Southwest Salad

A tasty and super easy summer dish, this Southwest Salad has all the flavors of a nice Tex-Mex mixture.

I’m a sucker for a good salad recipe, it really doesn’t matter what kind. Salads are just a good meal any time of the year or week.

I love a traditional lettuce salad, pasta salad or a mixture of both (yes we do have one).

This Southwest Salad is loaded with corn, beans, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, chicken and so much more.

It is light but filling at the same time, and all topped off with a taco ranch dressing, you just won’t want to put your fork down for this one.

This is a great salad to serve as a main dish, or as a side dish. It really depends on how heavy of a meal you are wanting.

We do both and just mix and match things with it and everyone in our family goes crazy, and it is super easy!

If you are looking for a salad recipe that is not bland or boring, then you have to add this Southwest Salad to your menus.

Some of my other favorite southwest style recipes that we have on our site include: Southwest Egg Rolls, Southwest Avocado Toast and Mexican Pinwheels.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

• It takes less than 30 minutes to throw together.
• The mixture of ingredients that is in the recipe go so well together.
• You can easily double this salad for parties or a larger family.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST):

Boneless skinless chicken breast
Sea salt
Pepper
Oil, for pan
Romaine lettuce
Roasted corn kernels 
Black beans
Grape tomatoes
Red bell pepper
Avocado
Mexican cheese blend
Cilantro
Tortilla strips, optional
Ranch dressing
Taco seasoning

HOW TO MAKE A SOUTHWEST SALAD, STEP BY STEP:

1. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium heat. 
2. Place the chicken breasts into a resealable bag and using a mallet or rolling pin pound the chicken breasts to about ½ an inch thick.
3. Using paper towels, pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. 
4. Add oil to hot pan and cook about 7 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees F.
5. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover with foil allowing it to rest while you assemble your salad. 
6. Chop your romaine lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place into a large serving bowl. 
7. Assemble your salad by arranging the corn, black beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, avocado, and cheese around the perimeter of the bowl. 
8. Dice the chicken into ½ inch, bite-sized cubes, and place into the center of the salad bowl. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and tortilla strips and set aside. 
9. In a measuring cup with a pour spout, add the ranch and taco seasoning and whisk to combine. 
10. Drizzle your dressing over the salad, toss and serve immediately. 

CAN I MAKE THIS SOUTHWEST SALAD AHEAD OF TIME?

This is the perfect salad to prepare ahead of time. Assemble your salad in an airtight container and place it in the refrigerator.

Keep your dressing on the side until just before you are ready to serve. Also you can wait to add the avocado until ready to serve so it doesn’t turn brown.

HOW DO I GET THE ROASTED CORN KERNELS?

The best and easiest way that you can get these is to just buy the fire roasted corn in the can from the grocery store.

You can also char them in a pan if you like if you are using regular sweet corn kernels for this recipe.

CAN I MAKE THIS SOUTHWEST SALAD SPICIER?

Absolutely! If you want a little kick to your salad there are a few things that you can do to achieve that.

You can add in some diced or chopped jalapenos, add some cayenne pepper to your chicken before grilling or even add some hot sauce or a hot taco seasoning mix into your dressing.

CAN I USE HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING?

Yes! If you like making homemade ranch dressing or if you have it in some other spicier southwest flavors you can absolutely do that.

Bottled is what we use because it is convenient and there are a ton of flavor options to choose from, but if you love making your own – use homemade ranch dressing instead!

HOW TO STORE:

We do not recommend keeping your dressed salad leftovers for longer than 24 hours. The dressing will make the salad soggy.

If you know you’ll have leftovers, you can serve the salad with the dressing on the side and then keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

The dressing will also keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 

TIPS AND TRICKS:

• Double this recipe for larger crowds or families.
• Make your own ranch dressing instead of bottled.
• You can switch up the ingredients to your liking.
• If you want to make this salad spicy you can, see some of my suggestions above.
• This can be made ahead of time, see above on how to do that.
• You can use this as a side dish or a main dish depending on how heavy of a meal you are wanting.
• All the flavors combined really work so well together.

Love a good salad that has all the flavors and more? This Southwest Salad will absolutely not disappoint!

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• BBQ Chicken Salad
• Greek Pasta Salad
• Tuna Pasta Salad
• Creamy Cucumber Salad

If you’ve tried this SOUTHWEST SALAD or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!