A festive taco salad flag is a fun appetizer to bring along to your Fourth of July potlucks and get-togethers. This taco dip uses fresh ingredients that are layered in a patriotic flag design perfect for tortilla chip dipping!
Why this recipe works
The Fourth of July is a fun holiday to celebrate with patriotic-themed dishes. We usually gravitate towards a dessert like our red, white, and blue poke cake and an appetizer dish to bring to the celebrations. So we took our favorite taco dip recipe and turned it into this taco salad flag!
RELATED: you might also like this recipe – 7 Layer Taco Dip
Ingredients you will need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
Ingredient Info and Substitute Suggestions
TOPPING – The flag design on top is made from chopped tomatoes, shredded mozzarella cheese, and crushed blue tortilla chips. For the star cutouts, you can use pre-sliced cheese or cut slices from a block of cheese. Use any size star-shaped cookie cutter that you’d like. Alter the number of stars based on the size of the cookie cutter to fill in the area over the corn chips. You could also use diced red pepper or halved cherry tomatoes in place of the chopped tomatoes for the stripes.
How to Make a Taco Salad Flag
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.
- Spread refried beans into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- Beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until creamy. Add sour cream and taco seasoning and beat until fully combined. Spread cream cheese mixture over refried beans.
- Stir guacamole to make it easier to spread. Drop dollops of the guacamole over the surface of the cream cheese layer and carefully spread into an even layer.
- Top with cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, green onion, bell pepper, olives, and cilantro.
- Press down the toppings gently to create a relatively smooth “surface” on the salad.
- Sprinkle crushed blue tortilla chips in the upper left-hand corner of the dish.
- Beginning and ending with the tomatoes, rotate rows of chopped tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to form the stripes of the “flag.”
- Cut out star shapes from the cheese slices uses a star cookie cutter and place them on top of the blue corn chips.
- Serve immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips
Yes, you can make this dip ahead of time. You can prepare all layers of the dip a day in advance, but we’d recommend waiting to do the flag design on the top until the day of as the lettuce and chips become soggy after a day of sitting.
Store leftovers, covered with plastic wrap or an air tight lid in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. The chips and lettuce will become soggy by the next day, but the dip will still be delicious.
Absolutely. You can add/remove any ingredients you’d like to personalize this taco dip. Jalapeno, shredded chicken, hot peppers, and ground taco meat all make great additions! If you don’t like refried beans, you can simply skip the layer altogether and still have a tasty layered dip.
Serving Suggestions
This taco salad flag is best served the day of with tortilla chips or even with a spoon as is! We paired it with blue tortilla chips to keep in line with the patriotic theme.
Leftover taco dip is actually delicious wrapped in a tortilla and eaten like a burrito.
More Patriotic Recipes
- Patriotic Mini Cheesecakes
- American Flag Brownies
- American Flag Cupcakes
- Patriotic Charcuterie Board
- Red White and Blue Poke Cake
- 4th of July Jello Shots
I love to bake and cook and share my kitchen experience with all of you! Remembering to come back each day can be tough, that’s why I offer a convenient newsletter every time a new recipe posts. Simply subscribe and start receiving your free daily recipes!
Taco Salad Flag
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 15 oz refried beans 1 can
- 8 oz cream cheese 1 block, cubed and softened
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 1.25 oz taco seasoning 1 packet
- 16 oz guacamole
Toppings
- 1 cup mexican cheese or cheddar jack, grated/shredded
- 2 cups iceburg lettuce shredded
- ½ cup green onion sliced
- ¼ cup orange bell pepper diced, or red bell pepper
- ½ cup black olives sliced
- 1 Tbsp cilantro chopped
Flag Design
- ½ cup blue corn tortilla chips crushed
- 1 cup mozzarella grated/shredded
- 1 ½ cup tomato finely diced, about 4 medium tomatoes
- sliced jack or mozzarella cheese for star cut outs – amount will vary depending on the size of your cookie cutter
Things You’ll Need
Before You Begin
- For the star cutouts, you can use pre-sliced cheese or cut slices from a block of cheese. Use any size star-shaped cookie cutter that you’d like. Alter the number of stars based on the size of the cookie cutter to fill in the area over the corn chips.
- You could also use diced red pepper or halved cherry tomatoes in place of the chopped tomatoes for the stripes.
Instructions
- Spread refried beans into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- Beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until creamy. Add sour cream and taco seasoning and beat until fully combined. Spread cream cheese mixture over refried beans.
- Stir guacamole to make it easier to spread. Drop dollops of the guacamole over the surface of the cream cheese layer and carefully spread into an even layer.
- Top with cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, green onion, bell pepper, olives, and cilantro.
- Press down the toppings gently to create a relatively smooth “surface” on the salad.
- Sprinkle crushed blue tortilla chips in the upper left-hand corner of the dish.
- Beginning and ending with the tomatoes, rotate rows of chopped tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to form the stripes of the “flag.”
- Cut out star shapes from the cheese slices and place them on top of the blue corn chips.
Expert Tips & FAQs
- Store leftovers covered with plastic wrap or an air-tight lid in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Chips and lettuce will become soggy by the next day, but the dip will still be tasty.
Nutrition
This post originally appeared here on June 8, 2021.
Amanda Davis
Latest posts by Amanda Davis (see all)
- Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies - December 19, 2024
- Christmas Tree Cheese Platter - December 16, 2024
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies - December 12, 2024
Ruth Schaefer says
It was the best tasting dip that my guests kept coming back to all night to enjoy!! Thank you!
Ruth says
We had a 4th of July Birthday party that was for my sisters 70th birthday. It was perfect!! I even cut the stars out of mozzarella cheese like the recipe called for. Finally got to use my Pampered Chef cut-outs.
The ingredients were an awesome blend of comfort food and protein!!
Sue A says
Yummy! Everyone loved it. Too pretty to eat!
Diane Seagraves says
Took this to Lifegroup meeting Saturday afternoon and there wasn’t a bite left. It was an absolute winner!
Wendace says
This looks fantastic and very tasteful! Thank you for your patriotic dish! My favorite holiday!!
Janice Moore says
Can you tell the quickest place to get a star cookie cutter that wouldn’t be too expensive? Thank you!
Beautiful salad………
Amanda Formaro says
There’s a link in the blog post for a star cookie cutter on amazon -> https://amzn.to/3gBoTzg If you have amazon prime you should be able to get it shipped free in a day or two as it does show in stock. Otherwise, call your local craft store such as Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, etc. They have a section with cookie cutters and may be able to help you!