Southwest Chicken Salad

Submitted by Kitty Kat Cook

"This is a copycat from McDonalds..I went in a hunt for this recipe since I became obsessed with it. My obsession started because I added a chopped avocado to my McDonalds purchased salad and it was heaven. I got this from recipelink.com, the avocado is optional since it's not in MD's salad but sooo recomended. The dressing that the salad comes with is Paul Newman's Natural Southwest dressing, so sub that if you find it at the store if you don't want to make it from scratch."

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 23
• Serves: 1-2

ingredients

• FOR THE MARINADE

• 1⁄2 tablespoon honey
• 1⁄2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1⁄2 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cilantro

• FOR THE SALAD

• 3 cups chopped lettuce
• 4 ounces grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
• 1⁄4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons chopped poblano peppers (or any mild green pepper)
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons canned sweet corn
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons canned black beans
• 2 tablespoons shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon shredded carrot (or to be authentic shaved carrots, or very thinly sliced)
• 3 -5 baked Doritos, crushed

• FOR THE DRESSING

• 2 tablespoons fat free ranch dressing
• 1 tablespoon nonfat sour cream
• 1⁄4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon lime juice
• 1⁄4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 dash onion powder
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 1 dash cumin

• Fixings

• 1 -2 chopped avocado
• quartered lime (to squeeze over the salad)

directions

1. Mix together marinade ingredients in a small bowl -- add chicken and coat it in the marinade. Set aside.
2. In a pan spritzed with nonstick spray, cook tomatoes and corn over high heat until slightly charred.
3. Place lettuce in a bowl, and top with marinated chicken, tomatoes and corn, chopped pepper, and black beans. Sprinkle with cheese and chips. Add the chopped avocados.
4. In a small dish, combine all of the dressing ingredients with 1 teaspoons water.
5. Mix in the dressing, squeeze some lime and enjoy!

Reviews

[Lynn in MA]

I never heard of marinating a chicken breast or any other type of meat, poulty or seafood AFTER grilling/cooking. I would marinate the chicken breast (whole) for this salad for at least a couple of hours and then grill it. I would slice it just before topping the salad.

 

[camohn]

it was good but dressing was lacking southwest kick...added a pinch of red pepper flakes too

 

[luveating]

Excellent recipe! Im eating it right now and i made it last night too! Its really yummy and so much better making it at home knowing where the ingredients came from. I did make a big goof last night...i didnt have chili powder so i used cayene,big mistake( it was good,but soooo hot ).Thanks ..ill be making this alot (:

 

[Southern Bug]

I only made the dressing portion of this recipe. We used it as a dipping sauce for quesadillas. I have had the salad at McD's before, and this dressing is pretty darn close to the original.

 

[College Girl]

Instead of regular cilantro in the marinade, I used a little bit of Goya's Cilantro Cooking base. It was really lovely chicken. I tweaked the dressing and put fresh cilantro in it. I am a cilantro fan. I've never actually had the one from McDonalds because it's over priced and the salad dressing is too oily. And why buy it there when I can make this awesome recipe at home!