Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

6+ cups chopped romaine lettuce

4-5 cups cubed cooked chicken*

1 and 1/2 cups corn, drained if canned or thawed if frozen

1 and 1/2 cups black beans, rinsed & drained

1 and 1/2 cups (225g) tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup crushed tortilla chips

handful chopped cilantro-optional

Dressing:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (we use nonfat)

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 Tablespoons lime juice

1/2 jalapeño, finely diced -make sure there are NO seeds

2 heaping teaspoons taco seasoning (we use mild)

salt, to taste and if needed (1 tsp)

Directions

1-Add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl. (If you’re not serving it right away, add the tortilla chips on last right before serving. They’ll stay crunchy that way.)

2-Whisk the dressing ingredients together, except for the salt. Taste, then add salt to your preference.

3-Spoon dressing over salad, then toss to combine. Serve cold.

Notes

Bonnie uses 1 tsp salt in the dressing. I do not add the cilantro. I reduced the chicken from 6 cups to no more than 5 but 4 would probably be better. With 6 cups the salad is too dry.

Make ahead tip: You can prepare this salad the day before through step 3. The flavors get even better on day 2. Add the tortilla chips right before serving.

Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk

Chicken: For the grilled chicken, we drizzle 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2-3 breasts) with olive oil and season with salt and pepper before grilling until cooked through. This equals about 5-6 cups of cubed chicken. You could also use store-bought rotisserie chicken or just any leftover cooked chicken you have.

Corn & Black Beans: You can use freshly cooked corn and beans or canned corn and beans. (Drain first. Rinse the beans if desired.) You can use thawed frozen corn as well.