Chicken Salad With Ranch Dressing

Ingredients In Chicken Ranch Salad

This recipe still has all the basics found in a classic chicken salad and adds a fun twist of bacon and ranch dressing!

• Chicken: Use grilled chicken for that unmistakable outdoor flavor, or use leftover chicken from last nights roast chicken dinner, and get two meals for the price of one!
• Herbs & Spices: Parsley, dill, and seasoned salt. Make your own homemade seasoned salt, or use Mrs. Dash or another favorite.
• Mix-Ins: Bacon, green onions and celery. Celery is optional but adds a delicious crunch!
• Dressing: Ranch dressing, mayo, and a bit of mustard make the creamy and zesty base.

Kale And Romaine For Delightful Texture

While leafy green vegetables are usually just a topping for traditional Tex-Mex cuisine, here we use them as more of a base. The darker the leaves, the more nutrient-rich the greens so our recipe specifically calls for kale and romaine lettuce. Mixed together, these leafy greens bring delightfully crunchy texture, hearty flavor and superior nutrition to the salad bowl.

The vitamin C and beta-carotene content of both make them disease-fighting functional foods. Theyre also rich in vitamin K, an underrated but incredibly beneficial fat-soluble vitamins that supports heart and bone health .

How To Make Grilled Chicken Salad

To make this easy recipe for grilled chicken salad, follow our tips:

• Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness before marinating to ensure even cooking.
• Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Chicken should be cooked to 165°F to ensure doneness. Dont over-cook it!
• Allow grilled chicken to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
• Customize your salad by using your favorite salad veggies and salad greens. Add-ins like crumbled cheese, nuts, croutons, or seeds are great additions! I like sunflower seeds for salad.

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Dietary Considerations And Accommodations

This recipe for chicken bacon ranch salad is suitable for the following diets:

• low carb and keto friendly
• gluten free

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Build Your Salad Bowl

Once youve cooked and prepared all the fresh ingredients, youre ready to build your salad bowl.

Start by spreading out the kale and romaine mixture in a large bowl or on a large plate and then add layers of seasoned chicken, shredded cheese, beans, corn, onions, bell pepper, tomato and avocado. You can add the salsa ranch dressing between layers or on top of the blend.

Finally, season the salad to taste with black pepper, and garnish the finished blend with jalapeño pepper slices and cilantro. You can also add sprinkles of tortilla strips for added crunch but this is totally optional.

Our Southwest Chicken Salad recipe is large enough for six deliciously filling servings. With a salad bowl thats packed full of protein, good fats and fiber, youll get plenty of nutrition bang for your buck. Depending on your eating style, you can double your portions and eat less meals or store leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days.

For leftovers, simply arrange your chicken and all other ingredients in their own sections on a serving plate or in a to-go container, include a separate container of dressing, and youve got yourself a quick and convenient meal.

Leftover ingredients make for great lettuce wraps.

Its all about building your bowl, your way!

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How To Make Homemade Ranch Dressing

Making homemade ranch dressing is so easy. It has a number of ingredients, but once you have them prepped and measured out, it takes a matter of seconds to combine. Just combine the dressing ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth, and pour over the salad. You can also double or triple the batch and store the rest in an airtight container or mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Why You’ll Love Chicken Garden Salad

• It’s perfect for meal prep. This salad is a great way to use up any leftover chicken breast. It’s great for meal prep because you can prep everything ahead of time and divide into meal prep containers. I would just recommend adding the croutons later when serving, and storing the dressing in small jars to pack with your lunch on the side.
• It contains all the food groups. Vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy, this chicken garden salad has it all. It’s loaded with garden veggies which are delicious and healthy. It’s got chicken . It has grains , and it has dairy in the homemade ranch dressing.
• Quick and easy to make. Since we are using leftover chicken , this salad takes literally less than 10 minutes to throw together. It’s the perfect meal to make when you are short on time or energy. And, it’s super easy to customize with whatever vegetables that you have on hand.

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How To Make Crispy Chicken Salad

Its not hard to make! Just mix up some buttermilk and spices with an egg, toss in your fried chicken, and let it marinate a while.

Then add all your dry ingredients to a ziplock bag. You only need to put it in a bowl if you plan to take a picture of it and post it on the internet so that people know what tempura mix looks like. The tempura mix is on the right in the bowl of dry ingredients, and looks just like flour. It gets you the crispiest fried chicken! But flour will do if you cant find it. Beside the bowl on the right is the dry chicken bouillon I used. It adds great chicken flavor!

Add the chicken to the bag of dry ingredients and shake it up. Then stick it in the freezer while you let your oil heat up! Cold batter going into hot oil makes for the crispiest fried chicken, especially when using tempura batter. It also helps the batter stick to the chicken a little better.

