• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Dinner Bell

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Main Dishes
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Pork
    • Mocktails
    • Dietary
      • Gluten-Free
      • Keto
      • Vegan
    • Breakfast
    • Soups
    • Casseroles
    • Instant Pot
    • Side Dishes
    • Desserts
  • About / Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
Home » Instant Pot » Carnitas Taco Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Carnitas Taco Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

January 12, 2020 by Joanie Simon Leave a Comment

overhead view of a salad with shredded pork, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and black beans

Carnitas is great in tacos, but maybe you’re craving a big hearty salad with an easy dressing that will knock your socks off. If you’re that person who orders the “bowl” option at Chipotle, this one’s for you. Meal prep friendly, too!

overhead view of a salad with shredded pork, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and black beans
Carnitas Taco Salad loaded with tasty toppings and a honey lime vinaigrette

Meal Prep Options

This recipe is based on starting with my famous Instant Pot Pork Carnitas and then adding in your favorite taco salad components and finishing it with a quick homemade Honey Lime Vinaigrette.

The dressing recipe is easy and you can find it below.

The way I do the meal prep option here is to make the full recipe for the pork carnitas and pre-portion individual servings of it for this salad, my Pork Pozole and my Mexican Pulled Pork Sandwiches. The individual pork portions can be refrigerated for use that week (within 3 to 4 days) or frozen for later use (up to 3 months).

When you’re ready to eat, you can assemble your salad and pop the pork in the microwave (1 minute from refrigerated, 2 – 3 minutes from frozen), dress it and enjoy.

overhead view of a salad with shredded pork, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and black beans

Endless Options

This salad is a great way to use up leftovers lurking in the fridge. Things like corn, tomatoes, beans, and shredded cheese seem to accumulate over the course of a week at my house.

Other ideas for awesome toppings on this salad: diced peppers, black olive, pickled onions and jalapenos, shredded carrot, cucumber, avocado, shredded cabbage, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, corn, beans, corn chips and cheeses.

I’m a romaine lettuce lover, but you can use whichever lettuce you like best. Butter, green leaf, red leaf, field greens are all great options for a taco salad.

This vinaigrette is super simple and contains mostly ingredients you already have on hand. I’m all about fewer trips to the grocery store. Chances are, if you have fresh limes already on hand, you can make this dressing right now.

I also love to use this dressing on broccoli slaw when making my Mexican Pulled Pork Sliders.

overhead view of a salad with shredded pork, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and black beans

Can you eat it with cold pork?

If you make the carnitas ahead of time and keep them refrigerated, you can totally eat this salad without heating up the pork. I served it to my husband cold the day after photographing this recipe and he said it was good.

Granted, it will be better if the carnitas are heated up, but if you’re at an office without a microwave or don’t want to deal with the hassle, you don’t need to reheat it.

Other recipes that are great with pork!

  • Instant Pot Chile Pork Stew
  • Shredded Pork Pozole
  • Mexican Pulled Pork Sliders
Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
overhead view of a salad with shredded pork, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and black beans

Carnitas Taco Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

  • Author: Joanie Simon
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Salads
  • Method: Salad
  • Cuisine: Mexican
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Description

A healthy weeknight “big salad” Mexican style with pork carnitas, fresh veggies, lettuce and a homemade Honey Lime Vinaigrette.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/3 cup avocado oil (or your favorite neutral flavored oil)
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 clove of garlic, pressed in a garlic press or finely minced
  • 4 Tbs lime juice (approx 3 limes) *fresh preferred
  • 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
  • 2 cups Instant Pot Pork Carnitas prepared and shredded
  • 6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pit removed and diced
  • 1 lime, quartered
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Instructions

  • Combine the 1/3 cup oil, 1 tsp honey, 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1/8 tsp cracked black pepper, 1 clove garlic, 4 Tbs lime juice and 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar in a salad dressing bottle or glass jar and whisk until fully combined and set aside.  The ingredients will settle, so you’ll need to stir or shake before serving.
  • This recipe makes four servings, so portion out equal amounts of the lettuce, beans, tomatoes, corn, avocado and pork onto four plates or bowls and garnish with lime, cilantro and the prepared dressing. Use as much or little of the dressing as you like based on your preference.

Keywords: carnitas, pork, salad, lime, honey, vinaigrette, big salad, weeknight, gluten free

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @thedinnerbell.recipes on Instagram and hashtag it #thedinnerbell

Filed Under: Dietary, Gluten-Free, Instant Pot, Main Dishes

Joanie Simon is a food photographer and stylist and family recipe keeper. In addition to The Dinner Bell, Joanie shares photography education at TheBiteShot.com.

Recent Posts

  • Tropical Kombucha Mocktail
  • Grammy’s Ice Cream Pie
  • Mexican Style Rice
  • Spaghetti Pie
Previous Post: « Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
Next Post: Leftover Pork Posole »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi! I'm Joanie! This website is where I catalogue my "greatest hits" recipes and ideas for entertaining. I am my happiest when my table is full. Read More…

Recent Posts

  • Tropical Kombucha Mocktail
  • Grammy’s Ice Cream Pie
  • Mexican Style Rice
  • Spaghetti Pie
  • Mandarin Orange Salad

Featured Favorites

A non-alcoholic cocktail of alcohol free tequila, pineapple kombucha, mango nectar and lime.

Tropical Kombucha Mocktail

A bowl of bright green jalapeno salsa in a ceramic bowl being scooped with a teaspoon.

Jalapeno Salsa Verde

A plate of leftover oatmeal cookies with dried fruit pieces

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies

Overhead view of an apple tart with spiraled apples, with a knife to the side and plates with forks ready to serve the pie

Vegan Apple Tart

Three waffles seen overhead on plates with forks topped with sour cream and berries with maple syrup being drizzled on

Sour Cream Waffles

Copyright © 2022 The Dinner Bell on the Foodie Pro Theme