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Southwest Chicken Salad makes for the perfect light yet filling, flavorful lunch. Made with rotisserie chicken, juicy Roma tomatoes, crisp red onion, sweet corn, black beans, fresh cilantro and creamy avocado. All topped with a creamy and zesty dressing.
Southwest Chicken Salad
As the weather starts to warm up and spring and summer roll around, I start craving healthy and light salads. This Southwest Chicken Salad is one of my go-to’s. It’s a great salad to make for a summer barbecue or as meal prep for make ahead lunches. It’s so fresh, light yet filling, and so flavorful. Made with rotisserie chicken, plump and juicy Roma tomatoes, crunchy and crisp red onion, sweet corn, black beans, fresh cilantro and creamy avocado. All topped with a creamy and zesty dressing.
What you need to make it:
Ingredients:
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Roma Tomatoes
- Red Onion
- Corn
- Black Beans
- Cilantro
- Avocado
- Lime Juice
- Mayo
- Pink Sea Salt
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
Equipment:
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Small Mixing Bowl
- Whisk
- Small Mason Jar
How to make Southwest Chicken Salad:
- In a small mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients for the dressing. Whisk together until smooth and creamy texture is reached. Pour in a small mason jar and keep refrigerated while you prep the salad.
- Shred rotisserie chicken and measure out 2 cups. Dice tomatoes, onion and avocado. Thinly chop cilantro. Drain and rinse corn and black beans.
- In a large mixing bowl, place all ingredients layering them next to each other. Remove dressing from fridge and drizzle over salad. Toss everything together making sure the salad is well mixed and evenly coated with the dressing.
- Serve and enjoy! Keep any leftover salad refrigerated for up to 2-3 days. If making for meal prep, don’t add avocado in. Add avocado as you serve it. Keep salad refrigerated without avocado for up to 3-4 days.
Tips and Substitutions:
- Rotisserie chicken is the easiest way to add chicken to this salad- But if you have any other cooked chicken on hand, you can shred it and use that instead. This Shredded Chicken is also great for this recipe.
- Use other protein- Shredded Roasted Turkey is also great for this recipe. You can even try using canned tuna.
- Leave avocado pit in salad- This will slow down the avocado from browning while it’s in the fridge chillin.
- If making this salad for meal prep, don’t add avocado in- Add avocado as you serve it.
- Serve salad chilled- This salad is best when served chilled.
- Not a fan of mayo?- Substitute for Plain Greek Yogurt.
Meal Prepping it:
This Southwest Chicken salad is great for meal prep. It makes a decent batch which then can be portioned and served into lunches for the week. Pack it with lettuce or wraps to for a complete lunch. If you are making this salad for meal prep, don’t add the avocado right away. Add it when you’re ready to eat your salad.
Did you like this Southwest Chicken Salad recipe? You may also like these other salad recipes?
- Adobo Steak and Avocado Salad with Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dressing
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Grilled Pineapple and Chicken Salad
- Easy Veggie Pasta Salad (with Easy Homemade Italian Dressing)
- Classic Macaroni Salad (Gluten-Free)
- Loaded Burger Bowls
- Quinoa Chickpea Salad
Southwest Chicken Salad
Southwest Chicken Salad makes for the perfect light yet filling, flavorful lunch. Made with rotisserie chicken, juicy Roma tomatoes, crisp red onion, sweet corn, black beans, fresh cilantro and creamy avocado. All topped with a creamy and zesty dressing.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- 1 cup black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 cup corn (drained and rinsed)
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 avocado
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup mayo (I use avocado oil based)
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp pink sea salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
Instructions
-
In a small mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients for the dressing. Whisk together until smooth and creamy texture is reached. Pour in a small mason jar and keep refrigerated while you prep the salad.
-
Shred rotisserie chicken and measure out 2 cups. Dice tomatoes, onion and avocado. Thinly chop cilantro. Drain and rinse corn and black beans.
-
In a large mixing bowl, place all ingredients layering them next to each other. Remove dressing from fridge and drizzle over salad. Toss everything together making sure the salad is well mixed and evenly coated with the dressing.
-
Serve and enjoy! Keep any leftover salad refrigerated for up to 2-3 days. If making for meal prep, don't add avocado in. Add avocado as you serve it. Keep salad refrigerated without avocado for up to 3-4 days.
Recipe Notes
Tips and Substitutions:
- Rotisserie chicken is the easiest way to add chicken to this salad- But if you have any other cooked chicken on hand, you can shred it and use that instead. This Shredded Chicken is also great for this recipe.
- Use other protein- Shredded Roasted Turkey is also great for this recipe. You can even try using canned tuna.
- Leave avocado pit in salad- This will slow down the avocado from browning while it’s in the fridge chillin.
- If making this salad for meal prep, don’t add avocado in- Add avocado as you serve it.
- Serve salad chilled- This salad is best when served chilled.
- Not a fan of mayo?- Substitute for Plain Greek Yogurt.
*Number of total servings in estimated. Actual number of servings may vary depending on your own personal preference in portion sizes.
**Nutritional values shown are general guidelines for 1 serving using the ingredients listed above. These numbers do not reflect and may vary depending on substitutions, additions and/or different brands and/or other ingredients that may be used.
**Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links and sponsored content. All the opinions are my own and I only recommend products I use in my own home with my own family.
