Southwestern Chopped Salad

Southwest chopped salad sits in a white rectangular serving dish. A pair of large serving spoons sit to the side.

5 — Votes 2 votes

Southwestern Chopped Salad

This Southwest Chopped Salad is satisfying, flavorful, and made to be perfectly scoop-able alongside crunchy tortilla chips! Loaded with chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, romaine, cilantro, cheese, avocado, and the yummiest homemade salad dressing, it's delicious enjoyed as a light dinner or meal prepped for a week's worth of lunches.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: Servings

Author: Cassy Joy Garcia

Ingredients

For the Dressing

½ cup cottage cheese
2 chipotles in adobo
1 clove garlic
¼ cup lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried dill

For the Salad

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon taco seasoning, store-bought or homemade taco seasoning
15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn, canned (drained and rinsed) or frozen (thawed)
4 tomatoes, chopped
½ large red onion, chopped
1 head romaine, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 avocados, cubed
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Tortilla chips, for serving, optional

Instructions

Season the chicken breasts with the taco seasoning.
Brush a grill or grill pan with olive oil, then cook over medium/high heat for 5-6 minutes on each side, until the inner-most portion of the chicken reaches 165°F. Let it rest for 10 minutes, then chop it into bite-sized pieces.
Add the cottage cheese, chipotle peppers, garlic, lime juice, salt, and honey to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Once smooth, stir in the dried dill.
If they aren't already, chop the romaine, onion, avocado, and tomato into small, bite-sized pieces.
Add the cubed chicken, beans, corn, chopped tomato, onion, romaine, avocado, and shredded cheese to a large bowl or serving dish, and top with the dressing.
Toss everything together until well combined, top with the cilantro, and then serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Notes

Make it dairy-free - to make this recipe dairy-free, nix the shredded cheese (or use dairy-free shredded cheese) and swap the cottage cheese for either lactose-free cottage cheese (if you can tolerate it, there are several brands that make lactose-free versions) or full-fat coconut milk.

Make it grain-free - swap regular tortilla chips for a grain-free option (Siete makes delicious grain-free tortilla chips).

Make it gluten-free - this dish is gluten-free as-is, so no swaps or modifications needed!

Nutrition