Mexican Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with Honey Jalapeno Dressing
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Mexican Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with Honey-Jalapeno Dressing is a party of flavors and textures! This is a great make-ahead recipe for when life just gets busy.
Mexican Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with Honey-Jalapeno Dressing is one of our favorite recipes. This salad isn’t just a salad. It’s a journey on the flavor train my friend. I just couldn’t get enough.
I love a good salad, but not just any ole salad. My salad has to have lots of flavors and textures otherwise I get bored really quick. I love chopped salads. What is a chopped salad anyway?
Chopped salads are just like any other salad except the ingredients are combined and chopped together so each bite has a scoop of ingredients, flavors, and textures. Just the way I like them! Traditional salads usually start with a bed of greens and have other ingredients layered on top and then dressed.
I’ve actually been working on this one. My earlier attempts were just meh…boring…sad face inserted here. The key to making this salad was creating a marinade that was bold enough to be evident in the chicken after it was grilled. That and a dressing that was both sweet and had a great kick. I also wanted all kinds of textures from the veggies and cheese.
Make plenty of Grilled Chicken because the leftovers are delicious when re-purposed. Some of my favorites are Chicken Salad Recipe with Yogurt and Taco Chicken Salad.
Mexican Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with Honey Jalapeño Dressing
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 chicken breasts skinless, boneless breasts, pounded to even thickness
- Greens I used Spinach and Romaine Lettuce
- 1 Red Pepper diced
- Green onion tops and white parts
- Tomatoes seeded and diced
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro divided
- 1 Avocado divided
- Cotija Cheese
Marinade
- 1 tbsp achiote paste
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 1-1/2 tsp ground guajillo chili powder can substitute ancho chili or chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
Dressing
- 1 lime juiced and zested (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 jalapeno ribs and seeds removed
- 1/4 avocado
Tortilla Straws
- 2 uncooked tortilla shells I love tortilla land brand
Instructions
- In a medium-sized glass bowl, combine achiote paste and vinegar. Blend together until smooth and then add the remaining marinade ingredients. Add chicken. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours to 2 days.
- Remove chicken and grill until they test done.
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray both sides of each tortilla with non-stick cooking spray or brush with oil. Sprinkle with guajillo chili powder and salt. Cut into strips (a pizza cutter works great). Place tortilla strips on oiled baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Add salad ingredients together and chop into similar sized pieces.
- Combine the dressing ingredients into a blender, using the cilantro stems and leaves to make one cup. (Use any remaining leaves to garnish the salad) and 1/4 of the avocado (remaining is put into the salad). Blend until thick and creamy. Add additional oil if it’s too thick.
- Chop chicken into small pieces and combine with salad ingredients. Add dressing, fresh cilantro, and tortilla straws.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
Here are a few other Mexican inspired dishes that I think you will love!
- The Ultimate Spicy Tacos Al Pastor Recipe
- The Ultimate Spicy Tacos Al Pastor
- Crockpot Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Don’t have time to make it now? Pin it for later!
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What a fantastic list of easy recipes. They all look incredible and are easy to make. Looking forward to trying them.
Thank you!
I absolutely love this salad. Great light meal, especially on a summer day.
This looks fantastic – and honey jalapeno dressing sounds crazy delicious! So much goodness in one bowl. My stomach is already growling!
Thank you so much, Mara! Appreciate you stopping by too!
I love honey mustard dressing with a kick of Jalapeño. This would be great on a warm sunny day! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Liz! We had a wonderful weekend two weeks ago but it’s been cold and rainy ever since. Hoping for sunny days soon.
Can I get a lunch part two? This looks so good with that perfectly charred chicken and with all the lovely healthy stuff! Thank you for sharing this at FF party! Have fun, Julie. Happy weekend!
Thank you, Jhuls! It is so yummy too. Thank you so much for hosting FF this week!
I love chopped salads. Easier to eat and more consistent flavor. I’ve never seen tortilla straws before, though. Just strips of flour tortilla that are baked? Fried?
Thank you, Lorinda! The trick to the straws are to use tortillas that haven’t been cooked or they will not puff up like that. I love them with their delicate little crunch. I’ve made tortillas from scratch https://hostessatheart.com/tortilla-recipe/ or there is one brand at my grocery store called tortillaland that are not cooked. I think spice them up and bake them.
Hey Julie, guess what I had yesterday at lunch! Yes, your salad. The dressing combination was new to me, but it was delicious! Loved it!
Woo hoo, Ana! Thank you for letting me know. It isn’t what you’d find in a bottle but I really enjoy it. John puts it on his fish tacos too.
Oh those ingredients Julie! Wow! Love all the spiciness that are going on in that salad. I can only imagine what all that crunch and textures and flavors would be like. Definitely something I’d like as the warmer weather creeps in. 🙂
Thank you, Loretta! I’m anxious for spring to truly get here! Lows 34° this week but was in the 70’s last week!
Oh Julie – this immediately caught my eye; the grilled chicken with veggies, lettuce and tortilla straws. Then I read the marinade and dressing – sounds absolutely delicious! My life is busy as I sold my home; closing in a few weeks and moving to a condo. This recipe will have to be made while I downsize and move 🙂
Thank you, Judi! I think of you often and you’ll have to fill me in on your moving details. Thank you so much for taking a bit of time out of your day and visiting with me!
I do love honey mustard dressing, I can eat it with just about anything. That kick of jalapeno to make it spicy is very cool. This salad looks delicious Julie, thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you so much, Jess! The weather is finally looking up and putting me in the salad mode. I can’t wait until some of this stuff is available locally. Enjoy your evening!
I’m with you, Julie! I’m all about tons of textures and flavors in my salad. This sounds completely divine and that dressing? Let’s just say I might have to make extra because I think I’ll be eating it with a spoon 🙂
Thank you Kelsie! I love salads that pretend they’re not salads LOL!