What’s a week over here without a chicken salad recipe, right?! My go-to throughout the week because it’s easy to throw together, makes a bunch for meal prep, super easy to switch up so you don’t get sick of it. I love all the southwestern flavors so I decided to throw them together to make this Southwestern Chicken Salad. If you love it as much as I do, then you’ll love this!!
Make this Southwestern Chicken Salad and pair it with a lot of different options for the week:
- In a pita!
- In a wrap
- On top of greens
- With crackers
- In a sandwich
With busy schedules, having meals like this prepped and ready has been a life saver for me. On days that I don’t have a simple meal to grab for, it’s easy to get caught up snacking all day. Spending a little time at the beginning of the week preparing simple things like this will be a game changer during the busy weeks!
If you haven’t checked out my roundup of “salads” to prep for the week, be sure to check out all of the different options I have on One Balanced Life. These are great to choose from based off what you’re feeling!
Recipe TIP: If you want to make this Dairy Free, you can trade out the yogurt for a light mayo. I love using this one.
What you need to make Southwestern Chicken Salad:
- Chicken Breast
- Taco seasoning
- Shredded Carrots
- Black Beans
- Corn
- Cilantro
- Yogurt (I used Siggi’s plain)
- Cherry tomatoes
For the chicken make a homemade taco seasoning or get a pre-made one. I like using this one from Primal Palate (set aside some to mix in with salad):
If you don’t want to make this, you can also buy a pre-made taco seasoning packet to use with the chicken. Don’t leave this out though!
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Southwestern Chicken Salad
Southwestern flavors all mixed into a delicious chicken salad!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups cubed chicken breast
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1/2 cup red onion
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup romaine, chopped
- 1/3 cup plain Siggi’s yogurt (any greek yogurt would work here!)
- 2 tbsp salsa verde
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tbsp cilantro, more for garnish
- Optional: crushed tortilla chips on top (only if eating day of!)
Instructions
Start by mixing spices together to cook chicken in. Coat fully on chicken nuggets.
Add 1 tbsp of avocado oil to the pan and place chicken on to sauté. Once completely cooked through, remove from the pan.
Combine all ingredients into a large bowl: chicken, beans, chopped bell pepper, romaine, tomato, corn, black beans, Siggi’s plain yogurt and salsa verde. Mix together.
Add additional salt, remaining homemade taco seasoning, and cilantro and mix.
Top with tortilla chips (if enjoying day of!), cilantro and red pepper flakes.
Enjoy!
until next time...
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