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BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad in a large white bowl with a blue and white striped kitchen towel in the background.

BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad

★★★★★

4.8 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Emily
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4 generous (main dish) servings 1x

Description

Piled high with fresh veggies, BBQ chicken, and a creamy BBQ ranch dressing, this salad is summer on a plate! The amounts below are suggested estimates. Feel free to use more or less of any topping you like! (See the notes section for ways to adapt the recipe for paleo!) 

Ingredients

Scale

For the Salad:

  • 6 cups fresh greens
  • 8 oz. cooked chicken breast, cubed or shredded
  • 3–4 Tbsp BBQ sauce
  • 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1/4 cup diced red onion (or green onion)
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced (optional)

For the BBQ Ranch Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup ranch dressing (try my dairy free homemade ranch!)
  • 2–3 Tbsp BBQ sauce

Instructions

For the Salad:

  1. In a small bowl, stir together chicken and 3-4 Tbsp BBQ sauce (enough to coat the chicken).
  2. In a large bowl, mix together greens, BBQ chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, red onion, and cilantro.
  3. Drizzle salad with BBQ Ranch Dressing (see below)

For the BBQ Ranch Dressing:

  1. In a jar or bowl, whisk together ranch dressing with BBQ sauce. Taste and add additional BBQ sauce as desired. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 week.

Notes

Change it Up: There are so many yummy veggies you can add to this salad. Jicama, bell peppers, snap peas, celery, and more are all delicious. You could also swap out the chicken for BBQ Chickpeas, or add bacon, or some diced hard-boiled egg if you like. If you’re not dairy free, a little cheddar cheese could be delicious here, too!

Paleo-ize it! To make this salad paleo, you can swap out the corn and black beans for other veggies (jicama, cucumber, and bell peppers are nice!). Then, you’ll want to make sure you’re using paleo-approved ranch (I love this one!) and barbecue sauce. You can even make your own Paleo BBQ sauce if you like!

Meal Prep It – This salad is great for packing ahead. To make it into a mason jar salad, just pour the BBQ ranch dressing on the bottom of your mason jar, then add your chicken, veggies, and lettuce (in that order). You may want to leave the avocado out, or squeeze a little lime juice over it to keep it from browning. To serve, just give it a serious shake and a stir with a fork, or pour the whole thing out into a bowl and toss to combine everything. (I love these little reusable lids for mason jar salads!)

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Salads, main dish
  • Method: No-cook
  • Cuisine: American, BBQ

Keywords: BBQ, chicken, BBQ Chicken, BBQ ranch, chicken salad, salad

Find it online: https://www.onelovelylife.com/barbecue-ranch-chicken-salad/