This filling Mexican Avocado Chicken Salad has all the essentials of a really great salad – it’s jam packed with fresh, vibrant flavours, big, creamy chunks of avocado and irresistible Mexican grilled chicken.
It’s like a giant salad version of Mexican Avocado Salsa – with the addition of chicken to complete the meal! To fill it out even more, try it with a side of Easy No Yeast Flatbreads, a southwest Cowboy Rice Salad or try some of these amazing easy No Knead Bread Rolls.
Avocado Chicken Salad – with Mexican flavours!
I’ve had a Giant Salad* almost everyday for the past month or so. Hopefully it’s more than just a phase and it becomes just a natural part of my lifestyle – that I crave a salad instead of pasta. Or cupcakes piled high with the fluffiest ever buttercream frosting. Or fall apart lamb shanks. Or cheese or potatoes in any shape or form.
OK. So that vision I painted of a holier-than-thou, new clean eating me is completely unrealistic. You know it, my mother knows it, and everyone who knows me knows it!
Having said that, this is Avocado Chicken Salad is something that even non-salad-craving people like myself will love because it’s big, filling, interesting and packed full of flavour.
* The official definition of Giant Salad: flavour packed salads that are satisfying enough to have as a meal. No wimpy salads in my world!!
Loaded with all things Mexican
I call this Avocado Chicken Salad a Mexican Salad because it’s loaded with all things Mexican:
Mexican marinated grilled chicken;
Avocado Tomato Corn Salsa; and
Fresh lime coriander/cilantro dressing
All piled up over crisp lettuce leaves.
So just to be clear, it’s not a traditional Mexican salad. It’s a big, fat, satisfying salad that’s packed with fresh Mexican flavours!
Triple duty dressing and marinade
This Avocado Chicken Salad recipe uses a neat trick where the lime coriander/cilantro dressing does triple duty as:
the dressing for the salad;
dressing for the salsa; and
marinade for the chicken.
This technique of a dressing doing double or triple duty is a highly effective technique I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember. I’m such a fan of it that it was the first theme I asked to do when I used to do regular features in Super Food Ideas magazine!
With all the things going on in this Avocado Chicken Salad, it’s a satisfying salad for dinner or lunch. Lots of nutrition, protein from the chicken, creaminess from the avocado, great textures, and a fresh dressing that’s anything but dull.
If you want to add some carbs, try this with a side of Easy Homemade Flatbreads, add some lime rice (use this Lemon Rice recipe, just switch the lemon with lime), Cowboy Rice Salad, or make some of these easy No Knead Soft Bread Rolls.
Pack this up for lunch simply by assembling the salad and keeping the dressing separate. Make all your co workers jealous! – Nagi xx
Watch how to make it
Mexican Avocado Chicken Salad recipe video!
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Mexican Avocado Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Lime Dressing / Marinade:
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil (65ml)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ tsp salt + black pepper
Chicken:
- 2 small chicken breasts, 400g/14oz (pound or split if thicker than 2cm / 4/5”)
- 1/2 tsp EACH chipotle powder (Note 1) and oregano
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- Salt & pepper
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Avocado Salsa:
- 1 avocado, chunky dice (watch video to see how I do this)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¾ cup corn kernels (canned, drained)
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
Salad:
- 1/4 cup coriander / cilantro, finely chopped
- 5 heaped cups cos / romaine lettuce, cut into bite size pieces
Instructions
- Place Lime Dressing ingredients in a jar, shake well.
- Put 2 tablespoons of Dressing in a ziplock bag. Add chipotle, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper, mix/squidge bag. Add chicken, seal and massage to coat. Marinate 30 min – overnight.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium low, cook chicken to taste (2cm / 4/5” takes around 8 minutes), getting a nice brown crust on it. Rest 5 min then slice.
- Add 2 tablespoons of coriander into Dressing, shake.
- Place avocado, corn, tomato and onion in a bowl. Add remaining coriander, drizzle with a bit of Dressing, toss gently.
- Place lettuce in a bowl, drizzle with a bit of Dressing, toss.
- Assemble Salad: Place lettuce on a serving platter. Top with Salsa and sliced chicken. Drizzle with remaining Dressing. Serve.
Recipe Notes:
First published May 2017, post refreshed May 2018 – no changes to recipe.
Nutrition Information:
MORE CHICKEN SALADS YOU’LL LOVE
More giant Salads for Meals
Life of Dozer
When Dozer gets booted out of the house….. (and the reason the window isn’t closed is because he’d beat the glass with this heavy paws)
This looks amazing! But I’m allergic to tomatoes and my dad’s allergic to onion, does anyone have suggestions of how I can make this salad taste great without those two ingredients!
