This chipotle chicken salad has juicy oven-grilled chicken tossed with fresh greens, juicy tomatoes, creamy avocado, sweet corn, and cheese. All my favorite Southwestern fixings!
I love a hearty salad with a kick, like my Southwest quinoa salad and this spicy chipotle chicken salad. Customize this recipe with your favorite homemade or store-bought dressing.
This chipotle chicken salad is so easy to make with the juiciest oven-grilled chicken. Slice up the chicken, layer it on top of a bed of fresh, bouncy greens, and sprinkle in a few corn kernels, slices of avocado, fresh tomatoes, and cheese. Add a drizzle of dressing, and we’re done! This can be dinner, this can be lunch, this can be your new favorite “grilled” chicken salad. And you don’t even have to light the grill.
What Makes This Chipotle Chicken Salad So Good
- Oven-grilled chicken. Yes, you can grill chicken without a grill! I’ll show you how with a grill pan. It’s a great way to sear the outside of the chicken before you pop it into the oven to finish cooking.
- Bold chipotle flavor. You don’t need to marinate the chicken; just a quick toss in chipotle seasoning is all it takes to pack every bite full of smoky, spicy Southwestern flavor.
- Versatile. This chipotle chicken salad recipe makes enough to comfortably serve four as a side salad, or you can enjoy it as a light main meal. It’s also a great recipe to meal prep for tasty lunches throughout the week.
Salad Ingredients
Below are my notes on the ingredients in this zesty chipotle chicken salad. There aren’t many of them, but they all work together to fill this easy salad with plenty of Southwest flavor. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full list, followed by a step-by-step recipe overview afterward.
- Chicken – Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs work best in this salad recipe.
- Seasonings – We’ll season the chicken in a combination of chipotle powder, cumin, and salt. You can change up the individual spices with fajita seasoning for another flavor profile.
- Salad Greens – Any type you’d like. Good choices are romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, spinach, kale, and arugula, or you can use a mix of garden greens.
- Avocado – Diced or sliced.
- Tomatoes – These can be cherry or grape tomatoes, cocktail tomatoes, or larger varieties, like Roma tomatoes. Chop the tomatoes or slice them in half, depending on the size.
- Cheddar Cheese – Shredded. You could also use a Mexican or Tex-Mex cheese blend or your favorite shredable cheese, like Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, or spicy Pepper Jack cheese.
Serving Suggestions
On its own, this chipotle chicken salad is a great main meal salad for lunch or dinner. Or, you can serve it to share, as a side to quinoa stuffed peppers or a big platter of pork carnitas or Mexican picadillo to tuck into tacos. Round out the meal with fluffy white rice or crunchy corn chips and salsa!
Meal Prep This Salad
You can prepare and grill the chicken, chop the avocado and tomatoes, and shred the cheese for this salad recipe in advance. Keep everything stored in separate containers in the fridge so that you can easily assemble your chipotle chicken salad for quick, easy lunches.
Another fun option is to prep in mason jars! To layer this chicken salad in a jar, start with the dressing at the bottom, then add the corn kernels, chicken, cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and finally, the greens. Jar salads are best eaten the same day.
Storing Leftovers
This salad becomes soggy the longer it sits in the dressing, so it’ll have the best texture and flavor when you serve it right away. Do your best to store any leftover ingredients in separate containers in the fridge, and they’ll last 2-3 days that way.
You can use the leftover chipotle chicken to make another salad, or repurpose it into tacos or chicken enchiladas!
Pin this now to find it later
-
Prep. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
-
Pound the chicken. Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness. Do not pound them too thin.
-
Season the chicken. In a large ziploc bag, combine chipotle powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and chicken. Seal the bag and massage the seasonings into the chicken pieces using your hands. Let stand 5 to 20 minutes.
-
Grill. Grease a grill pan with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and cook for 4 minutes; flip, and continue to cook for 2 more minutes, or until lightly browned.
-
Bake. Place the grill pan with the chicken into the oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.
-
In the meantime, prepare the salad. In a large salad bowl, toss together salad greens, corn kernels, diced avocados, and chopped tomatoes.
-
Add the chicken. Cut up the chicken and layer it on top of the salad.
-
Add dressing. Sprinkle with cheese, and then toss with creamy avocado dressing or your favorite homemade salad dressing. Serve.
Calories: 304kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 710mg | Potassium: 864mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1230IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 141mg | Iron: 1.8mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Chipotle Chicken Salad
Story time: My Macedonian mother cooks almost exclusively with one skillet (for shakshuka) and one casserole dish (for moussaka). She couldn’t believe how I “grilled” this chipotle chicken in the oven using my grill pan. Guess who got the same cast-iron grill pan for Mother’s Day?
If you have one, crack it out for this recipe. Six minutes on the stovetop, 20 minutes in the oven, and you’re ready to assemble this chicken salad. Here’s how to make it:
- Prep. While the oven preheats to 350ºF, pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness. They shouldn’t be flattened, but similar in thickness to chicken paillard.
- Season the chicken. Next, seal the chicken inside a large Ziploc bag with the chipotle powder, cumin, and salt. Using your hands, massage the seasoning into the chicken.
- Grill. Next, sear the chicken on a greased grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 4 minutes, flip, and cook the chicken for another 2 minutes so it’s browned on both sides. It’s fine that the chicken isn’t fully cooked at this stage.
- Bake. Transfer the grill pan with the chicken to the oven and bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes. Afterward, rest the chicken for 5 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In the meantime, prepare the salad. While the chicken rests, add the salad greens, corn, avocado, and tomatoes to a large bowl. When you’re ready to serve, slice the chicken and layer it over the salad. Sprinkle over the shredded cheese.
- Add dressing and serve. Choose your dressing (see the Ingredients section earlier), and pour it over the salad. Toss and serve!
Do I Need to Use a Grill Pan?
You don’t have to use one for this recipe, though I definitely recommend it. Grill pans are pans with ridges that go from the stovetop to the oven, and they’re perfect for giving chicken, beef, and seafood that charred-from-the-grill look and flavor, without the grill. If you don’t have one, however, you can follow the steps above using an oven-safe skillet instead.
More Chicken Salad Recipes
