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Spicy southwest salad has the crunch, creamy tangy dressing and juicy, spiced marinated chicken. This salad is robust, full of flavor and feel good ingredients!
Why Make This Spicy Southwest Salad
This Spicy Southwest Salad is such a banging salad, everyone loves it and i know you will too!
- It’s filling and veggie loaded.
- Lots of great textures. Just like my Kale Crunch Salad, another yummy crispy salad to enjoy.
- Great creamy dressing!
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken. Chicken breasts that are boneless/skinless. I like to cut the big breasts in half so they cook evenly.
- Fresh Orange. For the chicken marinade. The acidity helps to break down the chicken and keep it moist and flavorful.
- Olive Oil. A neutral light tasing olive oil.
- Apple Cider Vinegar. This is for the marinade.
- Garlic. Fresh garlic cloves, minced are best for flavor.
- Shallot. Minced. Shallots over a mild delicious flavor. Typically found in the onion area in produce.
- Seasoning. cayenne, paprika, salt, pepper. For the dressing: cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, dried cilantro.
Toppings/Mix Ins For This Salad
- Cherry Tomatoes. These are for color and texture on the salad.
- Canned Black Beans. Drained and rinsed. These add color and a little mexican flair to the salad.
- Corn Kernels. Use fresh corn or frozen/thawed corn.
- Red Bell Pepper. Diced into small pieces to add crunch to the salad.
- Shredded Cheese Or Cojita. I use mexican blend shredded cheese which has some good flavor but my favorite is using cojita crumbles.
- Pumpkin Seeds. Aka pepita seeds. These add a wonderful crunch and add a lot of antioxidants.
Dressing Ingredients
- Fresh Lime Juice. This is for the dressing. It adds a little tang and flavor to it.
- Sour Cream. This is the base of the dressing. You can also use whole milk greek yogurt or dairy free sour cream.
- Seasonings. Listed above in the listed seasonings.
- Honey. or maple syrup. This is to bring the flavors together.
Steps To make
Step One. In a large bowl, make chicken marinade with ACV, orange, oil, garlic, shallot, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, pepper.
Step Two. Once the chicken has marinated, preheat the oven to 350º. Add the chicken and the marinate to a baking dish. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
Step Three. Prepare all the salad mix-ins!
Step Four. Make the homemade spicy southwest dressing.
Step Five. Slice or cube up chicken. add all the fixins to a large bowl and toss the salad together to serve.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overcook the chicken! It’s always best to have a digital meat thermometer. This will help keep the chicken nice and juicy.
- Taste the dressing as you go. You can spice it up or make it less spicy as needed.
- Marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours for the ultimate juicy flavors.
- To cut out some calories and make it a bit healthier, skip the cheese and tortilla chips to save 100 calories. You can also use plain greek yogurt for the dressing which will offer more protein and a few grams less of fat.
Spicy Southwest Salad FAQ’s
This salad is not too spicy at all, you can add more heat to it if you want with the cayenne pepper. It’s easy to customize the spice.
Make Ahead & Storage Tips
If you want to make this recipe ahead of time or if you want to meal prep it, just wait to add the dressing on/mix it in. The dressing makes the romaine soggy if it sits for a bit.
Other Salad Recipes To Try
Salads
Watermelon Basil Salad
Lunch
Avocado Egg Salad
Side Dishes
Fresh Avocado Corn Salad With Black Beans
If you loved this recipe let me know! Also, follow me on Instagram & Pinterest for even more fun recipes to make you feel good from the inside out. Thanks for being here.
Spicy Southwest Salad
Equipment
- baking dish
- blender or food processor
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut in half
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 orange, squeezed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp paprika
Salad Mix In's
- 1 large red bell pepper
- ⅓ cup pepita seeds
- 1½ cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup thawed/fresh corn kernels
- ⅓ cup shredded cheese, *see notes
- ½ cup tortilla chips, crumbled
- 10 cups chopped romaine, about 2 large romaine
Spicy Southwest Dressing
- 1 cup sour cream, *see notes
- 1 lime , squeezed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2½ tsp chili powder
- 1 Tbp shallot, minced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ tsp cumin
- 2 tsp dried cilantro
- ½ tsp salt , more to taste as needed
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper, more as needed for spicer
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp honey, more to taste as needed
Instructions
- Marinate The Chicken In a baking dish, make chicken marinade with ACV, orange, oil, garlic, shallot, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, pepper. Cut the chicken breasts in half and add to the marinade. Let them sit for at least 10 – 20 minutes. The longer the better. Meanwhile, gather all other ingredients.
- Once the chicken has marinated, preheat the oven to 350º. Add the chicken in the baking dish to the oven . Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. *chicken will vary in size so please be sure to check that internal temp is at 165º*You can also pan fry the chicken in a skillet. On medium high heat, sauté chicken for about 12 minutes on each side. or until cooked through.
- Let the chicken rest. While it's resting, slice and seed the pepper, slice tomatoes, chop romaine. Add the romaine and all mix-ins to a lage salad bowl.
- Make The Dressing. In a small high speed blender or food processor, add all the dressing ingredients together and whiz until it's well combined. Taste and adjust if needed.
- Slice or cube up chicken. Add it to the large salad bowl with romaine, peppers, tomatoes, seeds, cheese, beans, corn, dressing and mix well. Add chicken to the top and serve. Optional to add sliced avocado as well. Sprinkle crushed tortilla chips over the top and enjoy.
Notes
- always best to have a digital meat thermometer. This will help keep the chicken nice and juicy.
- Taste the dressing as you go. You can spice it up or make it less spicy as needed.
- Marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours for the ultimate juicy flavors.
- To cut out some calories and make it a bit healthier, skip the cheese and tortilla chips to save 100 calories. You can also use plain greek yogurt for the dressing which will offer more protein and a few grams less of fat.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you for this recipe it looks amazing! Love your book by the way, we’ve been working our way through your recipes.
I’m wondering how spicy this is as we have a 3 year old that will be eating this. What would you reduce to make it ok for that age group as well?
Hi Helen! Thank you so much for purchasing my cookbook so happy to hear that you are enjoying that! For your Littles, I would suggest cutting back or skipping the red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. You can always add those to your personal salad if you want to kick up the heat for yourself. Happy eating.
Delish! 2 of us devoured the whole thing. The chicken was super flavorful…I marinated it for a few hours. The dressing was the show stopper though. We licked our bowls clean. *chefs kiss 😘
This makes me so happy to hear! Licking the bowls is the ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT! Thank you, and Happy eating!
-bailey
This salad was FANTASTIC. Best salad I have honestly ever had, let alone one I have made at home. Thank You! – Margot
Hi, I have been searching forever for a southwest salad receipe that reminds me of my favorite place in Chicago. This was SO good! Thank you. I don’t have a blender/food processor for the dressing, but it turned out great without it. It was simple and made it for me to have 3 meals. Thank you for sharing.
I am so so happy to hear this satisfied your cravings! Thanks for the great feedback. Happy Eating