Tex-Mex Salad with Ranch-Style Beans & Homemade Dressing

5 from 5 votes

Tex-Mex Salad with Ranch-Style Beans & Homemade Dressing

Make this Tex-Mex salad with your choice of homemade or canned ranch style beans for a quick, flavorful, and healthy lunch, side dish, or light meatless dinner.

Prep Time20

If Making Homemade Beans10

Total Time30

Course: Salads

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: servings

Calories: 203kcal

Author: Jami Boys

Ingredients

For Homemade Ranch Style Beans:

1 can pinto beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste*
4 to 5 tablespoons water or to desired consistency
1½ teaspoons salt or to taste
1½ teaspoons beef bullion
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon vinegar

For Salad:

1 head romaine lettuce chopped
2 to 3 plum tomatoes chopped (slicing tomatoes work, too)
1/2 large sweet onion sliced
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 can olives sliced (optional)
1 cup crushed tortilla chips**
1 can Ranch Style Beans with sauce or homemade version included here
Homemade American-French Dressing or your favorite tomato-based dressing

Instructions

Homemade Ranch Style Beans:

If making homemade beans, combine all the bean ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and let cool while making salad.

Salad:

Add lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cheese, and olives if using to a large serving bowl.
Make homemade American French Dressing in a blender.
Right before serving, mix the salad base with the dressing, beans, and chips. Divide into 4 servings and garnish with more chips if desired.

Notes

*You can freeze the rest of the can in small portions (an old ice cube tray works great to make 1 tablespoon portions) and then you'll have the right amounts to make these again because I'm sure you'll want to!

**Any tortilla chips will work, but my favorite are Frito chips. However, I don't buy them anymore since I stick to organic corn to stay away from GMOs. Instead I use Trader Joe's Organic Corn Chip Dippers which are just like dipping Fritos.

Nutrition