I love a big entree salad and our BBQ Chicken Salad recipe is a sure favorite! I love that this salad is packed with so many fresh ingredients that come together and always hits the spot. This is probably one of my favorite summer salads (that I totally eat year round)!
I also love that so much of this salad can be prepped ahead of time, so it takes just a few minutes to throw everything together when you’re ready to enjoy it!
How to make Our Loaded BBQ Chicken Salad
BBQ Chicken
- In a hot skillet cook seasoned boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Chop cooked chicken thighs.
- Add cooked and chopped chicken thighs and barbecue sauce to a bowl.
- Toss chicken and bbq sauce together. Set aside until you’re ready to assemble the salad.
BBQ Yogurt Ranch Dressing
- Add all dressing ingredients into a small bowl.
- Whisk together until fully combined.
Assembling
- Toss together shredded cabbage and chopped romaine lettuce and spread onto a large platter. Arrange black beans, tomatoes, corn, red onions, and jicama over greens. Top salad with bbq chicken and sliced green onions. Serve with dressing on side or drizzle dressing over salad.
What is Jicama?
Jicama (also called, yam bean, Mexican turnip or Mexican Potato) is a root vegetable native to Mexico. It’s most commonly eaten peeled and raw with a flavor that’s a cross between a potato, carrot and apple. It’s light, crunchy and very mildly sweet and perfectly adds texture to dishes like our loaded bbq chicken salad.
Make Ahead Instructions for our BBQ Chicken Salad Recipe
Dressing
The dressing can be made up to 5 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, until ready to use.
Chicken
The chicken can be cooked, chopped and tossed in bbq sauce up to 2 days ahead of time.
Assembly
The salad itself can be built on a platter or in a large bowl 1 day ahead of time, tightly covered in plastic wrap, and stored in the refrigerator. When building the salad ahead of time the bbq chicken and dressing should be added right before serving to avoid the greens getting soggy.
Variations and Substitutions
There are indefinite ways to make this entree salad, but a few variations we like from this version is:
- Adding chopped apples in place of the jicama.
- Finely dicing cauliflower and tossing it in a little oil and salt for a healthier option to replace the corn.
- Adding some crumbled queso fresco for a salty bite.
- Adding diced avocados in place of or in addition to the black beans for a fresh and creamy texture.
- Replacing the chicken for some flaked salmon
- Replacing the chicken thighs with boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Some seared and diced tofu or roasted chickpeas also works great to replace the chicken for a vegetarian option
- Use a store-bought rotisserie chicken to save on time.
- Replace the green onion for fresh cilantro leaves or sliced chives.
More Salad Recipes You Will Love
Looking for more salad recipes? Check out our post for all of Best Salad Recipes!
BBQ Chicken Salad
INGREDIENTS
bbq chicken
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 cup prepared bbq sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
bbq ranch yogurt dressing
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced chives
- 2 tbsp minced parsley
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup prepared bbq sauce
salad
- 1 romaine heart, shredded
- 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 2 fresh corn on cobb, charred under broiler and kernels removed (cobbs discarded)
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- 1/2 jicama, peeled and diced
- 2 green onions, sliced on bias
INSTRUCTIONS
bbq chicken
- Place large skillet over medium-high heat. Once skillet is hot add oil.
- Generously season chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Sear thighs for 3 to 4 minutes. Lower heat to medium and flip thighs. Continue to cook for an additional 5 to 6 minutes or until thighs have just cooked through.
- Transfer thighs to a cutting board and allow them to rest for about 5 minutes. Chop chicken into bite sized pieces and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add bbq sauce andtoss together until well coated. Set aside.
dressing
- Place all dressing ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth.
assemble salad
- Combine romaine and cabbage together in a large bowl and toss together. Transfer mixture to a platter.
- Top greens with black beans, tomatoes, corn, red onion, jicama, and bbq chicken.
- Sprinkle salad with sliced green onion. Serve with dressing.
NOTES
- Adding chopped apples in place of the jicama.
- Finely dicing cauliflower and tossing it in a little oil and salt for a healthier option to replace the corn.
- Adding some crumbled queso fresco for a salty bite.
- Adding diced avocados in place of or in addition to the black beans for a fresh and creamy texture.
- Replacing the chicken for some flaked salmon
- Replacing the chicken thighs with boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Some seared and diced tofu or roasted chickpeas also works great to replace the chicken for a vegetarian option
- Use a store-bought rotisserie chicken to save on time.
- Replace the green onion for fresh cilantro leaves or sliced chives.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
tag @SpoonForkBacon and #SpoonForkBacon on Instagram
DELICIOUS
Used shrimp instead of chicken and didn’t toss shrimp in BBQ sauce bc dressing had enough barbecue taste. The jicama provided amazing crunch. LOVE IT
So simple but oh so good.
I love chicken salad. This adds a nice touch.
Easy to make. Chicken was so moist.
What a very yummy one dish dinner. My family enjoyed this for dinner. While great any night, it really hit the spot on a hot summer night. Very easy to make and so flavorful with the fresh vegetables available this time of year. Love BBQ chicken!
It’s looking very tasty and healthy as well. I will try this and also share this blog with my friends.
Yummers! Love me some bbq chicken salad and yours is perfect. It’s got all my favorite fixins!
This recipe is so simple and SO delicious!! It’s reminiscent of the CPK BBQ Chicken Salad, but a lot less work! I added an avocado (because they make everything better :) ) and about 10 basil leaves finely sliced to the salad mix (a CPK trick), and it really makes it sing!! Thank you for the recipe!
Avocado really does make everything better! Love the idea of adding basil too. So glad you enjoyed this!
Yum! Love the idea of basil leaves! So glad you enjoyed it!
This is so good and everyone in my family loved it.
Made this last night and it’s my new favorite!
How much does the recipe you included for the Greek yogurt ranch make?
The recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing!
Ditto to yay summer salads! Definitely taking this to my next picnic! Thanks!
http://www.sistersweetly.wordpress.com
Going to try this for lunch but with cous cous as I do not have any quinoa.
This looks delish! And perfect for when my mom is visiting this month. I wish I could save your recipes to my Pinterest! Can you guys make my dream come true? :D
There is a pinterest “pin” over each image if you roll over it to easily pin. :)
This reminds me of a Buddha bowl… I can see changing out various items to create alternative options to the salad…keeping the BBQ chicken as your main ingredient. I look forward to creating this for a week of awesome lunch goodness!