Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad

Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad is Tex-Mex with a bit of BBQ flair. This salad is topped with chicken, black beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, red onions, shredded cheese, avocado, crunchy tortilla strips and I top it off with a tangy and sweet BBQ sauce.

Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad - The best salad you will ever eat!

I love anything Mexican, I love anything Tex-Mex (which I am sure you know means not quite authentic Mexican food, but has more of a Texas-American spin on it). This salad is the perfect cross of Tex-Mex, and BBQ and is amazing in flavor! I know you will love this salad and add it to your meal rotation!

The Chicken for the Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad

I use chicken breasts for this salad and season them with some lime juice, and a taco seasoning. With this recipe I usually end up with about 4 good sized salads.

The seasoning for the chicken is my Taco Chicken Recipe. It is a great blend of spices that give this chicken just enough flavor to enhance the salad with Mexican flavors, but not over power it. You can also use a chicken taco seasoning packet, if that is easier for you! If you are using a packet, I recommend using McCormick Chicken Taco Seasoning. The Chicken Taco packet is a little different than regular Taco Seasoning packet. You will notice the chicken taco seasoning has a bit of lime flavor along with the usual taco seasonings- it makes the chicken perfect! But I use my Taco Chicken recipe and it is perfection!

If you are wanting to make my Taco Chicken you will need the usual suspects. Salt, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Just mix it all up. This recipe makes about 1 tablespoon of seasoning, which is perfect for 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. of chicken.

I put my chicken breasts in a zip top bag and pour some lime juice in the bag. I rub the lime juice around, and make sure the chicken gets covered evenly. Then, in the taco seasoning goes and I rub the seasoning all over the chicken to make sure it is covered too!

chicken with taco seasoning

Grilling/Smoking the Chicken

You can go two ways with the chicken. Grilling or smoking it. Both are amazing!

GRILLING: If you choose to grill your chicken, heat your grill on medium heat. Let the chicken cook for 5-8 minutes, then turn it. After you have turned your chicken let it cook another 5 minutes. Check your chicken using a meat thermometer. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken. Let it cook longer if needed.

SMOKING: If you are smoking your chicken, heat your smoker to 350 degrees. Place the chicken on the smoker and let it cook for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken and let is smoke for another 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken. If it needs to smoke a bit longer to reach the correct temperature, let it smoke longer.

smoked chicken with taco seasoning

The Salad Dressing

This is where the BBQ part of this salad come in. This salad has a delicious tangy BBQ-Ranch Dressing. The recipe below makes about 1 cup of dressing giving each salad about 1/4 dressing. You can double the dressing for more on each salad (which is never a bad idea in my world).

You can make a Homemade Ranch Dressing and add the BBQ sauce, make dry mix/packet Ranch Dressing (which is what I do 9 out 10 times), or use bottled Ranch Dressing. Then just add your favorite BBQ sauce to it! This dressing makes the salad amazing! It adds a bit of smoky sweetness with the BBQ Sauce that plays nicely with the tangy ranch!

BBQ Ranch Dressing

The Salad Toppings

Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad - The best salad you will ever eat!

The toppings make this salad the most perfect Te-Mex salad you will ever eat! Chopped Romaine lettuce is my lettuce of choice, because I love the crunch it gives me! I make sure I have at least 8 cups of chopped lettuce and it make 4 salads that are pretty good sized. If you want larger salads, chop more lettuce, or use a blend of romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce and spinach!

chopped romaine lettuce

***Check out the salad spinner that I have and love. It is perfect for getting all the extra water off of my lettuce after I chop and rinse it!

You will love the toppings on this salad! I love the salad loaded with black beans, sweet corn, red onions, avocado, shredded cheese and tomatoes! The toppings, along with the taco chicken and sweet and smoky BBQ Ranch dressing make this salad a home run! But you can easily leave any of it off the salad that you don’t like!

For a little added crunch, I like to add crushed tortilla chips or Tortilla Crisps to the top of my salad. This is totally optional but does add some yummy crunch!

tortilla strips

Eating/Serving Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad

You do not need an explanation on how to eat this delicious salad! All you need to do is pour that yummy tangy dressing on the salad and enjoy!

Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad  with bbq ranch dressing and taco toppings

This recipe makes about 4 good sized salads depending on how big you make them. For serving, you can make individual salads. Another option is to make one big giant salad and let people take out the portion they would like. Or, you can do a salad bar and leave all of the salad stuff out and let people build their own to their liking.

Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad

No matter how you eat this salad or what you put on it, you will love it! Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad is Tex-Mex with a bit of BBQ flair and it will become a new family favorite!

The BEST Salad - Grilled chicken, black beans, sweet corn, red onion, shredded cheese, tomatoes, avocado, tortilla strips all on crispy romaine lettuce with a tangy BBQ ranch dressing!

