Southwest Salad With Crispy Chicken

This Southwest salad with crispy chicken is a full experience! I debated naming this recipe the ultimate southwest salad because it’s fully loaded and that means it is extra delicious! It also has a delicious cilantro lime creamy dressing that is easy to whip up that goes on top.

This salad has bell peppers, pepitas, cilantro, avocado, crispy jalapenos, tortilla strips, corn, crispy chicken, feta, red onions, tomatoes and bacon. Whew, that is a lot of salad ingredients but so worth putting them all in. It is a bonus that they are all easy to find at the store!

I love to use frozen pre-breaded chicken breasts for this recipe because they are so easy to throw into my air fryer and let them cook up while I prep the rest of this salad. They can also be baked. I love the panko bread coated ones that I find at Costco, they taste great and cook up super fast from frozen. I have also found some lower carb variations that taste great too. The frozen breaded chicken game is strong now a days and I love that.

I also love homemade breaded chicken and if you want to make it from scratch, feel free to do that too. However, In the name of convenience and dedicated energy, I love the frozen pre-breaded ones.

Here are a few breaded chicken recipes I have on my website:

Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers
Chicken Cordon Bleu

I am a big fan of homemade salad dressings because they are easy to make and honestly taste so much better than store bought in most cases. This one goes into a blender and honestly takes just a few minutes, it’s fresh and yummy!

What you need to make this Southwest Salad with Crispy Chicken also known as the ultimate Southwest salad: (printable recipe card is below)

Serves 2-4 as a main entrée

• 4 1/2 cups spring mix or chopped lettuce of choice
• 1/2 cup pepitas – unshelled pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 bell pepper – any color, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro – roughly chopped
• 1 avocado – pit and peel removed, chopped
• 1/2 cup crispy jalapenos – found in salad topper area of grocery store
• 1/2 cup tortilla strips –
• 1/2 cup corn – optional to sauté in a pan so it’s golden
• 2 crispy chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup feta
• 3 slices red onions
• 1/4 cup bacon bits

For the dressing:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons oil – flavor neutral
• 3 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/8 cup red onion
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 jalapeno – seeds removed
• 2 cloves garlic
• Dash of chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• pinch salt

Instructions

1. Prepare vegetable and cook chicken then slice into strips.
2. Add all of the salad ingredients into a large serving bowl.
3. Add all dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until it’s smooth.
4. Serve salad with desired amount of dressing and enjoy.