Southwest Salad Recipe
This easy Southwest Salad is loaded with crisp romaine, black beans, corn, peppers, avocado, and creamy homemade chipotle ranch dressing. Add grilled chicken for the ultimate high protein meal!
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 2 heads romaine lettuce
- 15 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- ½ small red onion thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cups corn frozen thawed, or cut from a cooked cob
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes halved
- 2 bell peppers diced, I like to use red orange or yellow
- 1 jalapeno optional, sliced and de-seeded if desired
- 20 ounces southwest chicken optional, shredded
- avocado slices and tortilla strips, for serving
For the Chipotle Ranch Dressing:
- ⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt see note 1 below
- 1 ½ Tablespoons lime juice fresh squeezed is best
- 1 chipotle in adobo, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
- 1 Tablespoon cilantro optional
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
For the Salad:
- Wash and roughly chop romaine and place in a large serving bowl. Drain and rinse black beans, thinly slice red onion and halve the cherry tomatoes, dice bell peppers and slice jalapeno.
- Add black beans, onion, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno and chicken (if using) on top of the lettuce.
For the southwest dressing:
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time to thin if the dressing is too thick.
- Pour dressing over the top of the salad and toss to combine. Top with avocado and tortilla strips. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Feel free to sub all or part of the Greek yogurt with any combination of sour cream or mayonnaise.
- We love this recipe with chicken on top for a completely meal. If you don't want to go to the extra work of making southwest chicken, feel free to add plain shredded chicken.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 24 hours. To store for longer, add the dressing as needed instead of at the beginning. Store separately for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1plateCalories: 365kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 34gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 337mgPotassium: 1579mgFiber: 15gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 20008IUVitamin C: 74mgCalcium: 138mgIron: 5mg
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