This recipe uses my Taco Chicken. For another great addition to this salad try my Avocado Cream Sauce. Also, try my Grilled Chicken Salad with Avocado Cream Sauce for another light and fresh salad!

Looking for a pasta salad? Try my Easy Italian Pasta Salad, my Easy Pasta Salad, my Spinach Tortellini Salad or my Cucumber Pasta Salad!


Here are some products I used to make this recipe!

“As an Amazon Associate I earn on qualifying purchases.”


Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife

Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad

Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad is all you love about Tex-Mex with a bit of BBQ flair. This salad is topped with chicken, black beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, red onions, shredded cheese, avocado, crunchy tortilla strips and I top it off with a tangy and sweet BBQ sauce.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 salads

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, trimmed
  • 1 tbsp lime juice

TACO CHICKEN (see notes for other options for chicken seasoning)

  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • pinch cayenne pepper

SALAD INGREDIENTS

  • 8 cups romaine lettuce, chopped (or a blend of romaine, iceberg lettuce and spinach) *this makes 4 good sized salads- chop more, if wanting larger salads
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese *1/2 cup per salad, or more if desired
  • 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 8.75 oz. can sweet corn, drained
  • 1 to 2 roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1 to 2 avocados, skin removed, diced
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips (optional) *see blog post above for the tortilla strips I like

BBQ RANCH DRESSING (you can use bottled ranch dressing with the BBQ Sauce added in place of this recipe)

  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dry ranch mix
  • 3 1/2 tbsp BBQ Sauce (your favorite kind) *more or less to taste

Instructions

The Chicken

  • Mix taco seasoning ingredients together. Set aside
  • In a zip top bag, place chicken breasts, and lime juice. Add taco seasoning and seal the bag shut. Using your hands, make sure the chicken is evenly covered with the lime juice and seasoning by squishing the chicken and seasoning around in the sealed bag.
  • Grill or smoke your chicken.
    Grilling: Heat your grill on medium heat. Let the chicken cook for 5-8 minutes, then turn it. After you have turned your chicken let it cook another 5 minutes. Check your chicken using a meat thermometer. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken. Let it cook longer if needed.
    Smoking: If you are smoking your chicken, heat your smoker to 400 degrees. Place the chicken on the smoker and let it cook for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken and let is smoke for another 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken. If it needs to smoke a bit longer to reach the correct temperature, let it smoke longer.
    **You can also cook your chicken stove top in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil over medium-low heat or in your oven at 400 degrees until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees.

BBQ Ranch Dressing

  • Mix all of the ingredients and set aside.
    You can use bottled Ranch Dressing and BBQ sauce if you do not want to make the ranch dressing with the dry ranch mix.

The Salad and Toppings

  • While your chicken is cooking, prepare the rest of the salad toppings. Chop your lettuce, dice your onion, tomatoes and avocado. Rinse and drain your beans. Drain your corn and shred/grate your cheese if needed and crunch the tortilla chips if desired.

Salad Assembly

  • Once the chicken is cooked and salad toppings prepared, make your salads. You can make 4 individual salads (any toppings can be left off as needed) or you can make one big salad. Adjust the salads and toppings as desired.
    This recipe makes 4 good sized salads, but you can get more or less out of the ingredients depending on how big you want your salads.

Notes

I use my Taco Chicken for this recipe for the seasoning on the chicken.  You can also use a packet of Taco Chicken Seasoning, I prefer McCormick Taco Chicken packet seasoning if going the packet route.
This recipe makes 4 good sized salads, but you can get more or less out of the ingredients depending on how big you want your salads.  If you do not want to make individual salads, make one large salad everyone can be served from.
You can use a mix of romaine lettuce, icerberg lettuce and spinach if desired.
Any of the toppings can be left out.
The tortilla strips that I love are shown above in the blog post.  They are in my produce area at my grocery store and on the salad dressing aisle.  If you cannot find the tortilla strips you can use crushed tortilla chips or leave them off the salad.
Bottle Ranch dressing works fine and you can use any brand and flavor of BBQ sauce you like.  You can also drizzle extra BBQ sauce on top of your salad for a little extra BBQ flavor!

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.

Serving: 1Serving/salad | Calories: 949kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 62g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 181mg | Sodium: 2198mg | Potassium: 1797mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 9502IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 539mg | Iron: 5mg

Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad - light and fresh with amazing flavor
Tex- Mex meets BBQ all in a super tasty salad
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad - taco chicken, black beans, sweet corn, red onions, shredded cheese, avocado, tortilla strips and a BBQ ranch dressing
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad - taco flavored chicken, taco toppings with a BBQ ranch dressing
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex- Mex BBQ Chicken Salad | The Butcher's Wife
Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad is Tex-Mex with a bit of BBQ flair

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.