatoes, 1 head of lettuce, 1 bag Doritos
- Why You'll Love It: Aunt Agnes has always brought this recipe to the family reunion and it is always one of the first things gone.
The Salad That Brings People Together
For years, Lora’s Aunt Agnes brought this Mexican salad to every family reunion, and it was always the first dish to disappear.
The recipe has a very touching story behind it. When Aunt Agnes’ daughter Linda was in the hospital with cancer, a kind nurse brought this salad to the family. It was such a comfort during a difficult time that Aunt Agnes asked for the recipe. Lora continues to make the salad to honor both Linda and Aunt Agnes, carrying on a tradition born from loss and love.
The salad itself is a wonderful mix of textures and flavors: savory, sweet, and crunchy all in one bite. It’s also incredibly easy to customize. If you’ve tried my Mexican taco pasta skillet, you’ll know how much I love versatile, Mexican-inspired dishes!
Thank you for your hospitality, Lora, and thank you for sharing this recipe and heartwarming story with us today!
Ingredients
- Gound beef
- Shredded cheese
- Pinto beans
- Onion
- Catalina dressing
- Tomatoes
- Head of lettuce (or 1 bag salad mix)
- Doritos (nacho cheese flavor)
Variations on this Mexican Salad
Feel free to swap the ground beef for shredded chicken, ground turkey, or even black beans for a vegetarian twist. You could also add a can of corn, some sliced bell peppers, or sprinkle in some jalapeños for a spicy kick. No matter how you make it, it’s a dish that brings people together!
1. Cook the Beef
First things first, brown your ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, making sure to stir it constantly so it cooks evenly.
Once it’s all browned, drain off the grease and set the beef aside to cool down a bit.
2. Mix the Good Stuff
In a large bowl, combine your cooled ground beef with the shredded cheese, pinto beans, onion, and Catalina dressing. Give it a good stir until everything is nicely mixed together.
Once it’s all combined, pop it in the refrigerator to chill.
Make it ahead: You can prepare the beef mixture (Step 2) a day in advance. Just keep it covered in the refrigerator and add the fresh ingredients right before serving to keep everything crisp.
3. Add the Fresh Ingredients
Just before you’re ready to serve, it’s time to add the fresh components.
Gently fold in the chopped tomatoes, lettuce, and the crushed Doritos. You want to do this right at the end, so everything stays crisp and fresh.
Serve and enjoy!
What to Serve with Mexican Salad
This salad is hearty enough to be a meal by itself, but a slice of warm Mexican cornbread on the side never hurt nobody! You can also serve it alongside my grilled chicken (no grill needed!) or cilantro lime chicken tacos for an ultra-satisfying meal.
How to Store Mexican Salad
To store leftover Mexican salad, keep the beef mixture and the fresh ingredients in separate airtight containers in the fridge. This will stop the lettuce and chips from getting soggy. When you’re ready for seconds, just mix everything together again!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 c. shredded cheese
- 1 can pinto beans
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 bottle Catalina dressing
- 1 or 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1 head of lettuce chopped (or 1 bag salad mix)
- 1 bag Doritos Nacho cheese flavor, crumbled
Instructions
- Brown ground beef, stirring constantly. Drain and cool. Mix ground beef with cheese, pintos, onion and dressing. Refrigerate. Before serving, add tomatoes, lettuce and Doritos.
do you drain the pinto beans ? i’m getting ready to copy it , it sounds good .
We’ve made this salad (called Taco Salad, in our family), since I was little. I started using Spicy Ranch, when I found an almost empty bottle of Catalina in the fridge, and decided I like it better with the ranch.
I’ve always made this same salad but with Green Goddess dressing instead of the Catalina. It’s sooo very good!!
Would love to see a photo of this!
Me too! First one to make it, upload to my facebook page! 😀
http://www.facebook.com/southernplatefamily
This is my summertime favorite. My family could eat this almost every night of summer.
I add bell pepper, taco seasoning, and black olives and use dark red kidney beans instead of pintos. We like plain corn chips served on the side with a little sour cream added to each serving.
I have also made it with ground turkey instead of beef.
Even though the Catalina dressing sounds odd, it’s what “makes” the recipe. Delicious!!!
And the next day the leftovers are yummy.
By the way, don’t try this recipe unless you have a REALLY BIG BOWL.
This is an interesting salad. Never heard of putting chips in a salad. That would make my son eat it, that is for sure. Looks really good. Thanks for sharing.
Where I am from this is a taco salad, or kind of. I haven’t eaten Catalina Dressing since the 70’s.
This has been a family favorite in our family since the mid 70’s. I was a teenager and had it with friends for Sunday dinner after church Growing up in a large family, I loved to help my mom cook and was excited to introduce this to my brothers and sisters. This was a favorite that everybody loved. Now that I’m married, my family LOVES this recipe. I’ve taken it to potlucks and it’s always a hit. The ladies in our church love it for ladies luncheon or for baby showers.
Another variation we have had in our family – Mix the seasoned cooked ground beef, tomatoes and beans in the bottom of the bowl. Instead of Catalina (some of our family doesn’t like it), pour in some Good Seasons Italian dressing. I discovered it was good when I ran out of Catalina and didn’t want to go to the store. Sometimes you just have to make due with what you have on hand. Toss the meat mixture with the chips and lettuce when ready to serve. It’s a really good variation. Never have any leftovers.
I’ve added other things too that make the salad really fun – black olives, red onion, diced green onion, rinsed black beans instead of ranch, small diced green or red pepper, diced avocado or mexicorn. Sometimes, we don’t put the beans in at all. Again, we use what we have on hand. All the additional ingredients really make this dish look like you are having a party. And a dollop of sour cream on the top isn’t bad either.
I think I will have to make this for dinner tonight. Will have one happy family at our ranch house. Was wondering what would be good to cook. This is such a good summer meal with lemonade or limeade.