Make this hearty and satisfying southwest salad for an easy meal perfect for busy weeknights! Protein-packed beans, fresh veggies, and creamy ranch dressing come together fast.
The southwestern salad is my ultimate favorite salad of all time. Back when Mr. Crumbs and I didn’t have kids and spent way too much eating out at restaurants? I always ordered a version of southwest salad.
And if it was topped with a bit of buffalo ranch dressing?
Oh gosh. Stick a fork in me, I’m done.
A beautiful thing happened a couple of weeks ago.
I rummaged through the fridge, took out a bunch of random leftovers, and put together a meal. And not just an okay meal. It was a fill-you-up-without-feeling-stuffed, let’s-make-this-again-soon type of meal. And it was SO good!
I’ve done this before, like when I made Buffalo Chicken Potato Nachos out of bits and pieces in the fridge.
But this time, the delicious food that magically appeared in my fridge was a southwest salad.
EASY SOUTHWEST SALAD
Why does my heart love this southwest salad so much? Let me count the ways.
- Use up leftovers. It’s perfect when you have leftover food in the fridge, but not a lot of any particular thing.
- Versatile. You can add as much of any ingredient as you want, or as much as you have, and it’ll be healthy and delicious either way.
- Hearty ingredients. These ingredients aren’t fluff. They are serious food and even the ravenous bike commuter is stuffed.
- It’s packed with nutrition. Plenty of protein and healthy fats, plus salad is a great way to eat more veggies!
- Salads are a perfect opportunity to try a few new foods, mixed in with a few family favorites.
- It’s ready in less than 15 minutes – perfect for those busy nights full of sports practices during the week.
SOUTHWEST SALAD RECIPE INGREDIENTS
- Lettuce. Romaine lettuce is my go-to pick here, but iceberg or a mix of greens with spinach and baby kale works too.
- Garbanzo Beans (aka chickpeas). I cook dry beans from scratch, but you can use canned chickpeas – just make sure to drain and rinse them!
- Black Beans. Again, preferably from scratch, but drained and rinsed if canned.
- Corn. Use fresh corn, sweet corn, canned corn, or frozen corn kernels (thawed first).
- Tomato. Chopped into bite-sized pieces. Cherry tomatoes are easiest since you just need to cut them in half!
- Shredded Cheese. Sharp cheddar cheese is delicious in this southwest salad recipe or use pepper jack cheese for a bit of a kick.
- Avocado. Diced into bite-sized pieces.
- Fresh Cilantro. Separate ½ of a bunch from the stems and give it a rough chop.
- Ranch Dressing. My Homemade Ranch Dressing tastes great with this salad or try one of the other dressing southwest salad ideas below.
HOW TO MAKE SOUTHWESTERN SALAD
Step 1. Wash the lettuce. Tear or chop the lettuce into 1″-2″ pieces and place into a large bowl. (Cut smaller if you prefer a southwest chopped salad.)
Step 2. Add remaining salad ingredients.
Step 3. Drizzle Ranch Dressing over the salad and mix well.
Serve southwestern salad with No-Knead Artisan Bread and you’ve got a delicious frugal meal!
SOUTHWEST SALAD IDEAS
Remember that you don’t have to have exact measurements for this recipe – just use whatever you have and omit what you don’t. These recipe variations will get you started!
Add chicken breasts. If you just so happen to have leftover Salsa Chicken from taco night or from a Whole Roasted Chicken, feel free to toss a cup into the mix! If you need to make from fresh, use this Sheet Pan Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast recipe. (Skip the lemon and add fresh limes!)
Add extra veggies to your southwest salad recipe! Green or red peppers, Guacamole, diced red onions, or sliced black olives would all be yummy additions.
Serve with tortilla chips. Adding a bit of crushed tortilla chips or serving some on the side helps the non-salad fans join the salad loving side!
Dressing southwest salad is a fun way to give the same salad a completely new taste. Try one of these southwest salad dressing ideas:
- Use a Simple Lemon Vinaigrette
- Mix up Ranch Dressing and Buffalo Sauce for a spicy southwest salad.
- This Lime Avocado Dressing is amazing. Just whip it up in the blender or food processor. (Don’t skimp on the lime juice!)
- Or mix sour cream and salsa for an equally creamy and zesty sauce with a different flavor profile
- Use Dairy Free Ranch Dressing and omit the cheese for a dairy-free southwest salad
- Blue cheese dressing would be amazing, but I’d skip the cheddar if you go that route.
- Or you can try my ultimate favorite dressing combination for southwest salad – blue cheese and buffalo.
Oh. Yes. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!
RECIPE SOUTHWEST SALAD FAQS
What is the best restaurant southwestern salad?
This homemade version is going to be better than any restaurant version, which is going to be loaded with lots of sodium and preservatives. But you can use those for salad inspiration!
Chik-Fil-A southwest salad uses grape tomatoes and Monterey Jack cheese, with poblano and red bell peppers and tortilla strips. The southwest salad at Red Robin has fried jalapeños and a zesty salsa ranch dressing. And the southwest salad at Wendy’s has both chicken and bacon, with creamy smashed avocado.
If one of those is your favorite, recreate it at home!
What is the best recipe southwest salad with chicken?
You can add chicken to this southwest salad or try my Southwest Chicken Salad with a yummy cilantro lime dressing. It’s another tasty variation on the southwest salads I love so much!
MORE YUMMY SALAD RECIPES
I honestly believe that if there’s one food that can fit nearly every type of personality out there, it’s the salad. There are seriously about a million different types of salads out there, so if you find one you don’t like, just try another.