Then fry em up! Deep frying in a pan is not as intimidating as it seems. And it really only takes 20 minutes or so. And its SO GOOD.

Then chop up all your veggies and devour!!

I know that most chicken sandwiches sold in fast food restaurants dont have avocado, but thats only because avocados are expensive and it wouldnt make sense for them business-wise. I mean, right? Why WOULDNT you add avocado to your chicken sandwich if you could?? So into our sandwich-salad it goes.

How To Make Chicken Ranch Pasta Salad

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Composed Chicken Salad With Ranch Dressing

• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup Balkan-style yogurt or buttermilk
• 2 cloves of garlic , minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds , crushed
• 1 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoons chili powder or ancho chili powder
• 1 head Boston or Bibb lettuce , torn
• 1 bunch watercress
• 4 cocktail tomatoes , cut in wedges
• 3 mini cucumbers , cut in spears
• 3 hard-cooked eggs , quartered
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 tablespoons each chopped chives , dill and parsley
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 small clove garlic , minced
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Nutritional facts PER SERVING: about

• Fibre3 g

Method

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with foil.

Combine chicken, yogurt, garlic and salt in shallow baking dish. In small skillet, stir together cumin seeds, coriander and chili powder cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken, stirring to coat. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Ranch Dressing Meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, chives, dill, parsley, mustard, vinegar, garlic, pepper and salt until combined. Refrigerate.

On large platter, arrange lettuce, watercress, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs and red onion. Cover and refrigerate.

Nutritional facts PER SERVING: about

• Fibre3 g

Recipe Tips And Tricks

• How to cook chicken breast: If you don’t have any leftover chicken breast to top on this salad, you can easily make it. Just season both sides of the chicken generously with salt and pepper . Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 4-7 minutes on each side, until the chicken is fully cooked and is no longer pink inside, and the internal temperature reaches 165F as read on a meat thermometer. Let the chicken cool for about 10 minutes and then cut it into slices.
• Make ahead instructions: To make this salad ahead of time, I would suggest prepping and chopping the vegetables and storing in an airtight container . If you are making dressing from scratch, make it and store in a separate airtight container. When ready to serve, add croutons and pour the dressing on top and toss.
• How to store: Chicken garden salad is best served fresh. If you happen to have any leftovers, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Eat all the croutons before storing as they will get mushy.

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Is It Healthy To Eat A Salad Every Day

Having a healthy bowl of salad every day would be a great eating habit to acquire. Depending on what kind of salad you are having. Not all salads are healthy to have every day. Also, some can be high in calories so make sure your salad has loads of clean ingredients, along with some sort of lean protein like chicken breasts, and use homemade dressing which is usually low in fat and calories.

Southwest Chicken Salad With Salsa Ranch Dressing

The Southwest Chicken Salad is among the most popular menu items at local restaurants and chains. If youve ever had a really good one, you probably know why. A hearty and flavorful mix of classic Tex-Mex ingredients, it makes for an incredibly filling, yummy and satisfying meal. But when it comes to nutrition, its those exact ingredients and how much of them are used, that dictate the overall quality of this bold and tasty blend.

Whether you like authentic Mexican cuisine or Tex-Mex, youll love the nutritional spin weve put on the traditional Southwest Chicken Salad recipe. Ours is jam-packed with perfectly seasoned chicken, fresh veggies, black beans and corn, along with a rich and deliciously savory salsa ranch dressing. Full of protein, fat and fiber, its super easy to make and an excellent choice for your big-batch meal prep. So, get ready to build your bowl!

Read Also: Hidden Valley Ranch Broccoli Salad

How Do You Make Homemade Ranch Dressing

Is ranch your favorite chicken salad dressing? Make this homemade ranch dressing recipe for your chicken salad, which is made with greek yogurt. The exact measurements for the ingredients needed for the homemade ranch dressing is listed below with the recipes.

What you will need:

Greek yogurt, garlic, onion, mustard, chives, lemon juice, dill, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Place all the ingredients in a jar, close tightly and then shake vigorously until well mixed. Place in the fridge.

Why Youll Love This Recipe:

• Its so simple to make! It really doesnt get any easier than this when it comes to throwing something together
• Its a great recipe to have ready for the week and perfect to prep at the beginning of the week.
• Chicken recipes are so versatile. You can use a variety of different chicken to make this come together. Even canned chicken will work too!
• It has bacon & ranchdoes it get any better?!

