This chopped salad is packed with juicy grilled chicken, beans, tomatoes, corn and drizzled with ranch and barbecue sauce!
To me a chopped salad has to be full of flavor and texture, like this Steak Cobb Salad! The tastiest chopped salads sometimes look like a hodgepodge of ingredients that could have been a fridge clean-up! But those are the best and this barbecue chicken chopped salad is a total winner.
This is the kind of salad that isn't something that you'd eat before dinner or on the side, this is dinner! It's a salad that's packed with chunks of grilled chicken thigh, corn, black beans, tomatoes, green onions and cilantro. And you can forget worrying about making a separate dressing for this chopped salad, it just gets drizzled with your favorite BBQ sauce along with some ranch and tossed together. It's that simple.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR YOUR CHOPPED SALAD
- Chicken- I used thighs but chicken breasts would work just as well. It depends on your preference. My opinion is that the thigh meat has more flavor and stays more moist as it cooks.
- Corn- Try and find roasted corn or if you like roast it yourself and then take it off the cob. The roasted is more tasty than regular plain corn.
- Cilantro- Fresh and lots of it!
- Tomatoes- Roma tomatoes are in season right now and taste amazing but any tomatoes will be sufficient.
- Black Beans- You could switch to kidney beans , pinto beans or garbanzo. The beans will need to be drained.
- Salad Greens- Your favorite mixed greens will work.
- Dressing- Ranch and BBQ sauce, that's it!
Recipe FAQ's
Is the chicken hot or cold? The chicken is cold or at room temperature. This means you can grill your chicken ahead of time!
Should I serve the salad tossed or let people toss their own? I prefer to just add the ranch and bbq sauce to the top of the salad. Then if anyone wants extra they can go ahead and add more if they feel like it.
Does this chopped salad keep as leftovers? I would have to say no, the greens become soft and unless it's maybe only been sitting in the fridge for an hour the salad is best finished on the day you make it.
What if you don't like cilantro? You can use fresh basil, tarragon or marjoram as good substitutes
