Southwest Chicken Salad
This Southwest Chicken Salad is the perfect summer meal. The perfectly roasted chicken, paired with a delicious chipotle lime dressing make for the most amazing entree salad.
A Note from Teri on Southwest Chicken Salad
This southwest chicken salad recipe is the perfect summer salad. I was inspired by my Epic Salad in my cookbook to make this southwestern spin. It’s a great entree to serve for friends, and the best part is you can make a bunch of the pieces ahead of time so you aren’t rushing around before the meal. Prep your dressing, roast your chicken, and make your tortilla strips. It takes a little time, but it’s absolutely worth it. You will be basically ready to go when it’s time to serve.
If you are serving a group, I love to serve everything on a platter without tossing so everyone can take exactly what they want and dress it. It makes it easy to put together so each eater can get the perfect meal.
Ingredients and Variations
- Fresh lime juice – make sure to use fresh lime juice for the best results
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce – the chipotle peppers deepen the flavor of your dressing
- Salt – add salt to bring out all of the flavors in your dressing. I love using Celtic sea salt
- Extra virgin olive oil – oil helps thicken the dressing
- Honey – sweeten your dressing with a little honey
- Garlic – use pressed or grated garlic for this recipe
- Sour cream – the sour cream makes the dressing tangy and creamy
- Chicken breasts – use skin-on, bone-in for this recipe
- Garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, coriander, dried oregano – this is the best spice blend for your chicken
- Corn tortillas – sliced into thin strips for frying
- Light olive oil or neutral frying oil – use a neutral oil that won’t impact the flavor of your tortilla strips
- Butter – cook the corn in butter for the best flavor
- Frozen corn – you can also use fresh corn when in season
- Baby romaine lettuce – I love romaine in this salad, but you can also use another lettuce
- Black beans – rinse and drain your beans before using them
- Cherry tomatoes, avocado, cilantro – these toppings complete your southwest chicken salad
- Lime wedges – garnish your finished product with some lime wedges
You can swap the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt if you would like. For the chipotle peppers, add a touch more if you want it spicier.
Store-bought rotisserie chicken can work in a pinch. You won’t get the same chipotle chicken flavor, but it will still be delicious! You can also use crushed up tortilla chips instead of frying your own. Frying your own is a labor of love and a special kind of magic elixir, but tortilla chips do the trick when needed.
How to Make Southwest Chicken Salad
Step One: Make Dressing and Roast Chicken
To a food processor or blender, add the lime juice, chipotle, and salt. Pulse to combine and chop the peppers. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while continuing to blend. Once the oil is incorporated, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until fully combined. Transfer dressing to a container and place in the refrigerator to thicken.
In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic, onion, chili, coriander, and oregano. Place the chicken breasts on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Rub with olive oil, then sprinkle each breast with the spice blend.
Bake for about 35 minutes, then brush the top of the chicken with its juices. Return the pan to the oven for 5 minutes to brown. Remove chicken from the oven and let it rest.
Step Two: Fry Tortilla Strips
While the chicken is in the oven, add light olive oil or frying oil of your choice to a shallow pan or skillet and heat over medium-high. When the oil is shimmering, test one tortilla strip and if it quickly bubbles, turn the heat down to medium, add a handful of the tortilla strips and fry until golden and fragrant, about a minute or so. Remove tortilla strips from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing the excess oil to drip off, and place them on a paper towel-lined plate or tray.
Sprinkle strips with salt and cover with additional paper towels. Repeat this step until all of the tortilla strips have been fried then set aside. You might have extra tortilla strips in the end, but they will likely be eaten before the meal is over!
Step Three: Assemble the Salad
In a frying pan, melt the butter and add the corn. Saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally until golden in color and fragrant. Season with a sprinkle of salt, turn off heat and set aside.
After the chicken has rested and is cool enough to handle, cut the breast off the bone, chop the meat into bite-size pieces, and set aside.