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More Keto Salad Recipes

There are so many salad recipes, it can be hard to choose! Luckily, you dont have to. Trying them all means you probably never have to eat the same one twice

• 4CupsRotisserie Chickenshredded
• 1/2CupCelery Stickschopped
• 1/2CupGreen Onionschopped
• 1/2CupBaconcrumbled, about 8 bacon slices
• 1CupSharp Cheddar Cheeseshredded
• 1/2CupMayonnaiseor sub for Greek yogurt

Chopped Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad

This chicken bacon ranch salad is bright and fresh, loaded with veggies, protein, and healthy fats, and is super easy to make. It comes together in 30 minutes and is perfect for BBQs, picnics, potlucks, or just a simple lunch or light dinner and is paleo, low carb, and Whole30 approved!

Here is what you need:

• chicken I used tenders, but you can use any kind you like I love ButcherBox
• bacon again, I love ButcherBox for pasture raised and Whole30 bacon
• romaine
• dried parsley
• salt and pepper

First start off by cooking the bacon. Heat a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat and add bacon and sprinkle with pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until crispy.

Set the bacon aside to cool and remove all but one tablespoon of the bacon grease from the pan.

Next mix together the garlic powder, dill, parsley, and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Season the chicken with the spice mixture. Add chicken to pan and cook for 15 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until golden brown and cooked through. Set aside to cool.

While the chicken is cooking, prep your salad chop the romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and avocado and add it to a large bowl. Roughly chop the bacon and chicken and add to bowl. Finally, pour over the ranch dressing, add lemon juice, and season with some salt and pepper and mix well to combine!

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Southwest Chicken Salad Recipe

Southwest Chicken Salad With Spicy Ranch Dressing

Crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, crisp corn, and black beans combine with an easy BBQ Ranch Dressing in one of our favorite salads.

This Southwest Chicken Salad with Spicy Ranch is a great way to get a light, fresh, and filling meal on the table in just a few minutes. My family has been enjoying this salad for lunch and dinner for several years now.

With the convenience of pre-cooked roast chicken that you can make ahead of time and stash in the fridge, the Southwest Chicken Salad comes together in about fifteen minutes. Alternatively, you can simply pick up a rotisserie chicken for an extra simple meal.

Want an alternative to chicken? You can use the Best Ever Taco Meat, Pulled Pork, or Steak Bites as the protein for this salad. Not a meat eater? Try hard boiled eggs on this salad!

If youre looking for more great options for summer salads, dont miss my eBook for How To Eat A Salad Everyday.

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How To Make This Ranch Chicken Salad Your Way:

We love chicken salad with grapes, but some dont. Thats ok! Weve had a lot of readers send us in their own versions of this recipe. Here are a few ideas to switch up your chicken salad and make it your own!

• Lemon juice/zest
• Turkey, ham, or tuna instead of chicken
• Chopped hard boiled eggs
• Jalapeños in place of celery for an extra kick
• Sliced olives

Shredded Chicken With Southwest Seasonings

Whats a Southwest Chicken Salad without the chicken, right? Besides being chock-full of quality protein, chicken is a great source of B vitamins and antioxidants. Our recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken breasts. The breast is the leanest and most nutritious cut. Below we include instructions for cooking and shredding up the breasts for the bowl. Also included are ingredients for That Salad Ladys Southwest seasoning blend for a powerful flavor punch.

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Faq + Tips For The Best Chicken Bacon Avocado Ranch Salad

CHICKEN RECIPES TO TRY FOR THIS SALAD: If you dont have rotisserie or leftover chicken on hand and want to cook some just for this salad, you can try these:

• Balsamic Chicken From our Bruschetta Chicken recipe
• Rosemary Chicken From our Rosemary Chicken BLT Salad
• Almond Flour Chicken Tenders You can cut them up and add them here. Its really yummy!

PRO TIP: BAKE YOUR BACON! I almost always bake my bacon these days. If youre making croutons, you can do both at the same timewin!

HOW TO PICK A RIPE AVOCADO. I like to buy mostly green avocados and let them ripen on the counter. You want the skin to be purply black, and the avocado to feel firm with just a slight give. I love these tips for ripening & choosing ripe avocados!

TRY OUR OTHER RANCH RECIPES! If you like, you can double-up on avocado goodness by swapping out our regular homemade ranch for Avocado Ranch, or put a southwest spin on the salad with Tomatillo Ranch or Cilantro Lime Ranch. Each one is DELICIOUS!

MOM TIP: If youve got picky or particular eaters at your house, try serving the components in individual bowls, rather than mixing the whole salad together. Everyone can build their salad just the way they like it, and youre all getting to eat the same meal. My kids LOVE when I serve salads or meals this way.