Southwest Chicken Salad

This Southwest Chicken Salad is packed with bold flavors, bright colors, and plenty of protein. It’s made with shredded chicken, black beans, corn, red pepper, creamy avocado, and a zesty cumin-lime dressing. Perfect for an easy lunch, light dinner, or make-ahead meal prep.

Prep : 10 Total : 25 minutes

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Ingredients

Main Ingredients

2 cans chicken drained and flaked OR 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
0.5 cup corn canned or thawed from frozen
0.5 cup canned black beans rinsed and drained
0.33 cup red bell pepper finely diced
0.25 cup red onion or green onions finely diced
0.25 cup fresh cilantro chopped
1 small avocado diced (add just before serving)
1 lime juiced
0.5 cup mayo or Greek yogurt
1 tsp hot sauce or chipotle sauce
0.5 tsp cumin
0.25 tsp smoked paprika
0.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp pepper

Instructions

Preparation Steps

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, corn, black beans, red bell pepper, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, avocado, lime juice, mayo or Greek yogurt (your call), parsley, and a dash of hot sauce. Give everything a good stir until it’s all well mixed and coated.
If you’ve got the time, pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes or so — it helps the flavors come together nicely. Totally optional, but worth it.
Serve it up however you like! I love it with tortilla chips, piled onto crostini, or tucked into lettuce cups or wraps for something lighter.

Notes