A campground favorite, the appeal of this recipe is its ease. With Ranch Style® pinto beans (found at most grocery stores, and every Walmart), you can eliminate dressing and seasoning altogether. If you keep the salad vegetarian, you can skip the stove too. The result is an easy recipe made even easier, perfect for car camping or when without a kitchen.
What makes this recipe work without dressing or seasoning is the liquid of the canned pinto beans. The cloudy liquid you drain from most canned pinto beans is just starch and salt, but Ranch Style® pinto beans add a combination of chili peppers, paprika, vinegar, onion powder, and garlic powder into the mix. For a meal that prioritizes minimizing the number of ingredients, using that liquid as a make-shift dressing and seasoning works surprisingly well.
That being said, if you don’t mind being a little less economical, you can drain the beans like usual and add a more orthodox dressing. French dressing may be the standard for taco salads, but I would encourage you to give Catalina a try.
Serves: 6-8
Portion Size: 1 cup
Ingredients
12 oz. ground beef (optional)
1 head iceberg lettuce, coarsely chopped
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 (15 oz.) Ranch Style® can of pinto beans
2 cups mild cheddar cheese or Mexican blend, shredded
1 avocado, sliced (optional)
1 (9.75 oz.) bag of corn chips®
Directions
- If desired, cook ground beef in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Stir to crumble, and keep warm.
- In a large serving bowl, add chopped lettuce and diced tomatoes.
- Open a can of Ranch Style® pinto beans, but do not drain the can. Then empty beans and liquid into serving bowl.
- Add shredded cheese and cooked ground beef to serving bowl. If desired, peel, pit, and dice avocado, and then add to bowl.
- Right before serving, empty corn chips into bowl. Mix bowl contents and serve.
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