Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad
I think I've mentioned before that I'm not the biggest fan of cleaning. I'm also pretty terrible at organizing things. I don't have files for important documents. I don't have certain drawers for certain things (except in the kitchen, of course). And I certainly don't remember where I put things like cords, extra buttons, keys, and most recently my camera charger. It's nowhere to be found. For the past 2 weeks I've been hanging on to the last little bit of life in my camera while hoping my charger would show up. Well, now my camera is dead and there's still no charger. It has to show up at some point, right?
So until the little fairy who snuck into my unorganized chaos and took my camera charger decides to come put it back, I'm fancy camera-less. Or until I cave in and buy a new charger. Hopefully this explains the Instagram pictures I'm using. Maybe fun filters will make up for the blurriness? We'll see.
I made this chopped chicken salad tonight for dinner and while I have quite a few recipes stocked up to blog about, I couldn't wait to share this with you. It. Is. So. Good. I love chopped salads because the lettuce doesn't overpower the salad. Instead of lettuce in big chunks or leaves with all of the little toppings, it's little too. It's just another component of the salad, not the main idea. And while I used a sub-par lettuce nutritional wise (iceberg) you could definitely use romaine or any other lettuce of your liking. I happen to love the crisp crunch of iceberg. I know, it's very un-foodie of me.
So in addition to the lettuce, we've got a lot going on in this southwestern chopped chicken salad. Like, a lot. There's black beans, corn, green peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, chicken, avocado aaaaaaaand tortilla chips. All tossed together with a taco ranch dressing that is way too good for how easy it is. Marc and I both went back for seconds because it is, after all, a salad and so seconds are allowed. I may have even eaten some of the leftovers with a spoon as I was cleaning up. Seriously, so good.
southwestern chopped chicken salad
Ingredients
for the salad:
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 can black beans rinsed
- 1 can sweet yellow corn or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 4 green onions sliced
- 1 head ice berg lettuce washed and chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 2 ripe avocados diced
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
for the dressing:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅔ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients together, excluding the tortilla chips.
- In a small bowl stir all dressing ingredients together.
- Pour dressing over salad, starting with about half of the dressing.
- Toss to combine, then gradually add more dressing until it is dressed to your liking.
- Top with tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Do you have the calories per serving? And how much that serving is? Thanks in advance!!
I just want to say thank you for this delicious recipe. I have made this several times and am about to make it for my sister-in-law when she visits this weekend. It is so incredibly tasty and healthy that I am proud to offer it to company, not only that, but my husband and I demolish it whenever we have it.
I make my own homemade ranch powder rather than buying it (all the ones I've seen at the store have MSG and we've given that up in our diet). I got my recipe here http://everythingscomingupdaffodils.blogspot.com/2010/09/homemade-ranch-seasoning-mix.html.
Anyways, that's my one addition. Other than that, thank you and you're fabulous.
From an appreciative reader.
Naomi
Naomi,
I'm so happy to hear this! I love your idea of making your own ranch powder...I am definitely keeping that in mind for the next time I make this salad to make it even healthier.
Thanks for your comment - I love hearing from readers 🙂
How much saturated fat is in the salad.
I made this awhile back and my husband and I loved it! I'm not pregnant and craving tons of salads, praise Jesus for that! We are omitting MSG from our diet so I searched today to find homemade ranch seasoning just so I could make this recipe again. Keep up the great posts and delish recipes!!!
DId anyone find out what the nutritional value was for this recipe?
I just made this for dinner tonight. I seriously DEVOURED it and nearly went back for more! DELICIOUS!!!!
So glad you enjoyed it Tina!!
So glad to find this--Grizzly's has a similar salad and they saute the peppers--green and red and onions and serve the chicken warm. Nice option.
I just this salad tonight, and it is great ! My son loves it too ! We will make it again !
So happy to hear this, Terri!
I tried this because the simplicity and ingredients appealed to me...it was fantastic! My husband loved it, and even came up with the idea to make it into wraps. To make it into a wrap I didn't add as much lettuce. So excellent. I'll be keeping this recipe for sure 🙂
You can also cook the chicken in a crock pot for 3-4 hours (add a little water if it's not frozen) and it shreds super easy.
Great idea! Thanks Melissa 🙂
For those asking about the chicken, there's a really easy way to do it if you have a kitchenaid (I saw this on Pinterest.) Make your chicken--I use boneless, skinless chicken breast and actually just boil it; I usually do it right from the freezer so I don't have to defrost; just boil it a little longer and cut it opened when you are done to make sure it is white all the way through. Then, put the chicken (while it is still warm) into the kitchen aid and turn it on. It shreds it perfectly with very little effort. Hope this helps and thanks for the great recipe.
I made this several times and I have been asked for the recipe every place I take it! Thanks for the great post!!
Kim,
I'm so glad to hear this! Thanks for the sweet comment 🙂
Found this recipe a few months ago and make it about every two weeks! Tasted absolutely wonderful; restaurant quality! Perfect for a hot, summer day! Hubby said "You can make that again.", so it HAD to be good. Next day leftovers are great and it's a perfect meal for dinner guests! Thank you!
I would think Kraft Southwest Chipotle Dressing would be a very good dressing for this salad!
Pinned this on Pinterest quite some time ago and finally made it today! Oh my goodness its amazing- can not wait to try more of your recipes!!
This was super yummy! Made it for my boys (39,16,14,10) and they loved it!!!!! It was all gone and i will be making this again.
Wow! I'm so glad to hear this 🙂
Do i have to use greek yogurt or can i use plain yogurt?
You could use plain but the consistency of the dressing may be a bit thinner. Good luck! 🙂
I'm going to try this tonight! Excited to get a good share of veggies tonight!
love this recipe - made it twice. 2nd time subbed the crushed chips with roasted pumpkin seeds for crunch and then served topping bowls of brown rice with the salad. On the side I had chips, salsa and sour cream for sides and served with chilled sangria. Very refreshing for light dinner on a wram day since I served cold.
This was the recipe that made me find your site (someone posted on FB) and I finally made it this weekend. It was very good, but as I find with most things, even better with cheese 🙂 I love how many veggies are packed into it, but the servings are HUGE! I'd probably say 6 servings. My husband looked at me like I was crazy when I served him a quarter of it...LOL!
I just wanted to tell you how fabulous this salad was. I cut all the ingredients ahead of time and bagged separately and brought it for lunch today at work.
the only difference I did was with the dressing.....now fat mayo, low fat greek dressing and spicy ranch. Fabulous! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jackie!