BBQ Chicken Salad with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch
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BBQ Chicken Salad with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch – fresh corn, black beans, tomatoes, cheese, avocado, BBQ chicken, & homemade ranch. It’s the perfect healthy but filling meal!
The best part? It’s made with my Homemade Oven Baked BBQ Chicken – which is sweet, savory, and smoky. This salad is perfect to make with any leftover BBQ chicken. (To simplify, you can also add BBQ sauce to a shredded rotisserie chicken!)
If there’s one thing we love around here, it’s a hearty salad that feels like a full meal—and this BBQ Chicken Salad is just that. Packed with tons of sweet and smoky BBQ chicken, crisp corn off the cob, bright tomatoes, creamy avocado and cheese, crispy tortilla strips, and a creamy homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, this is the kind of salad that satisfies everyone around the table (even the non-salad people 😉).
This BBQ Chicken Salad is one of those dishes that checks all the boxes:
- ✓ Hearty from the BBQ chicken smothered in sweet homemade BBQ sauce
- ✓ Fresh with juicy tomatoes, red onions, and sweet corn off the cob
- ✓ Creamy + Crunchy thanks to ripe avocado, shredded cheese, and crispy tortilla strips
- ✓ Tied Together with the dreamiest homemade buttermilk ranch
Whether you’re serving it up on a weeknight or making it for a summer dinner party, it’s easy to prep ahead and totally customizable.
BBQ Chicken Salad with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch
Ingredients
BBQ Chicken (see my Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Recipe here)
- plus extra bbq sauce to coat chicken
Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 2 tablespoons dried chives
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (Lawry's)
- 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Salad Ingredients
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 1 head green leaf lettuce
- 3-4 ears, corn on the cob (cooked lightly, chilled, and cut off the cob)
- 10-16 ounces grape tomatoes, diced
- 1-2 avocados, diced
- 1/2-1 red onion, diced
- 1-2 cups Monterey jack cheese, grated
- 1 can black beans (strained but not rinsed)
- 1 package tortilla strips (3.5 oz) (or you can just used crushed up tortilla chips)
- 2-3 limes, to squeeze fresh lime juice onto salad before serving
Instructions
BBQ Chicken
- If you're using leftover BBQ Chicken, slice it up cold and set aside. Leftovers make it really easy to throw this salad together.
- If you're making the BBQ chicken the day of making this salad, make the chicken first (and preferably earlier in the day if you have time). If you make it up early then you can have it easily sliced and ready to go when it's time to build the salad.After you slice the chicken, toss it in extra bbq sauce.
- Once you have the BBQ chicken sliced and ready to go, you can begin prepping the rest of the salad.
Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
- Once the chicken is ready, you'll want to start on the dressing because it tastes best chilled. You can even make a day before.
- To make, simply blend all the ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor until smooth.
- Pour into an airtight container (I like to use a glass jar with a lid), and keep in the fridge until chilled.Tastes best when chilled for at least 1 hour.
- We LOVE this dressing and it tastes great stored for up to a week in the fridge, in an airtight container.
Assembling the Salad
- Start by washing and chopping your greens.
- Once cleaned, dried, and chopped, place in a large salad bowl. I like to mix the greens together.
- Next, add the chopped corn off the cob, the strained black beans, the chopped tomatoes, cheese, red onion, and tortilla strips. You can add the avocado last if you'd like to keep the avocados from getting mushy while you toss the salad.
- Generously drench the salad in the Homemade Buttermilk ranch, and toss to combine! (Then add the avocado if you haven't already.)Squeeze fresh lime juice on top before serving.
- Because there are so many sticky components of this salad, it can be a bit messy when tossing it, so if you're serving it to guests for dinner, you could make up small bowls or plates of this salad for everyone and let them toss their own. Or you could just lay out all the ingredients and they can build their own.Just don't forget the delicious homemade ranch! It's always a hit. Enjoy!
Why You’ll Love this BBQ Chicken Salad with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch
This salad is loaded but still light. The BBQ chicken gives a smoky, sweet kick, while the crisp corn and juicy tomatoes make it feel summery and fresh. That homemade ranch pulls everything together—and honestly, it’s way better than anything from a bottle.
You can prep all the components ahead of time and just toss everything together when it’s time to eat. Add a side of watermelon, and you’ve got the perfect warm-weather dinner. Be sure to tag me
@plumstreetcollective if you make this BBQ Chicken Salad!
