Mexican Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with Honey Jalapeno Dressing

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.

Don’t have time to make it now? Pin it for later!

Mexican Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with Honey Jalapeño Dressing

Author: Hostess At Heart

Mexican Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with Honey-Jalapeno Dressing is a party of flavors and textures!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs

Course Salad

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword: Mexican Grilled Chicken Salad

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

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

Prep time includes non-active marinade time.

Nutrition

Serving: 4gCalories: 568kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 26gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 1029mgPotassium: 861mgFiber: 6gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 1384IUVitamin C: 56mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 2mg

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.

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

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

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