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.
TACO CHICKEN (see notes for other options for chicken seasoning)
1/2tspsalt
1/2tspchili powder
1/2tsppaprika
1/2tspcumin
1/4tspgarlic powder
1/4tsponion powder
1/4tspblack pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
SALAD INGREDIENTS
8cupsromaine lettuce, chopped (or a blend of romaine, iceberg lettuce and spinach)*this makes 4 good sized salads- chop more, if wanting larger salads
2cupsshredded cheddar cheese *1/2 cup per salad, or more if desired
115 oz. canblack beans, drained and rinsed
18.75 oz. cansweet corn, drained
1 to 2roma tomatoes, diced
1 to 2 avocados, skin removed, diced
1/2red 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)
1/2cup mayo
1/2cupmilk
1 1/2 tbspdry ranch mix
3 1/2tbspBBQ 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.