I like to use Kraft Light Catalina dressing on my Southwestern salads. It is spicy and sweet and my family loves it.

jalapeno ranch! yummmm... you can probably buy some, but homemade is much better. add cilantro too.

What about making a your own dressing? Half olive oil, have lemon juice, and then season with some ground cumin, pepper, a little oregano, garlic, onion and chili powder, paprika, and some red pepper flakes if you like the heat. That would be pretty easy and mimic the typical taco seasoning.

I usually just make a nice pico de gallo for my taco salads and then top with a nice dollop of plain yogurt for tang!

Newman's Own Lighten Up Light Lime Vinaigrette is my favorite. A little goes a long way. Worst case I just use my favorite salsa that I have on hand, sometimes mixed with a little sour cream.

For a treat, Brianna's makes a cheddar chipotle dressing which is delicious on this sort of thing!

When we made taco salad at home growing up, we always used Catalina.

Mix salsa and ranch together. It's amazing!

maybe a roasted red pepper vinaigrette?

You should be able to find a salsa ranch dressing. Or you could just add salsa to some ranch dressing! Or really, ranch does the trick!

I mix lime juice, olive oil (or some other mild oil like walnut or avocado oil), a TON of chopped fresh cilantro (a good handful that I've then chopped), salt, and pepper in a mason jar and shake the heck out of it. It's AMAZING. I can't remember the exact proportions, but if you look up a recipe for a basic homemade lemon vinaigrette, the juice + oil ratios will be the same for this one.

You won't regret it! :-)

Cilantro-lime vinaigrette
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cilantro_lime_vinaigrette.html
YUM YUM YUM... and adds well to the "southwest feel" with the lime and the cilantro..

Trader Joes sells a creamy cilantro dressing that is excellent. In absence of that, I usually just throw some salsa on it.

I like to do just vinegar (red wine) and olive oil with salt pepper and oregano on a taco type salad and then drizzle a little lime juice over the whole thing.

But other ideas are:

Lime Cilantro Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
juice of 1 lime
1 garlic clove
Process all together in food processor

or this (adapted from Laurel's Kitchen's "Everyday Dressing")

1 medium raw Heirloom Tomato
1 cup fresh parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
pinch of cumin

Process all together in food processor. Salt/pepper to taste.

here's a recipe for a do it yourself jalapeno ranch: http://cookmarked.com/recipe.aspx?eID=WNkAGbe74wqDiNDAQMO5sDBN0FnZkeRgAobz3npicQce&uID=WDtRAB3swLNlhp0oNXxIGShkXbhgAyQ4RliYAMEYM1Ee

I am a big fan of using some kind of lime viniagrette (I usually grab whatever looks interesting at the store, but in the summer I make my own). The other day however, i had lunch with a friend who made taco salads and used a packet of taco seasoning and stirred it up with fat free sour cream..THAT was yummy!

In Texas, Chuy's has the most addictive creamy jalapeno dressing... but until they bottle it (a girl can dream), I made an avocado dressing by blending up avocado, lime juice, zest, splash of water and salt and pepper (I think it has enough body without oil).

Also, I use guacamole as dressing with a squeeze of lime and a few dashes of Jalapeno Tabasco.

Deborah Madison's Avocado dressing (jalapeno, avocado, lime, cilantro, oil, garlic, scallion); and her cumin lime vinaigrette.

You could just top with your favorite salsa instead if a dressing - salsa casera or a roasted tomatillo is the way we usually go.

Every now and then, I make a zesty salsa vinaigrette with good quality store-bought fresh salsa (easy to find here in SF), and add some lime juice and olive oil to it, to taste. Makes a great fresh and quick dressing.

Best dressing EVER for this type of salad. Maple-chipotle vinaigrette from the Rebar cookbook (one of the best vegetarian cookbooks of all time, btw). A little spicy and smoky, totally different and unexpected for salad but SO EFFING GOOD.

2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Pure maple syrup
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp Pureed chipotles peppers in adobo sauce (buy smallest can and mix in blender)
1/8 tsp Liquid smoke
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cracked pep

I really enjoy Penzey's Salsa seasoning. Mix according to the directions on the website, and you're all set!

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyssalsasalad.html

Homemade southwest ranch. It's basically ranch and salsa all mixed up and is served at pretty much every Tex-mex restaurant here in Texas.

agree with brianna's chipotle cheddar....yum! if you want to add some sweetness to it, do half CC and half ken's steakhouse lite vidalia onion dressing.

