You’ll love this Southwest chicken salad with marinated chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes, avocados, and lettuce, topped w/ a creamy lime cilantro dressing!
If you enjoy flavor-filled main dish salads, you will love this Southwest Chicken Salad. It is a wonderful main dish salad, full of flavor!
I found this recipe for Southwest chicken salad on Pinterest, and it not only sounded HEALTHY, but DELICIOUS! The original recipe serves 4, but I very slightly modified it to make two servings, for my husband and I to enjoy! OH MY GOODNESS- the salad is amazing, like “we ate every single bite” amazing!
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of the Page
Making The Marinade
I made the marinade early in the day, and let the chicken “bathe” in it for hours, to soak up great flavor! When I was ready to fix dinner, all I had to do was grill the chicken on my stove top and assemble the salad. EASY! Here’s how to make it:
In a medium sized bowl, combine all the marinade/salad dressing ingredients EXCEPT FOR THE YOGURT! Mix together until all are well blended. Pour HALF of the marinade (set aside the other half) into a rimmed dish and add the chicken.
Marinate The Chicken
Turn pieces over, to coat well. Cover chicken and place in refrigerator for 2 hours (or more, if time allows). Cover remaining marinade and refrigerate until ready to use.
When ready to assemble salad for your meal, remove reserved marinade from refrigerator. Blend in the Greek yogurt, until completely incorporated and creamy.
Cook The Marinated Chicken
After the chicken has fully marinated, remove it from the refrigerator. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet or on a grill on medium-high heat until very hot, but not smoking. Sear chicken on first side until bottom is golden brown and crispy, then flip and cook other side until chicken is fully done (internal temp. of 165°F). I use an indoor cast iron grill and it takes about 10 minutes per side.
Once done, remove the chicken, and let it rest, so the juices can redistribute internally. After the chicken rests for 5 minutes, cut each piece into thin slices, and discard the chicken marinade.
Assemble The Southwest Chicken Salad
When you are ready to assemble salad, fill individual bowls or plates with chopped romaine. Divide corn, beans, and cherry tomato halves between servings. Top with avocado and chicken slices (fanning them out slightly, for a decorative look). My husband wanted an entire half an avocado sliced on his salad, as you can tell from the 2nd photo below… ha ha!
Drizzle the salad with the prepared cilantro lime salad dressing. Serve, and enjoy this absolutely amazing tasting meal! NOTE: I made 2 large entree size salads for us. If making 4 salads, increase chicken to 4 pieces, and double the amount of corn, beans, cherry tomatoes, and add additional lettuce. You will not need to double the marinade.
We absolutely LOVED this Southwest chicken salad; we were very full and completely satisfied after eating! The grilled chicken had great flavor, thanks to the lime cilantro marinade, and the low fat flavor-filled dressing made this dish shine!
I sincerely hope you will consider trying this recipe… it is totally delicious, filling, and very colorful! Have a fantastic day!
Looking for More MAIN COURSE SALAD Recipes?
You can find ALL my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. I have a nice variety of main course salads you might want to check out, including:
- Southwest Steak Salad with Avocado & Cilantro Dressing
- Grilled Ham Salad with Peaches and Goat Cheese
- Chicken Taco Salad Bowl
- Cobb Salad
Interested In More Recipes?
Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so. If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.
You Can Also Find Me On Social Media:
Facebook page: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Pinterest: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Instagram: jbatthegratefulgirlcooks
Recipe Adapted From: Karina, at https://cafedelites.com/southwestern-chicken-salad/
You'll love this Southwest chicken salad with marinated chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes, avocados, and lettuce, topped w/ a creamy lime cilantro dressing!
- 2 large chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (approx. 2 large limes)
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 4 Tablespoons fresh cilantro (finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin (ground)
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (THIS IS USED FOR DRESSING ONLY!!!)
- 4 cups romaine lettuce (torn or chopped)
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
- 1/2 avocado , thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup canned black beans (drained, rinsed)
- 1/2 cup canned whole kernel corn (drained, rinsed)
- In a medium sized bowl, combine all marinade/salad dressing ingredients EXCEPT FOR THE YOGURT! Mix together until well blended. Pour HALF of the marinade (set aside the other half) into a rimmed shallow dish and add the chicken. Toss to coat well. Cover chicken and place in refrigerator for 2 hours (or more, if time allows). Cover remaining marinade and refrigerate until ready to use.
- After chicken has fully marinated, remove it from refrigerator. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet or on a grill on medium-high heat until very hot, but not smoking. Cook chicken on first side until bottom is golden brown and crispy, then flip and cook other side until chicken is fully cooked throughout. (I used an indoor cast iron grill and it took about 10 minutes per side). Once done, remove chicken, and let it rest so juices can settle internally. After chicken has rested for 5 minutes, cut each piece into thin slices. Discard chicken marinade.
- When ready to assemble salad, remove reserved marinade from refrigerator. Blend in the Greek yogurt, until completely incorporated and creamy.
- To assemble salads, fill individual bowls or plates with chopped romaine. Divide corn, beans, and cherry tomato halves between servings. Place avocado and chicken slices decoratively on top of salad. Drizzle each salad with reserved creamy cilantro lime dressing. Serve, and enjoy!
*NOTE: I made 2 large salads for us. If making 4 servings, increase chicken to 4 pieces, and double the amount of corn, beans, cherry tomatoes, and add additional lettuce, as desired. (Use same amounts written for marinade/dressing).
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!