- Waldorf Dinner Salad
- Kale Caesar Salad
- Wedge Salad
- Panzanella Bread Salad
- Kale Salad with Blueberries, Walnuts, and Feta
- Buffalo Chicken Salad
WATCH HOW TO MAKE SOUTHWESTERN SALAD
Southwestern Salad
Make this hearty and satisfying southwest salad for an easy meal perfect for busy weeknights! Protein-packed beans, fresh veggies, and creamy ranch dressing come together fast.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salads
- Method: Bowl
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 head lettuce
- 1 cup garbanzo beans (preferably from scratch, but drained and rinsed if canned)
- 1 cup black beans (preferably from scratch, but drained and rinsed if canned)
- 1 cup corn (preferably fresh, but thawed if frozen)
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 4 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 avocado, diced
- ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup Homemade Ranch Dressing
Instructions
- Wash lettuce. Tear or chop the lettuce into 1″-2″ pieces and place into a large bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients.
- Drizzle Homemade Ranch Dressing over the salad and mix well.
Notes
- Add chicken breasts. If you just so happen to have leftover Salsa Chicken from taco night or from a Whole Roasted Chicken, feel free to toss a cup into the mix! If you need to make from fresh, use this Sheet Pan Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast recipe. (Skip the lemon and add fresh limes!)
- Add extra veggies to your southwest salad recipe! Green or red peppers, Guacamole, diced red onions, or sliced black olives would all be yummy additions.
- Serve with tortilla chips. Adding a bit of crushed Tortilla Chips or serving some on the side helps the non-salad fans join the salad loving side!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 806
What’s your ultimate favorite salad?
Hi Tiffany, the title of the recipe on the picture is southwest chicken salad, but I don’t see any chicken in the ingredients.
Hello Sudie!
There are two recipes and one contains chicken. You can use as much chicken as you’d like in this recipe. I hope this helps. 🙂
Hi! Just found your website! Love the aldis shopping list and your recipes. I was just wondering, can you tell me where the chicken comes in to the recipe? I’d love to make it as intended but don’t see mention of chicken in the ingredients list or instructions break down! Looking forward to your response!
There’s no chicken in this recipe as written Ashton. If you want to add some, you can! I usually add 1-2 cups shredded chicken to feed 4 people.
I haven’t tried many of your recipes as I am a vegetarian but I like “hearing” you, so I subscribed to your mailing list. You have many vegetarian recipes, I know, but I am intimidated by most dishes. I put this into this week’s menu. Last week was the first week we made a menu and stuck to it completely. Almost, depending on leftover situation. My husband carried lunch everyday. Which was probably a first in 8 years, when neither of our moms was here. They look askance at eating out often, understandably :-). Longer, really, because before we were married, he ate out almost all the time. And he worked, staying in company guest houses, before that. My husband was very happy that I mixed South Indian and North Indian dishes. I always try to but without a menu, it is not easy. Annnnyway, long story short, how can I make this spicy? As in, what will go with it? I plan to make my own ranch dressing because store-bought dressing is just ewwwww! Also, I have a mix of pinto and black beans frozen a while ago. Can I use the mix instead of just black beans? I’d appreciate your thoughts. And thank you for your posts! See you soon in my inbox! Oh and I just noticed your recipe rating request. I’ll leave a rating once eaten. Fingers crossed for sticking to the menu this week too! I realized that I don’t have to buy much in the way of groceries this week for the menu! Well, still need fruits and milk. I don’t make my own bread. Hope to start in a couple of months.
Congrats Sangeetha for sticking to your!! And just so you know, it’s completely fine to deviate if it means eating up leftovers. 🙂 To answer your questions, feel free to use whatever beans you have on hand. To make it spicy, I’d add the spices to either the beans (you can warm and season on the stove before adding to the salad since they’re already cooked), to the corn, or to just a portion of the ranch dressing since it’ll all get mixed in anyway. We made this yesterday and added wing sauce. Probably not the spices you’re talking about, but it tastes just as good with a bit of a kick!! Good luck on this week’s menu – you can do it!!
The family loves it! At the store today, there was mustard tasting. We found some with herbs. They also had olive oil tasting. Do you see where I am going with this? The cheapest mustard and the cheapest olive oil (of the lot) happened to be the tastiest. So, we used that mustard and olive oil as dressing. And a mild cheddar because mustard already lends sharpness. I have a feeling that we’ll like a cilantro-lime kind of dressing too! I used black beans and pinto beans, no garbanzo; no lettuce. It is hard to find organic lettuce here. I considered baby spinach but thought the recipe will work just right for the 3 of us. And it did. Phew, my husband called it a repeat-worthy dish and the 4-yr old declared it yummeeeee! 🙂
Oh and we did manage to stick to the menu. I am so proud of myself! Thank you for your repeated “make a menu” admonitions! I hope to stick to the menu system always. Well, more or less stuck to the menu because on Monday, a neighbour gave us a main dish. So, everything got shifted by a day. That is why I ended up making the salad only today. I am on an empty-the-freezer frenzy. We are going to move soon. I’ll look at some more of your vegetarian recipes. Do post more of those. Or for the meat-containing ones, if you can add a note about how to make it vegetarian (and tag it as a vegetarian recipe or a can-be-vegetarian recipe), I’d really appreciate it.
It’s a winner! healthy and delicious!
Thanks Shirley!
Looks delicious! The fact that it is affordable is even better!
Thanks Linda!