Hi Sherrise, just leave the tomatoes out – and sub the onions with shallots/scallions if you can 🙂
After heavily indulging over Christmas, my partner and I were in desperate need of more salad meals. Your recipes are fool-proof, and this one was no exception. So delicious and the chicken was juicy – perfectly cooked as per your instructions. I did worry that the dressing had too much olive oil but once the once thing came together, it was perfect! Thank you Nagi, I can always trust your recipes!
I’m so glad you loved it Rachel!
The best salad. Summer or winter. Make extra dressing! It’s yummy.
Cannot tell you how many times we’ve made this and enjoyed it every time. Fail safe, delicious and you don’t feel guilty for eating it. Thanks for another great recipe.
I’m so glad you love it Wynne!!
I’ve made this one several times and it’s a staple on my menu and on high rotation along with the Hawaiian chicken salad (also awesome) I could eat salad every night for dinner when it tastes this great
I’m so glad you love them Georgie! – N x
This is one of the best salads I’ve ever had! I added black beans to it just to add a little extra extra 😉 but it is so refreshing and has a lot of great flavors
Trying this tonight!! Can’t wait
Love to know what you think!
Looks healthy
And it’s soooooo delicious!
I can’t wait to try this salad, like tomorrow. Thank you for the recipe.
I hope you love it Diane!
I have made this recipe several times now and my entire family loves it.
I am making it for dinner tonight as I write. The only difference tonight is, I made a creamy avocado dressing to top it.
Where can I find the pan you used to cook the Mexican avocado chicken salad in , because I would love to get one for myself ? The salad looks so good that I just can’t wait to try it. And thanks again for sharing the pictures of Dozer.
Hi Angie, It’s a Chasseur square gill pan – I highly recommend them! – N x
This salad looks delicious! I will be making it very soon, like tonight! All your recipes are awesome! Thank you for sharing. I love seeing pictures of Dozer. I have a golden retriever, named Harvey! A great companion!
I hope you love it Judith, Dozer says a big “hello” to Harvey ☺️
I’m making this tonight for the upteenth time. I thought I’d let you know I have great success quadrupling this recipe to feed a group lunch. It’s a big hit in my church office where I work, and I’ve made it several times for my pastors, coworkers, family. Everyone loves it and it’s so easy and flavorful. I think it’s safe to say at this point, this will be a dish we make for many years to come. Thanks for a fantastic recipe! It’s brought a lot of people joy around here. 🙂
I really liked this recipe, the dressing really seals the deal on this one. As others have suggested, I doubled the dressing with great results. Thank you for this recipe Nagi.
Glad you enjoyed this Fritzwilliam!! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x
Do you have any recipes using Kecap Manis?
This salad is our FAVORITE!! We started making it last summer and it is a now a staple. We have it at least once a week in the warmer months. The only thing we have added is black beans and we make extra dressing.. LOVE IT!!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed this Tawna! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback! N x ❤️
Made this today and it was fantastic – perfect for summer! Didn’t have any honey so had to use agarve syrup and my advocados weren’t properly ripe but apart from that it was tremendous! For the chipotle powder I ground some chipotle flakes with a wee bit of salt(the flakes aren’t dry enough to grind otherwise) and the smell was incredible. The smoky mild heat of the chipotle with the zing of lime and then the sweetness from the syrup really made a fab dressing and marinade. I marinaded the chicken overnight and 4 minutes each side on medium high was perfect – it came out charred but juicy.
To the previous poster who said it was a little more work than they wanted to do – I used tinned sweetcorn & frozen chopped coriander(which I highly recommend if you can get it). This saves a lot of time and the whole salad can be prepped & dished twice over in the time the chicken is cooked.
Excellent salad Nagi – I can move onto another of your recipes now! 🙂
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed this Jason, thanks for letting me know! N x
This recipe is what I was looking for or at least the end product. It is a little more word than I am willing to do but I am going to save it for the future. Besides I don’t have any chipotle seasoning, yet.
Hi Chris! Glad you thought it was worth the effort! 🙂 N xx
Since we had salad for lunch I decided to make everything leaving out the lettuce. I just poured the remaining dressing over the sliced chicken in the end. This chicken was one of the best chicken marinades/recipes I have had! So we had Chicken and the avocado salad with a side of green beans! WONDERFUL! Nagi, I can’t say enough about your recipes! ❤️
I’m so pleased to hear that Diane!! Thank you so much for letting me know! N xx
I love this recipe, I’ve made it several times now, love the dressing and marinade. Great recipe, thanks so much!
🙌🏻 Love hearing that Crissy! N xx