While some salads are intended to be served, the best ones can also be served as a whole meal. The latter group includes this barbecue chicken salad: Along with festive South of the Border-inspired toppings like black beans, corn, cheese, and tortilla strips, juicy grilled BBQ chicken is served. You can make a filling lunch that you’ll want to eat repeatedly by placing that on top of some crunchy romaine lettuce and drizzling it with ranch and BBQ sauce.
This salad’s biggest feature is how simple it is to personalize and make it your own. We chose store-bought BBQ sauce, but you are welcome to substitute homemade. We listed our favorite BBQ sauces here. Instead, we made a smaller quantity of our original ranch dressing, but you’re free to substitute your preferred store brand. The options here are virtually endless: omit the corn (or substitute fresh), swap the black beans for pinto, use bell pepper in place of the tomato, etc.
| YIELDS | 4 – 6 serving(s) |
| PREP TIME | 15 mins |
| TOTAL TIME: | 45 mins |
| CAL/SERV | 726 |
BBQ chicken salad recipe: Ingredients
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts weighing a total of around 1 pound
- Halal salt
- black pepper freshly ground
- Store-bought BBQ sauce, divided into 3/4 c.
- Buttermilk, 1/3 cup
- Mayonnaise, 1/4 cup
- Sour cream, 1/4 cup
- a single garlic clove, minced
- 2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon freshly chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon freshly cut chives
- 1/8 teaspoon of onion powder
- Cayenne pepper pinch
- 8 cups of two heads of thinly chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 (15-oz.) can of rinsed and drained black beans
- 1 vine-ripened tomato, around 1 cup, finely chopped
- 1 cup of minced Mexican cheese
- 1 cup of thawed and drained frozen corn
- 1 cup of crumbled tortilla chips or tortilla chip strips
- 1/4 cup of red onion, finely chopped
BBQ chicken salad recipe: Directions
Step 1
Sandwich 2 layers of plastic wrap between the chicken and use a meat mallet to pound into 1/2″-thick pieces. Place the chicken in a big bowl and season it with 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover the chicken with 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce. Turn to coat and let sit for at least 15 minutes at room temperature, tossing occasionally. Alternatively, cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours.
Step 2
In the meantime, preheat a grill to medium-high heat for 5 minutes (or cook a grill pan). Buttermilk, mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic, parsley, dill, chives, onion powder, cayenne, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper should all be incorporated into a medium bowl. This dressing should be set aside.
Step 3
Cook the chicken on the grill for about 5 minutes per side, basting often with the marinade. Move to a chopping board and allow to slightly cool. Make bite-sized chicken pieces.
Step 4
Toss the chicken, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, cheese, corn, tortilla strips, and onion together in a big bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce and some of the reserved dressing, then mix once more to blend. Alongside, serve any remaining dressing.