Southwest Chicken Salad

5 from 2 votes

Southwest chicken salad is a healthy, flavorful, and simple-to-make recipe. Topped with creamy cilantro lime dressing, this salad will leave you feeling full all day!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: 20 minute recipe, chicken salad, dinner salad, easy dinner, Southwest chicken salad

Servings: servings

Calories: 468kcal

Author: Lena Gladstone

Ingredients

Chicken

1 ½ pounds chicken breasts 2 large breasts
2 tablespoons taco seasoning store bought or homemade
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Salad

2 heads romaine chopped
15.5 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
8 ounces corn
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
12 ounces roasted pepper chopped
1 large avocado diced
1 small red onion thinly sliced
1 medium jalapeño optional
¼ cup cilantro chopped

Cilantro Lime Avocado Dressing

1 cup cilantro packed (stems and leaves)
½ small avocado
½ cup plain Greek yogurt or use dairy-free yogurt
1 medium lime juiced
1-2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1 teaspoon kosher salt more to taste
2 tablespoons water more if needed to thin out dressing

Instructions

Cut the chicken breast at a diagonal in half so you get 4 pieces. Season the breast with salt and taco seasoning.
Heat a large skillet to medium heat, add olive oil and then the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes covered, flip and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Let the chicken rest on a plate to cool down.
While the chicken cooks, chop all the veggies and drain the beans.
Make the dressing by adding all the ingredients except the water into a majon jar and blend with a stick blender or add evrythign to a blender and blend until smooth, start with 1 tablespoon of water to make it more runny and add another if needed. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
Assemble the salad by adding the lettuce at the base, then add all the chopped veggies. Slice the chicken and add it to the1 salad. Drizzle with the dressing and enjoy.

Nutrition