To a large serving bowl, add the romaine, beans, reserved corn, tomatoes, avocado slices, a large handful of tortilla strips, and half the cilantro. Drizzle with Chipotle-Lime Dressing and toss. Sprinkle remaining cilantro over top and finish with a squeeze of lime, if using, or serve with lime wedges and extra dressing on the side. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Yes! A lot of elements can be made in advance. The chipotle-lime dressing keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week and gets better as it sits. The chicken can be roasted a day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. The tortilla strips can be fried up to a day in advance and kept at room temperature. When you’re ready to serve, just sauté the corn and assemble.
The spice rub also works on boneless chicken thighs, shrimp, or steak if you want to switch things up.
If you don’t want to fry your own tortilla strips, store-bought tortilla chips broken into pieces work as well.
Try These Other Chicken Salad Recipes
If you make your own Southwest Chicken Salad recipe, be sure to review it below and let me know what you think! If you’re looking for more inspiration, subscribe to my Substack, and follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok to join in all the fun!
Southwest Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For the Chipotle-Lime Dressing:
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 tablespoon chipotle in Adobo
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic pressed or grated
- 4 tablespoons sour cream
For the Southwest Chicken:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano crushed
- 2 chicken breasts skin-on, bone-in
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the Salad:
- 12 corn tortillas sliced into ?- to ¼-inch strips
- Oil for frying
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 16 ounces frozen corn defrosted
- Kosher salt
- 8 ounces baby romaine lettuce
- 1 15-ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1-2 avocados sliced
- ? cup cilantro finely chopped
- Lime wedges optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Make the Creamy Chipotle Lime Dressing: To a food processor or blender, add the lime juice, chipotle, and salt. Pulse to combine and chop the peppers. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while continuing to blend. Once the oil is incorporated, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until fully combined for 2-3 minutes. Transfer dressing to a container and place in the refrigerator to thicken.
- Roast the chicken breasts: In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic, onion, chili, coriander, and oregano.
- Place the chicken breasts on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Rub every crevice generously with olive oil, then sprinkle each breast with the spice blend.
- Bake for about 35 minutes, then brush the top of the chicken with its juices. Return the pan to the oven for 5 minutes to brown.
- Remove chicken from the oven and let it rest. If they aren’t brown enough at this point, baste them again, turn up the oven temp to 400F, and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Make the tortilla strips: While the chicken is in the oven, add ½ inch of light olive oil or frying oil of your choice to a shallow pan or skillet and heat over medium-high. When the oil is shimmering, test one tortilla strip and if it quickly bubbles, turn the heat down to medium, add a handful of the tortilla strips and fry until golden and fragrant, about a minute or so. Remove tortilla strips from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing the excess oil to drip off, and place them on a paper towel-lined plate or tray. Sprinkle strips with salt and cover with additional paper towels. Repeat this step until all of the tortilla strips have been fried then set aside. You might have extra tortilla strips in the end, but they will likely be eaten before the meal is over!
- Saute the corn: In a frying pan, melt the butter and add the corn. Saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally until golden in color and fragrant. Season with a sprinkle of salt, turn off heat and set aside.
- Assemble the salad: After the chicken has rested and is cool enough to handle, cut the breast off the bone, chop the meat into bite-size pieces, and set aside.
- To a large serving bowl, add the romaine, beans, reserved corn, tomatoes, avocado slices, a large handful of tortilla strips, and half the cilantro. Drizzle with Chipotle-Lime Dressing and toss. Sprinkle remaining cilantro over top and finish with a squeeze of lime, if using, or serve with lime wedges and extra dressing on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can use rotisserie chicken in place of chicken breasts.
- Store your dressing in the fridge for up to one week.
- You can make the dressing, chicken, and tortilla strips ahead of time.
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I completely agree that salt is essential for enhancing the flavors in any dressing! Celtic sea salt really does have a unique taste that elevates the dish. I also love the idea of swapping sour cream for Greek yogurt; it adds a nice creaminess while being a bit healthier. And yes, using store-bought rotisserie chicken is such a time-saver when you’re in a rush! I often keep a bag of crushed tortilla chips on hand for quick meals, but there’s something special about frying your own. By the way, if you’re ever in need of a good online tool for working with data, I recommend checking out this online CSV viewer and editor—it makes handling spreadsheets so much easier!