BBQ Chicken Salad
This BBQ Chicken Salad is full of black beans, corn, tomato, avocado, and grilled chicken. It’s tossed in a tangy cilantro-lime dressing and drizzled with BBQ sauce. Shredded cheese and crumbled tortilla chips are a perfect finishing touch!
Hi, Friends! This BBQ Chicken Salad is a real summer hit with family and friends.
Add this BBQ Chicken Salad to your next get together or meal plan . It’s just the right balance between being light enough for a hot summer day – it is a salad after all – while also being filling. And, you won’t have to turn on your oven and heat up your house, which we all know is so important when the temperatures are rising!
I prepare this salad with crisp romaine lettuce because I love the crunch. What makes this salad is all the toppings. Besides the spiced, grilled chicken, I’ve added black beans, corn, tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and more.
A refreshing cilantro-lime vinaigrette, made with a little Greek yogurt and honey, is the perfect dressing for it all. And the finishing touches? A drizzle of BBQ sauce (try my easy homemade BBQ sauce recipe), and a sprinkling of shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips. It’s salad perfection!
I made this BBQ Chicken Salad a couple of times while testing the recipe, and Brad and I didn’t mind taste-testing at all. For the kids, we served a deconstructed salad and they were happy little eaters as well. I thought it would be fun to take a photo of their plates, too. 🙂
More Summer Salad Ideas:
BBQ Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
For the cilantro-lime dressing:
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- salt & pepper (to taste)
For the salads:
- 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup canned black beans (rinsed and drained)
- 1 cup canned corn (drained)
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes (halved)
- ½ small red onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 avocado (chopped or sliced)
- ½ cup shredded colby jack cheese (or cheddar)
- ½ cup tortilla strips ( or crumbled tortilla chips)
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce (for drizzling)
Instructions
Grill the chicken:
- Pat chicken breasts dry using paper towels. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Rub over all sides of the chicken breasts.
- Heat grill to medium-high heat. Grill chicken until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F, turning once halfway through, about 5-10 minutes per side. Set chicken on a clean plate to rest for at least 10 minutes and then slice.
Make the cilantro-lime dressing:
- Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse until cilantro is finely chopped and everything is well combined. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Assemble the salads:
- Place lettuce in a large bowl or 4 individual serving bowls and toss with about half of the dressing.
- Top lettuce with black beans, corn, tomato, red onion, avocado, cheese and chicken. Drizzle each salad with a little more of the cilantro-lime dressing. Top with tortilla strips and then drizzle lightly with BBQ sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If desired, ranch dressing can be used instead of the cilantro-lime dressing.
Nutrition
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BBQ chicken salads are my all-time favorite! I love how colorful your salad looks, Kristine! And the cilantro-lime dressing sounds like it pairs perfectly with this!
Thanks, Gayle! This is one of my favorite salads right now!
I swam lots this weekend too 😉 4th of July is such a great holiday in more than one way! The flavors going on here, sound PERFECT, Kristine! I need this! I adore salads of all kinds and a BBQ one sounds lovely! Pinned for later!
I’m glad you had a great weekend! Thanks for the pin!
I love BBQ chicken salad, and this one looks delicious! Such a good summer meal.
Thanks, Kelly! I love a good salad for dinner in the summer, and with the BBQ flavors, this one is perfect!
What a perfect summer meal! Yum!
My boyfriend would go crazy for this! He may even forgive me for making salad for dinner.
I definitely think he would forgive you. 🙂 There will be no hungry bellies left after eating this salad!
This salad looks PERFECT! I love chopped salads and BBQ and your photos are just stunning! Pinned 🙂
Thank you, Chelsea! I can’t wait to make this salad again. It’s definitely a favorite! 🙂
What a wonderful way to enjoy BBQ chicken! I love making BBQ pizzas but it is simply to warm for that! I can’t wait to try this!
Baking pizza sure does heat up the house, doesn’t it! You’re right, this is the perfect way to enjoy the BBQ flavor without the heat!
We love chopped salads! This looks great!
Thank you, Jessica!
Love this chopped salad Kristine! It looks amazing! The cilantro lime dressing and bbq sauce sound fantastic together!
Thank you, Kelly! The dressing and bbq sauce really do make this salad amazing!
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That is the perfect dinner in my opinion. I look forward to trying your lime dressing! And, I love the shots of the kids plates 🙂
Great recipe, thanks. Can’t wait to try it. Any idea what the stasts are for this recipe as I am following weight watchers and then I can figure how many points it is? Thanks so much. Love your recipes.
Hi Jean, I haven’t yet calculated the nutrition info for this recipe. I’ll try to add it at some point. In the meantime, you can use an online calculator (such as myfitnesspal) to find it.