Southwest Salad with Sweet and Spicy Chicken

This southwest salad with sweet and spicy chicken is a great vanlife recipe. It takes hardly any cooking, and if you use pre-cooked chicken it’s even quicker. A great way to use up leftovers.

I was playing with seasonings one night as I cooked chicken to put in a salad for dinner, and I loved the sweet and savoury heat it added to our salad! The tortilla chips and Ranch really compliment the flavors of this dish. You can modify this chicken salad to your own tastes! Perhaps you’re not a broccoli fan, or you hate black beans. That’s fine! The beauty of a salad is you can toss it together your own way! Play with it, and have fun! If you don’t have all of the ingredients, use what you do have! I often make a simplified version with no black beans, corn, tomato, or avocado-just a simple salad with chicken and tortilla chips on top.

Southwest Salad with Sweet and Spicy Chicken

happy_vagabonds

Meat Based

This has been a go-to meal for years for us, and it has translated really well into Vanlife.

5 from 1 vote

30 minute meal - No water - Stove top meal

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Lunch, Salad

Servings 2

Diet Meat Based

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 lb Chicken Shredded or Sliced
• 1/2 tbsp Avocado Oil
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2-3 tbsp Honey
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 2 Romaine Lettuce Heads
• 4 Large Kale Leaves
• 2 cup Spinach
• 1 cup Broccoli Florets
• 1 Cucumber
• 1 can Black Beans
• 1 can Corn
• 1 Roma Tomato
• 2 tbsp Ranch Dressing
• 2 handfuls Tortilla Chips

Instructions

 

• Cook the chicken over medium heat with the avocado oil, seasoning to taste with the paprika, garlic powder, honey, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. The above measurements are estimates. I usually play with the amounts of spices and flavors, tasting as I go.
• While the chicken is cooking, you can prep your salads. Chop up the romaine lettuce, kale, roma tomato, broccoli, cucumber, and avocado. We are big eaters, so I serve the salads in mixing bowls. I put half of the romaine lettuce, spinach, kale, cucumber, and broccoli in each bowl.
• Top each salad with tomato, black beans, corn, avocado, the cooked chicken, and Ranch dressing. Here is a tip I often forget: To keep them crunchy, save the tortilla chips for last (after you add the dressing), and crush them over the tops of the salads. Enjoy!

Notes

You can use pre-cooked chicken in this recipe to make it even quicker! If the chicken is already cooked (like a Rotisserie chicken), I still fry it up in the pan with the oil and the seasonings so it really takes on that sweet, spicy, savory flavor.

Nutrition

Calories: 998kcalCarbohydrates: 148gProtein: 49gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 14gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 1606mgPotassium: 2495mgFiber: 28gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 17967IUVitamin C: 179mgCalcium: 494mgIron: 9mg

Keyword avocado, chicken, healthy, protein, quick and easy, quick cook, salad, Simple

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