Southwest Chicken Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

The BEST Southwest Chicken Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing! Made with colorful veggies, marinated grilled chicken, black beans, corn, and crumbled cotija cheese. All tossed with the most delicious avocado cilantro dressing!

This Southwest Chicken Salad recipe has everything you love and will be your new favorite salad! Creamy dressing, flavorful juicy chicken, fresh veggies, black beans and sweet corn all tossed in the BEST avocado dressing. This is always my go-to recipe when wanting to serve a salad to a crowd. I love prepping this salad ahead of time for lunches throughout the week and the marinade has so much flavor! This healthy recipe is a great way to hit your protein goals and eat healthy fats while feeling full and satisfied.

Why You’ll Love this Salad

• This salad is hearty, healthy and loaded with all your favorite southwest flavors. Your taste buds will thank you!
• Packed with protein and healthy fats for the perfect nutritious salad.
• A good salad for meal prep because all the ingredients can be prepped ahead of time for quick assembly.
• The creamy avocado dressing is such an easy recipe and a game changer in this salad!
• Perfect meal-size salad to feed a crowd!

Here’s What You’ll Need

Salad Ingredients

• romaine lettuce – finely chopped romaine lettuce, but any leafy green lettuce such as arugula, kale or spinach will work.
• veggies – a colorful combination of grape tomatoes, fresh corn (or fire-roasted corn), crunchy red onion and one ripe avocado. You could also add in green onions for more flavor.
• black beans – I used canned black beans which are a great source of protein in this salad. Just make sure to drain and rinse the black beans.
• cilantro – perfect addition to this salad and adds a nice fresh flavor and pop of color. If you aren’t a fan of cilantro, add in some other fresh herbs such as fresh parsley.
• cotija cheese – adds creaminess and flavor.

Chicken Ingredients

• chicken – you’ll need 2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts. You could also use boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloin as well.
• olive oil – helps infuse the flavors into the chicken and prevents it from sticking to the grill or pan. I like to use a good olive oil that doesn’t have to be expensive, just make sure it’s cold-pressed and organic for the most flavor.
• lime juice – fresh lime juice adds zesty flavor and you’ll need about half a lime for the marinade. Feel free to add in a little lime zest too if you want more lime flavor!
• taco seasoning – I used my homemade taco seasoning which tastes so much better than packets from the grocery store loaded with sodium. Made with chili powder, ground cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano.
• salt + pepper – needed to season the chicken.

For the Avocado Dressing

• avocado – the star of this dressing! You’ll want ripe avocados so that this dressing is nice and creamy.
• garlic – fresh garlic tastes best in this recipe, but feel free to use one teaspoon of garlic powder in place of fresh garlic.
• greek yogurt – I love the tanginess of greek yogurt in this dressing. You could also use regular yogurt or even sour cream if that’s all you have on hand.
• avocado oil – I just love the subtle flavor of avocado oil in this dressing which allows the other flavors to truly shine. You could also use olive oil for a more rich flavor.
• lime juice – this adds a fresh taste and zest to the whole dressing. It also prevents the avocado from turning brown.
• cilantro – fresh cilantro adds flavor and give a vibrant green color. Feel free to leave the stems on because they just add even more flavor and will be blended up anyway.
• seasonings – blend of cumin, salt and black pepper.

How to Make Southwestern Salad

1. Marinate chicken. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, taco seasoning, salt/pepper and toss with chicken. Set the chicken aside and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes to 12 hours.
2. Chop veggies. While the chicken marinates, prepare the salad. Wash and chop up the romaine lettuce, slice the tomatoes and red onion, and chop up the cilantro. This is also a good time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F if planning to bake the chicken. I recommend waiting to chop the avocado until right before serving the salad in order to keep it fresh!
3. Cook the chicken. Bake chicken at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 F using a digital thermometer. You could also grill the chicken on a grill or grill pan 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the juices run clear.
4. Make the dressing. While the chicken is cooking, place all the dressing ingredients in a food processor or high-powered blender and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides as needed. Feel free to add in a few tablespoons of water to thin out the dressing to reach your desired consistency. Store in the fridge in a sealed, airtight container or mason jar until ready to use.
5. Assemble the salad. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, corn, avocado, red onion, cilantro, cheese and diced chicken. Drizzle with the avocado dressing and toss until all combined. Serve as a main dish salad or see the other side dish options below.

Variations and Substitutions

• More veggies – while this salad has lots of veggies, you can add even more like red bell pepper strips, green pepper, chopped celery, carrots, and more.
• Add a crunch – this salad has a ton of texture and flavors, but feel free to add in some crushed tortilla chips, tortilla strips, pepitas, nuts or crunchy veggies.
• Add fresh fruit – add some sweetness with fresh berries or sliced grapes.
• Swap cheese – instead of crumbled cotija cheese, feel free to use shredded cheddar cheese, feta cheese or blue cheese crumbles.
• Make it spicy – to kick up the heat in this salad, you could add red pepper flakes, hot sauce like sriracha or even adobo sauce to the dressing or chicken marinade. You could also add green chilis to the salad.
• Serve over rice – this southwest chicken salad would make delicious rice bowls! Serve it on top of brown rice or even this fluffy Mexican rice made right in the instant pot.
• In a wrap – throw this salad in a large tortilla and make a hearty southwest chicken wrap or sandwich.
• Use the dressing on other salads, as a dip for veggies, drizzle over tacos and fajitas, or even a spread for sandwiches and wraps.

How to Serve

This southwestern chicken salad makes a great meal all on its own, but you could also serve it as a side salad with these other dishes:

Prepping this Salad Ahead of Time

The great thing about this salad is that all the elements can be easily made ahead of time at the beginning of the week and stored separately in containers until assembling.

• The chicken can be cooked up to 3 or 4 days ahead of time and tastes great warm or cold on the salad. You could also use any leftover chicken, crock pot shredded chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken.
• The avocado dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for about 2 to 3 days in a sealed mason jar or container. When ready to use, give it a good shake to mix everything up.
• The romaine lettuce can be washed and stored in a container in the fridge until you are ready to prepare the salad.
• The tomatoes and red onion can be sliced ahead of time and stored in separate containers until ready to assemble the salad.

More Chicken Salads

Hope you all enjoy this easy Southwest Chicken Salad. If you love this as much as we do, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!