Vegan Dorito Taco Salad Recipe with Catalina Dressing

For as long as I can remember, our family has been enjoying taco salad. But, the discovery of Dorito taco salad was incredibly intriguing to me. It just so happens that there is one vegan variety of Doritos and therefore, I bring you my version of Vegan Dorito Taco Salad Recipe with Catalina Dressing. Doesn’t it look amazing?

Unfortunately, the classic nacho-flavored Doritos are not vegan. However, it just so happens that the Spicy Sweet Chili version…IS. Just look for the bright purple bag.

Now, I will tell you that I was a bit worried because I am not a “spicy” food kind of person. That being said, with the addition of the “sweet” component to these chips, along with the sweet Catalina dressing and vegan sour cream we’ll be adding…I was fine. And if you are sensitive to spice, I think you will be too 🙂

Gather all of your ingredients and let’s get building our salad! Add what you enjoy. Ours growing up was admittedly pretty darn simple, but I have evolved through the years.

P.S. The recipe for my homemade Vegan Catalina Dressing is down below. I haven’t had this in literally years. I forgot how much I loved it 🙂

Let’s talk about vegan ground “beef” for a minute. I have yet to find one that blows me away, but I had a bit of each of the following three on hand so I mixed them all together! I used Gimme Lean Meatless Veggie Beef, Beyond Meat Beefy Crumbles and Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger. Use whatever you enjoy. You could also just use a variety of beans or even refried beans.  I am using a commercially prepared taco seasoning blend, but it’s also easy to make your own if you prefer.

The “beefy” mixture goes on top of slightly crushed Doritos. By the way, this post is not sponsored by Doritos lol

Next up are all of our veggies. I used:

• Tomatoes
• Black Beans
• Sweet Corn (this was a great addition, if I do say so myself)
• Crisp Iceberg Lettuce
• Avocados

I also used a blend of cheeses. There are SO many vegan cheeses available these days, use whatever you like or can find. Sometimes I’ll take either a block of vegan cheese or a stack of vegan cheese slices and use my microplane to get a finer shred than say, if I were to buy it pre-packaged as shreds if that makes sense.

Even more crushed Doritos, vegan sour cream and sliced scallions go on top.

One ingredient we did not use on our Taco Salads back when I was growing up, was Catalina Dressing. Oh my gosh, this was so good. I was a picky eater when I was young and I used to eat this dressing on iceberg lettuce. Period. Nothing else.

I had a hard time finding the actual origin of Catalina Dressing. Most sources attribute the original dressing to Kraft Foods which has been producing a Catalina dressing for quite some time now.  Other claims involve the origin of this dressing as being inspired by (or derived from) Catalonia, a region in Spain where the Catalan people often prepared recipes with a mix of sweet and savory flavors.

Who knows? I just know it’s amazing!

The only thing left to do is give this all a good toss with your dressing just before serving. This particular taco salad is meant to be enjoyed with a fork. If you prefer a more nacho-style delivery, leave those chips whole. I really loved mixing it all together. A great blend of salty and sweet flavors just the way it was intended.

This one was a winner in my book and one I will be making again and again this summer. It’s so easy to prepare and a recipe your guests will love.

We were just serving a few people, so I tossed ours all together but if you are serving a crowd, you can mix everything except the dressing and allow your guests to do that so the chips stay crispy.

After this experience, I think I may start using Catalina Dressing on just about everything!

Did you make my Vegan Dorito Taco Salad Recipe with Catalina Dressing? Leave me a comment below if you made this growing up and what you add to yours!

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4.41 from 5 votes

Vegan Dorito Taco Salad Recipe with Catalina Dressing

Vegan Dorito Taco Salad Recipe with Catalina Dressing

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Mexican, vegan

Keyword catalina, doritos, dressing, salad, taco, vegan

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Author Living Vegan Staff

Ingredients

FOR THE CATALINA DRESSING:

• 1/4 c Vegan Ketchup
• 1/4 c Sugar
• 1/4 c Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/4 tsp Onion Powder NOT onion SALT
• 1/8 tsp Celery Powder OR Celery Salt OPTIONAL
• 1/4 tsp Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 c Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

FOR THE TACO SALAD:

• 1 lb Vegan "Beefy" Crumbles
• 1 packet Taco Seasoning
• 4 Roma Tomatoes large dice
• 1/2 can Black Beans
• 1/2 can Sweet Corn
• 1/2 c Shredded Vegan Cheese
• 1 large Avocado large dice
• 1/2 c Vegan Sour Cream
• Scallions for garnish
• Spicy Sweet Chili DORITOS
• 1 head Iceberg Lettuce chopped

Instructions

• Combine all of the ingredients for the DRESSING (except oil) in a food processor. While the processor is running, drizzle in the oil. Refrigerate until ready to use. 
• Cook the vegan "beefy" crumbles of your choosing and add 2/3 cup of water and a packet of taco seasoning (or to taste if using a homemade version).
• Crush some of the Doritos on a serving platter and top with the "beefy" crumbles, corn, beans, tomatoes and vegan cheese.
• Top with, lettuce, more of the crushed Doritos and garnish with vegan sour cream, avocados and chopped scallions. Serve immediately!

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