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This chicken taco salad is the perfect quick and easy weeknight meal. Prep all your ingredients ahead of time and then just assemble and toss when ready to eat. All the amazing flavors of a traditional taco salad but this one is made with chicken!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe!
Easy Dinner Idea: When you need a quick and easy dinner idea this Chicken Taco Salad is it. You can make it with ground chicken, leftover grilled chicken, rotisserie chicken or cook up some chicken for it.
Delicious Dressing: For this salad I use a yummy homemade dressing that is made with a taco seasoning mix so the salad tastes just like a traditional taco salad but instead of hamburger this one has chicken.
Ingredients Needed
- Ground Chicken
- Lettuce, a combination of romaine lettuce and spring mix lettuce.
- Black Beans, drained and rinsed.
- Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
- Avocados. diced
- Red Onion, sliced thinly
- Green Onions, diced
- Corn. You can used frozen corn, canned corn or cut corn kernels off of corn on the cob.
- Shredded Cheese. I use cheddar cheese but you can use a Mexican blend if you prefer.
- Tortilla Strips, cilantro, pumpkin seeds for garnish (optional)
- Taco seasoning. You can use store bought or homemade taco seasoning.
- Taco Salad Dressing (see below for other options and recipe)
How to Make Chicken Taco Salad
- Brown ground chicken in a large skillet until almost cooked through.
- Add taco seasoning and 1/4 cup of water and cook until water is absorbed.
- Allow meat to cool.
- Add all salad ingredients to a large salad bowl or platter.
- Add in cooked chicken
- Dress and toss with dressing.
- Garnish with tortilla strips, cilantro or pumpkin seeds if desired.
Tips from leigh Anne
- If you prefer, instead of ground chicken you could use ground beef or ground turkey. You could also use sliced or diced grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken.
- To give the salad even more flavor, roast your corn on the cob on the grill before cutting the kernels off the cob. I rub the corn with a bit of oil or butter and then set on the grill until the kernels start to char. Rotate the cob every few minutes.
- You can dress this salad with store bought Ranch or Catalina dressing, or us my homemade Taco Salad Dressing or Cilantro Ranch Dressing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make chicken taco salad ahead of time?
I recommend prepping all the ingredients, cooking your chicken, chopping you veggies and making your taco salad dressing ahead of time but waiting until you are ready to serve it to assemble and dress the salad.
What should I serve chicken taco salad with?
It is a great stand alone meal but I often will serve it with some tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole.
I don’t have any taco seasoning what else can I use?
You could use a combination of cumin, salt and pepper. Season to taste. Add in a little chili powder too if you have it.
For some other yummy main course salads try:
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Chicken Taco Salad
Ingredients
Chicken Taco Salad
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- 2 Tbsp Taco seasoning mix or 1 pkg.
- 6 cups lettuce romaine and spring mix
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 avocado diced
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese grated
- 1 cup red onion sliced thin
- 1/2 cup green onions diced
Instructions
Chicken Taco alad
- In a large frying pan cook the ground chicken until almost cooked through
- Add in taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water. Cook until meat is cooked through and water absorbed.
- Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl
- Toss with dressing.
- Garnish with tortilla strips or pumpkin seeds if desired
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Nutrition Facts:
Pat Taylor says
Leigh Anne, do you think the dressing would taste ok with no sugar or sweetener? Or maybe cutting the amount in half. We are trying to not add any sugar to our food. Recipe sounds great and look forward to trying it this week.
Leigh Anne says
Give it a try? Maybe some honey?