Layered Mexican salad is one of those meals you can make when you crave something spicy but can’t think of anything else to cook. All you need are greens, a few vegetables, and something to give it a Mexican flavor. I like it with black beans, but you can use any beans you prefer.

If you have leftover chili, that’s perfect. If not, canned chili will suffice. Since I enjoy eating any kind of dinner salad, including a tuna-stuffed avocado, I always have containers of spring mix greens, cherry tomatoes, and cheese.

We also typically have some sort of corn chip in the pantry. If you prefer other greens and vegetables, feel free to use them. As with all of my recipes, you can substitute similar items if you have them on hand.

How to Make a Layered Mexican Salad

First, line the bottom of a bowl with nacho chips. Make sure you have enough to help scoop some of the goodness from the salad.

Secondly, add a layer of lettuce. I like to chop it into smaller pieces so you don’t have it flopping all over the place and making a mess.

Next, add some cherry tomato halves. You can use as many as you want.

Scoop a layer of black beans over the lettuce and tomatoes.

Similarly, add a layer of chili—either with or without beans. I used the one without.

Sprinkle shredded cheese over the chili.

Next, add a dollop of guacamole to the salad.

Also scoop some sour cream onto the salad. You can add anything else you want at any time.

Finally, pour a little bit of salsa over the salad.

Now your delicious layered Mexican salad with black beans is ready to eat!

Add-Ons for Layered Mexican Salad

I’ll eat almost anything that’s spicy and full of flavor, so I enjoy a variety of things on my salad. This one has black beans, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, and medium salsa. I occasionally use the hot salsa when I’m in the mood.

I was planning to cook some homemade chili a few days ago, but I changed my mind. So in this case, I used canned chili because that was all I had time for. Homemade is better, but this is good too.

Additionally, you can include corn, jalapenos, bell peppers, onions, cucumbers, olives, radishes, and zucchini. In fact, you can even use rice if you want to tone down the flavor intensity a bit.

If you want more meat than what you’ll get from the chili, you can add pieces of cooked chicken, shrimp, ground beef, or bite-size bits of steak. Don’t forget that if you add any kind of beans, you’ll get a healthy serving of protein.

More Recipes You’ll Enjoy

I like a variety of salads, especially when they are packed with flavor. Here’s another one I enjoy.

Cookies are the ideal dessert after a dinner salad. You can have a couple or just one to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Please feel free to share!