Southwest Chicken Salad

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Southwest Chicken Salad is a perfect mix of diced chicken, black beans, corn, red peppers, and cilantro, that’s been tossed with a creamy dressing! Southwest Chicken Salad is great for meal prepped lunches. I love it on a big bed of chopped lettuce, or in a hearty wrap.

When most people think of chicken salad, they picture the classic creamy version with celery, grapes, and maybe some nuts mixed in. (And listen, I love that vibe too. If you’re craving something more traditional, my chicken salad with grapes is a reader favorite.) But this Southwest version is here to shake things up a bit.

This recipe is bold, creamy, a little zesty, and ridiculously versatile. It’s perfect piled onto a big salad, stuffed into a wrap with avocado and cheese, or scooped straight up with crunchy chips over the kitchen sink.

I first created this recipe during a tender season for our family after my Gramma unexpectedly passed away. I found myself in my Aunt Brenda’s kitchen cooking for everyone and trying to channel a little comfort into the middle of a hard week. This recipe ended up doing exactly that.

What I didn’t expect was how quickly everyone would devour it. I barely got photos before the whole bowl disappeared, always the sign of a keeper.

One of my favorite things about this Southwest Chicken Salad is how flexible it is. Make it once, and you’ve got easy lunches and quick dinners ready to roll all week long. And honestly, sometimes the best move is exactly what my family did skip the fancy plating and grab a bag of chips for scooping.

Now let’s get in the kitchen.

In a big ol’ bowl, throw in some diced chicken (preferably some of my Easy Baked Chicken Breast), a can’a black beans, one medium diced red pepper, about a cup of chopped green onions, one cup of frozen corn that’s been thawed a bit, and about 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro.

You can also use one full batch of my Crockpot Shredded Chicken, which makes the four cups you need for this recipe.

For this dressing (WARNING: It’s so delish, you’ll want to just pour it in a cup, grab a straw and drink… don’t do that though, the chicken will be lonely.), you’ll need to grab’a a small bowl and add the juice of one lime (about 3 tbsp), the juice of half of a lemon (about 2 tbsp), 2 tablespoons of honeeeeyy, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/4 cup’a nonfat Greek yogurt, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Whisk together well.

Pour the dressing into the bowl over the chicken mixture, and stir it up really well. Salt and Pepper to taste. *Sighhh* This is such a magical mixture!

For best results: Before serving/Eating, cover it up and throw it in the fridge for about 20 minutes, to let all those flavors mingle and get to know each other much better.

My favorite way to gobble this up in salad form is to just plop it on top of some chopped up romaine lettuce that’s been tossed with just a smidge of salt & pep. I add a few cherry tomatoes, a pinch or two of cheese, and some gorgeous lil’ avocado chunks, and I am in Southwest Chicken Salad heaven. It’s also super delish stuffed and rolled up into a wrap. And, like I said before- my mama and aunt decided it was best scooped up with tortilla chips. I just know it’d be great scooped up with some mini red pepper slices too!

This chicken salad alone is full of so much flavor. It’s great for meal prepping on Sunday, and then just pack it up for lunches throughout the week!

I hope you love it as much as my whole family does. Be sure to comment below and let me know if you’ve tried it!