Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad + 30-Second Dressing

The best summer salad! Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad is creamy and filled with avocados, tomatoes, grilled corn and more!

Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad

I love a good salad but I get bored of all the salad kits at the store sometimes.  Parker and I decided to make one of our favorite salads this week, Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad!  We grilled an ear of corn, cooked a chicken breast, popped open a can of black beans, and threw the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.  And this ranch dressing, oh my! You’ll be obsessed!

Summer Salad Tips

The most obvious tip of salad making is don’t overdress your salad and don’t dress it too early! This will make for a soggy mess. If you’re adding warm ingredients like grilled corn or chicken, wait until just before serving to add it to the lettuce!  You don’t want a wilted salad at your dinner table. Be bold. Make fun salads like this Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad or a berry and nuts one!  Summer comes with so many ingredients to experiment with, so leave the caesar behind!

30 Second Chipotle Ranch

You can make ranch dressing from scratch, but we just wanted a little batch so we used Trader Joe’s Ranch Dressing as a base to make this the quickest salad dressing ever! If you haven’t tried the salad dressing’s at Trade Joe’s you’re really missing out.  We added just enough spice to the ranch to give it a tiny kick!  I’ll be honest though, this dressing takes only 10 seconds to make!  

You don’t have to grill your corn but we have been so excited to be using our grill again that we couldn’t help ourself.  Plus, grilling really does enhance the taste and transforms the entire salad.  Oh my, I couldn’t wait to finish taking photos so that we could eat!

Salad Recipe for One

We made the recipe for this Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad for one person or two small servings.  You can easily double or quadruple the recipe as needed but I love being able to make just one serving!  No leftovers with this recipe!  I always seem to accidentally make a massive salad and then I sit there trying to eat it all by myself.

If you’re serving this at a party you can always serve the dressing on the side!

Time for Parker and I to eat up and start planning our next meal! We hope you love our Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad as much as we do!

4 from 1 vote

Print

Chipotle Southwest Chicken Salad

Ingredients

• CHICKEN:
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
• 1 tsp. Chipotle Chili Powder
• 1 small Chicken Breast
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• DRESSING:
• 1/4 C. Ranch Dressing
• 1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp. Chipotle Chili Powder
• 1 Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
• SALAD:
• 1 1/2 C. Semi Packed Romain Chopped
• Half a Tomato Diced
• 1/2 Cob of Corn Grilled (optional)
• 1/2 Avacado Sliced
• 1/4 C. Black Beans Drained and Rinsed
• 1/4 Red Onion Thinly Sliced
• 1/2 lime optional
• 3 sprigs cilantro optional

Instructions

1. Chicken:
2. 1) Combine the first 6 ingredients and mix together for the seasoning. Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken giving it an even coat and rub it in.
3. 2) Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until the oil starts to shimmer. Place the chicken in the skillet and cook for 5-6 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Remove the chicken from the skillet and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Slice chicken.
4. Dressing:
5. 1) Combine all ingredients and stir until well mixed. Salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
6. For the Salad:
7. 1) Place the lettuce in a bowl and top with all remaining ingredients including the sliced chicken.
8. 2) Pour desired amount dressing over the salad.
9. 3) Toss salad and serve! (Squeeze lime over top if desired.)
10. TIPS:
11. - Let the chicken get closer to room temperature for even cooking. Cold chicken in a hot skillet can lead to a well cooked outside before the inside is done.
12. - If your chicken breast is thick then cook it in a skillet for 5-6 minutes per side and finish it in the oven at 350 degrees, for roughly 7-10 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Remove the chicken and rest for 5-10 minutes.