southwest salad recipe / spicy southwest salad / chipotle dressing — Makes: *4 Servings*
Per Serving: *40g Protein | 430 Cal*

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On warm days, I crave a light, healthy, protein-packed salad. This one, with bold, fresh flavors, and a creamy, smoky dressing, is one that I could make for lunch over and over again. My Southwest Chicken Salad with Spicy Chipotle Dressing is bursting with good-for-you ingredients, packed with lean protein and fiber, and topped off with a delicious dressing you’re going to want to drizzle over everything from grain bowls to grilled chicken.

With tons of veggies, lean rotisserie chicken (we love shortcuts here at PSQ!), and a smoky, creamy dressing, it’s a salad that satisfies.

Whether you’re trying to pull together an easy dinner, meal prepping for the week ahead, or looking for something to bring to a potluck that no one will want to pass up, this salad recipe delivers.

Why You’ll Love This Spicy Southwest Salad Recipe

Packed with protein: Each serving of this salad has 40g of protein, which means it’ll keep you full all afternoon long.
Spicy, creamy dressing: The chipotle yogurt dressing is smoky, somewhat spicy, and tangy from the yogurt. It’s super tasty and is the perfect pairing with chicken, white fish, rice bowls, veggies, and more.
Good for meal prepping: While salad might not feel like the best meal prep recipe, you can make this work well for meal prep by making the dressing ahead of time, prepping the ingredients, and storing things separately to keep them fresh in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
Versatile and customizable: You can add creamy avocado, crunchy tortilla chips, seasoned tortilla strips, crispy onions or jalapeños, pickled red onions, or whatever else you’d like. You can even swap the chicken for steak, tofu, or shrimp.

Ingredients

For the Salad:

10 oz rotisserie chicken breast, shredded
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (you can use grape tomatoes instead, if you prefer)
1 cup corn (fresh, canned, or frozen & thawed)
1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup lite shredded Mexican blend cheese
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

For the Chipotle Dressing:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon mayo
1 tablespoon olive oil
1½ tablespoons honey
3 chipotle peppers in adobo
2 tablespoons adobo sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Zest of 1 lime
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Make the dressing: Put the dressing ingredients (yogurt, mayo, olive oil, honey, chipotle peppers in adobo, spices, lime juice, and Worcestershire sauce) in a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust as necessary. You can add more honey for sweetness, lime for tang or acid, or chipotles if you’d like it spicier.
Assemble the salad: Add the salad ingredients (romaine, chicken, tomatoes, corn, beans, onions, cheese, and cilantro) to a large bowl. Use tongs to gently toss the salad and mix the ingredients.
Dress the salad: Drizzle a bit of the spicy dressing on top of the salad when you’re ready to serve it and again toss gently with tongs to evenly coat the salad with dressing. Add crushed tortilla chips, creamy avocado slices, crunchy pepitas (chili lime pepitas would be especially great!), green onion, or anything else you’d like. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information (Per Serving - Makes 4 Servings)

Calories: 430
Protein: 40g
Carbs: 30g
Fat: 15g

Swaps & Substitutions

Make it dairy-free: Instead of the Mexican-blend cheese, use a dairy-free cheese alternative and instead of the Greek yogurt in the dressing, try a plant-based yogurt like coconut yogurt.
Make it vegetarian: Leave the chicken out and use extra black beans, add pinto beans, or try using grilled or roasted tofu.
Swap the chicken: If you don’t have rotisserie chicken on hand, you can use any leftover chicken or store-bought cooked chicken.
Add extra fresh veggies: Roast some red bell peppers or sweet potatoes and add them to the salad, or toss in fresh cucumber, shredded carrots, black olives, pickled jalapeños, or whatever else you like.

How to Meal Prep This Spicy Southwest Chicken Salad

Make the dressing and store it and the salad components in individual airtight containers. When you’re ready to eat, assemble the salad, add the dressing, toss it gently, and eat. The spicy, smoky yogurt dressing will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

FAQs

Absolutely! Prep all of the ingredients for the salad and store in separate containers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Store the dressing separately and when you’re ready to eat, assemble the salad and dress it so that everything stays fresh until you’re ready to eat it.
It’s not super spicy. It’s about a mild-to-medium spice level from the chipotle peppers in adobo, but the heat that comes from the peppers is somewhat balanced out by the yogurt and honey. If you don’t like spicy food, start with just 1 or 2 peppers, blend the dressing, taste, and then add more if you’d like.
It’s most convenient to use rotisserie chicken, but if you don’t have any, you can use any cooked and shredded chicken breast. You can also use chicken thighs, chicken tenders, or whatever else you like best.
Yes, they are. Make sure to drain and rinse the beans well. Drain the corn (you can rinse it as well if you’d like). You can also use dried beans (make sure to soak and cook them first), fresh corn, or frozen corn (make sure it’s thawed or roasted).
This recipe is gluten-free if you make it as-written, but it’s a good idea to check the ingredient labels on the specific ingredients you’re using just to make sure that everything is okay, especially if you or whoever you’re cooking for has dietary restrictions.
Once you blend the dressing, it’ll stay fresh in an airtight container stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Make sure you shake or stir it well before you use it.
While there’s plenty in this salad to make it a full meal, you could serve it with a bit of bread, some fruit, roasted sweet potatoes or sweet potato fries, or even tortilla chips and salsa.

This Southwest chicken salad is full of big, bright flavors, plenty of wholesome, nourishing ingredients, and lots of protein. Perfect for meal prepping, weeknight dinners, or even a casual weekend meal, this is a salad the whole family will love.