We make spicy ranch. Blend some canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with ranch. Or just mix in chili powder, paprika and chipotle seasoning. We also do this with sour cream. Thin the sour cream out with a little water and mix in the spice option for a great taco or nacho sauce/dip.

Eatingwell had a taco salad recipe that just used salsa and sour cream as the dressing ... simple and great

Tomatillo Ranch

1 package of Buttermilk Ranch mix (prepare this as directed on the package. It will call for mayo and buttermilk)*
¾ cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic
4 or 5 tomatillos (canned is easiest)
1 cup of fresh cilantro
Cayenne pepper to taste

Make ranch dressing and chill. Blend tomatillos, garlic and cilantro until extremely fine. Add that mixture and sour cream to ranch. Add cayenne pepper to taste.

*or use store bought ranch dressing

Newman's Southwest!

I love this one dressing I made. It was a recipe someplace but I've changed it so much...I use an old dressing bottle and shake together 1 part honey, 1 part olive oil, and 1 part lime juice (adjust to your taste)...add a good helping of chopped garlic and black pepper...or chopped jalepenos, cilantro, etc. It's a great base for all kinds of flavors.

This is my favorite and is super easy. It's from an epicurious mango and shrimp salad recipe.
I usually at least double or triple the recipe and leave out the mint depending on what it's going on. Adjust the amount of chile as needed.

2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 (4-inch-long) fresh hot red chile, thinly sliced, including seeds
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Combine and mix until sugar is dissolved. Keeps for a week or so.

Green Aztec Goddess -- my recipe, published in a local newspaper
Mince finely: 1 serrano chile, 2 gloves garlic, green parts of 2 scallions, 4-5 sprigs cilantro
Add to 1/2 cup sour cream (light is OK) thinned with milk or buttermilk, season with lime juice and salt to taste

Allow at least 1/2 hour for flavors to marry before serving

Ooh the green aztec goddess looks "heavenly", I make something similar to that dressing but instead of serrano I use jalapeno and sprinke it with raw pumpkin seeds

Dressing made of yogurt, vinegar, lime, cilantro, salt, pepper, cholulu or tapatio.

I make a really awesome avocado dressing for my mexican/southwest salads. Basically, I mash up an avocado, then I add some cumin and california chili powder. I pour in some tomatilla salsa (enough to make it a little too liquidy) and then I add a bit of cottage cheese and stir stir stir. You can add more salsa if it's too thick. Yum!

I usually just mix some salsa with some balsamic vinegrette - it's surprisingly delicious! I've also added water and oil to guac to make it pourable, and that too tastes way more delicious than it sounds :)

I tried to recreate the salad dressing from the Chipotle chain with pretty good results!

http://greenandlean09.blogspot.com/2010/04/chipotle-salad.html

I have three go too's:
Salsa and mashed avocado- super chunky but if you use a more liquid salsa it turns out really well.
Salsa blended with plain yogurt- I use yogurt in place of sour cream in almost everything and this works really well.
Ranch blended with a spicy guacamole- plain yogurt with a little cilantro works well in place of the yogurt too.

Sorry *yogurt and cilantro works well in place of the ranch.

Well catalina is the one I've always seen put on taco salads. Cheesecake factory used to have a Santa Fe salad with a cilantro something dressing that was great. I'm sure you can find copycat recipes online.

Brianna's Chedder Chipotle dressing and Santa Fe Blend vinaigrette. You can also try making your own. I have a cilantro lime vinagrette from Martha that I make all the time.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cilantro-lime-vinaigrette

We like Whole Foods 365 Chipotle Ranch, if you need a store-bought recommendation.

Ranch + Salsa. Sour Cream + Salsa + Hot Sauce. Ranch + Hot Sauce. Sometimes I do them all!

Sour cream and salsa. Simple and classic dressing.

The Trader Joe's Cilantro-Lime dressing has been mentioned a few times, but I have to second that. It's reallllllllly good.

ditto ranch + salsa!

bbq sauce and ranch dressing mixed together :)

TJ's Cilantro-Lime is good. If you're in the Southwest, you may be able to find El Toritos cilantro dressing. It's awesome....creamy, cilantro-y and with Parmesan cheese. You can Google El Torito Cilantro dressing and find copycat versions. Very easy to make. Also second (or third or whatever) the lime/olive oil vinaigrette idea with some cumin, cayenne, garlic and S&P mixed in. All to taste of course.