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.
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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!
Southwest Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Chicken Mix
- 4 cups cooked chicken breast diced
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed
- 1 15 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
Creamy Dressing
- juice of one lime about 3 tbsp
- juice of half of a lemon about 2 tbsp
- 1/4 cup non fat greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the diced chicken, black beans, corn, red pepper, cilantro, and green onions together. Stir well.
- To make the creamy dressing: In a small bowl add juice of half of a lemon and one lime, olive oil, greek yogurt, honey, cumin, oregano, and salt.
- Add the creamy dressing to the chicken mixture and stir together well. Salt and Pepper to personal preference and then cover it tightly and place in the fridge for at least twenty minutes to let the flavors mingle.
I made this with shredded chicken that I cooked in the slow cooker with chicken stock, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. I added a can of drained green chilies and a fresh diced jalapeno to the recipe. This was so versatile and I used it cold on lettuce as a salad. I also served it warm and added some rice, cheese sauce, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole and salsa wrapped in a flour tortilla as a burrito, and on top of tortilla chips with all the toppings for nachos grande. Excellent. Definitely a recipe to keep.
This has been on my To Try list for a while. OMG why did I wait! One of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time. Had to force myself to shop after the 2nd serving.
Made for dinner tonight; so good!
Great recipe for our weekly lunch meal preps! Have made twice now and both times it was a hit!
Hi Brittiny! So glad to see you enjoy this one. Thanks for stopping by to let me know!
This great. We made it with leftover smoked/grilled chicken. It was better than the original meal with the chicken. I will definitely cook and eat again. Thanks
yum loved smoked chicken!! I bet it takes this meal next level!
I love this so much, I make it all the time!
Today, I put it in egg roll wrappers and air fried them, and it was SO GOOD! Such a versatile recipe, amazing!
This salad screams summertime to me!!! I love the flavor combination in the dressing. Making it with fresh August sweet corn is to die for! This recipe is on repeat in my house! It definitely should have made the top 25 recipes of 2021. #top2021
Another absolutely steller dish! I made this with grilled chicken and my husband raved about it- even went back for thirds! Simple, flavorful and a wonderful meal prep idea for the week!
I can’t get enough of the salad it’s so delicious! I have to stop myself from eating all of it at once!
This is one of my all time lunch prep staples. I love it! So fresh and delicious.
This is seriously so amazing!!! I love the sweetness of the dressing. My husband loves it too! He even ate my portion for lunch!
I doubled this recipe to feed my family of four for a couple of days and it made a TON!! (About a Gallon). After day two, I had half of that remaining and looked for a creative way to get my teens to gobble it up.
Pro Tip: This makes AWESOME chicken tortilla soup. Throw it in a pot, dressing and all. Add in a big can of puréed or crushed tomatoes, a can of diced tomatoes with juice, a can of diced green chiles, and 3-4 cups of chicken broth and add some cumin, chili powder, and salt, and simmer for an hour. DELICIOUS!
Such a good recipe!! I made it for the first time today and my husband and I both loved it. This will become a staple for sure! Thank you for giving us an easy, healthy way to spice up chicken!
Omg, I love this chicken salad! The sweet and citrus dressing knocks it out of the park!
This is my favorite recipe! So simple yet tasty!! A hit with my whole family!
Hi There! I notice that the recipe calls for frozen corn that’s thawed. Is there a reason that’s better than canned corn? Thanks for your time and your great recipes.
I just mostly use frozen corn as a personal preference, but canned corn will work great! Just be sure to drain it well. So happy you’re enjoying the recipes. Hope you enjoy this one too!
This is seriously the MOST delicious thing I’ve ever had! I followed the instructions to a T and it was PERFECT. Thank you Star for this amazing recipe! I can’t stop eating it
Hi!!
Do you think once it’s all made, it could be put in the freezer and then thaw out okay when needed?
Thanks!
Hi there! I do not think the sauce would freeze well since its mayo/greek yogurt based. I’m sorry!
So delicious!! Thank you for making such amazing recipes!!!
YoureWelcome! Thank you!
Wasn’t sure about the dressing because I’m
Not a huge fan of Greek yogurt but this was fantastic! Packed it for lunches for the week!