This delicious BBQ Chicken Salad with Ranch is easy, takes less than 15 minutes to make – the perfect for lunch or a light dinner.
BBQ Chicken Salad
Corn and tomatoes just couldn’t be sweeter in the summer months, but you can make this salad any time of the year. Combine some warm grilled chicken breast or air fried chicken breast, with corn tomatoes and lettuce. Drizzle it with light Ranch dressing and BBQ Sauce and you have the perfect mea for lunch or dinnerl! I usually to make this light ranch dressing from scratch but of course, to save time you can buy it bottled. More salad ideas, try this Blackened Chicken Salad or this Rosemary Chicken Salad with Avocado and Bacon.
Though we love comfort food in the colder months, after a winter of eating heavier meals when the weather’s warmer it feels good to have lighters salads. This hearty salad is loaded with protein and will keep your belly satisfied.
How To Make a BBQ Chicken Salad
Chicken Breast: Start with making grilled chicken breast. If you don’t have a grill, no worries you can grill pan and make this year round. You can also cook the the chicken breast in the air fryer.
Cook the corn: You can grill the corn directly on the grill until charred, or pop it in the microwave for 4 minutes. If you want to cook the corn on the stove, boil it for 5 minutes. And if you want to make this even faster, buy frozen charred corn and heat it up.
Ranch dressing: You can use my homemade light ranch dressing, or use a brand you love.
BBQ Sauce: If you don’t make your own homemade BBQ Sauce, opt for brands that are organic or without high fructose corn syrup.
Variations
No grill or grill pan? Follow this cook time for air fryer chicken breast.
To Meal Prep:
Double the recipe and place in four meal prep containers, with the dressing and BBQ sauce on the side. Refrigerate up to 4 days.
You can also turn this into a mason jar salad. To do so place the dressing on the bottom, then the chicken, BBQ sauce, followed by the corn, tomatoes and lettuce at the top. To serve, shake it all up and pour it out onto a plate.
More Warm Chicken Salad Recipes You’ll Love
- Grilled Romain and Chicken with Corn Salad
- Blackened Chicken Salad
- Grilled Chicken Salad with Strawberries and Spinach
- Houston’s Grilled Chicken Salad
- Rosemary Chicken Salad with Avocado and Bacon
BBQ Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 tsp reduced sodium Montreal Chicken Seasoning
- cooking spray
- 2 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
- 2 small tomatoes, diced
- 1 corn on the cobb with the husk
- 2 tbsp Light Ranch Dressing, homemade or store bought
- 1 tbsp BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Pound the thicker end of the breast so it's even on both sides for even cooking.
- Grill the chicken. Season the chicken with Montreal chicken seasoning (or any seasoned salt). Cook chicken on a pre-heated grill or grill pan sprayed with oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until the chicken is cooked through in the center. Check the internal temperature of the chicken using a cooking thermometer. The internal temp should be 165°F when done. Transfer to a cutting board and slice thin.
- Cook the corn. Place the corn in the microwave for 4 minutes (or you can peel and boil in water for 5 minutes). Peel the husk off the corn, then cut the corn off the cobb. If you prefer to grill the corn, peel it and grill directly on the grates alongside the chicken until charred all over.
- Prepare the salad. Divide the lettuce, tomatoes, corn and chicken on two plates, then drizzle with BBQ Sauce and dressing.
Montreal Chicken Seasoning is ah-mazing! We drizzle soy sauce on before the chicken seasoning and marinate. Then, after an hour (or overnight), we put more Chicken seasoning on the outside. Gives this dish an extra peppery/slightly hot/flavorful boost.
This was wonderfully simple and tasty! Adding it to the rotation! Meal peeping this would be awesome!
This was so good. I love how you make eating healthy so easy for me
Yum. Cannot wait to make this BBQ salad. I’m in a salad rut so this will be a welcome change !!
I can’t wait to start, but I cannot find the organized grocery list. Is it for the whole week of recipes ?
On the meal plan yes, for the whole week. Scroll down towards the end of the meal plan post.
Why cook the corn in the microwave? I always throw my corn ,with the husk on, on the grill and grill for about 10 – 15 minutes, turning the corn over every few minutes or so. By grilling the corn you get a truly flavorful corn.
Yummy! My husband loves it too!
This was a super easy salad. Loved everything about it! I’ve never cooked corn in the microwave, but I’ll be doing that from now on!
I love, love, love this salad
I made this exactly per the recipe and it’s amazing. It’s just so flavorful and filling. I used a honey habanero BBQ and loved it. I also used the dressing from the jarred cobb salad recipe so that I could double it and pack some lunches.
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I made three days of lunches and it was super easy! I made a few tweaks. I was able to pick up a bag of the Dole Southwestern mix at the grocery store and for $3 I made that my base of lettuce – which was PERFECT and so easy! I also added chopped cilantro, black beans and some cheddar cheese. SO FILLING and satisfying and I can’t wait to have it again!
Great!
Made this for lunc today and it was super easy. I used a different bbq sauce and OPA ranch dressing. So good:) mine came to 7 sp.
Can we use the raspberry grilling sauce as a marinade on the chicken before we grill it?? I’ve never used that before but it sounds delish!