Is it a Texas thing to love barbecue and ranch together? This barbecue ranch chicken salad combines favorite fresh ingredients with a tangy and creamy flavor that we love. We make this for a quick and easy main course, as a weeknight meal or lunch any time.
Barbecue Ranch Chicken Salad Ingredients
You can really make this salad your own, but I’ll share our favorite way here. You’ll need a lettuce to start. I like to use Romaine and mixed greens together, although either one will be good on its own. Also, you will need peeled, sliced and quartered English cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, avocado chunks, black beans, canned corn, and crispy fried onions. We prefer to use a store bought rotisserie chicken for this salad, as it makes it easy! You could also marinate two chicken breasts in barbecue sauce and grill them. For the dressing, you can find your favorite barbecue sauce and ranch dressing.
How to Assemble this Barbecue Ranch Chicken Salad
First, wash and chop the romaine lettuce. We like to make each salad separately so people can individually determine sauce and dressing amounts. So you would divide the lettuce among plates or large, shallow bowls. Then, wash and prep the veggies. Halve the cherry tomatoes and also peel and slice cucumbers. Next, you can drain and rinse canned corn and beans. Cut avocados into chunks and shred or chop chicken.
Toss the shredded or chopped chicken with some barbecue sauce in a separate bowl. Next, you will add the prepped veggies and chicken, as desired on top of the beds of lettuce. Top with the crispy onions and preferred amounts of ranch dressing.
Special Notes and Adjustments
- Technically, canned black beans are already cooked and ready to eat. For this reason, you can just drain and rinse them before adding to your salad. Some folks think they taste a bit better after heating in a small sauce pan first, then drain them before adding to the salad.
- You can mix ranch and barbecue sauce together to make a blended ranch/ bbq dressing.
- If you want to use this for a family weeknight meal, and your kids are not into salads much, you can use most of the ingredients without the lettuce to make an easy kids meal. Chicken, corn, black beans, and cucumbers served separately!
Barbecue Ranch Chicken Salad
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 5 ounces chopped Romaine lettuce
- 5 ounces mixed greens
- 1 cup shredded or cubed chicken (rotisserie or grilled)
- 1 cup, peeled, sliced, and quartered English cucumber
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1/2 can corn, drained
- 1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup crispy onions (French’s)
- favorite ranch dressing
- favorite barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Wash and chop Romaine lettuce. Wash mixed greens. Divide lettuce and mixed greens onto two plates or large shallow bowls.
- Wash and peel the cucumber. Then slice and quarter.
- Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes.
- Cube avocado
- Rinse and measure the corn and black beans.
- Divide and add veggies to the salads.
- Shred or cube chicken breasts. In a separate bowl, toss the chicken with barbecue sauce, coating the meat pieces but not over-saturating. Then divide among the two salad bowls (could have left over meat depending on how much protein you prefer on your salad).
- Top each salad with crispy onions and ranch dressing to your preference. Or you can mix barbecue sauce and ranch dressing ahead of time and add it as one dressing.
Notes
- If you want to use this for a family weeknight meal, and your kids are not into salads much, you can use most of the ingredients without the lettuce to make an easy kids meal. Chicken, corn, black beans, and cucumbers served separately!
- Prep Time: 15 min
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