Loaded Southwest Chicken Salad: with Homemade French Fries

This loaded southwest chicken salad with homemade french fries is simple to whip up and will quickly become a family favorite! Learn how to make your own chipotle ranch to keep this meal healthy with 100% clean ingredients.

Have you ever tried french fries on a salad? It is kind of like croutons but only better! This southwest chicken salad recipe is hearty, healthy, and so delicious!

Southwest chicken salad is loaded with flavor and topped with homemade easy chipotle ranch dressing. Depending on your preference, you can adjust the spice to make this kid-approved. This southwest chicken salad makes for an easy dinner recipe that can be made on any night of the week — topped with homemade french fries for an added crunch and to make this salad more filling.

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WHAT IS IN A SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD?

It will still have that spicy, full-of-flavor chicken and dressing, but this salad will be topped with french fries. On most southwest chicken salads, you will find corn, black beans, chicken, salsa, chipotle dressing, and avocados. This southwest chicken salad is a little different.

A blend of greens with spinach and arugula can be used, too, if you prefer. You will also need fresh french fries, chipotle chicken, sharp cheddar cheese, avocado, and homemade dressing. We prefer crunchier lettuce, like romaine, for this salad.

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN TENDERS

• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add in avocado oil.
• While the skillet is heating, cut the chicken tenders into one-inch strips.
• Mix the chipotle spices in a large bowl. Add the chicken to the spices and toss to coat.
• Place the chicken in the cast iron skillet and cook until done, stirring often — about 10 minutes.

When making your chicken (full recipe below), you can leave out or use less of the chipotle spices if you prefer your chicken milder.

EASY CHIPOTLE RANCH DRESSING

• Place greek yogurt and homemade mayonnaise in a bowl.
• Mix in chipotle spices, fresh cilantro, and the juice of one key lime.
• Stir until everything is well combined.

If you don’t love the taste of fresh cilantro, you can omit this, but we highly recommend it! Use this healthy homemade ranch dressing or honey mustard dressing if you want a milder dressing.

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HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE MAYO

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup avocado oil
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vinegar (or lemon juice)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add all the ingredients into a wide-mouth mason jar.
2. Blend with an immersion blender. Start at the bottom, and as the liquid starts to turn creamy and white, slowly begin to work the blender upward towards the top. This takes about 3 minutes total.

It is delicious, but so much cheaper to make your own! You can use regular mayo from the store if you don’t have time to make your own. We have found an avocado mayonnaise from primal kitchen that is whole 30 and paleo-approved.

HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY FRENCH FRIES

Heating the oil over the smoke point temperature removes nutrients and can become dangerous to consume. The key to healthy french fries is the oil you use to fry them in. Oils like canola, soybean oil, and olive oil have low smoke points. This means the temperature at which an oil starts to burn and smoke is low and shouldn’t be used for frying, sauteeing, cooking, or baking.

Oils that have high smoke points are avocado oil and coconut oil. Using these oils for frying can actually make fried food healthy!

Most french fries are breaded and contain spices that may contain gluten, MSG, and sugars.

We have a fry daddy in our home and use it to make french fries. Homemade french fries are so delicious! And we love that it is just potatoes, a healthy fat, and pink Himalayan salt.

If you don’t have a fryer, you can still make delicious fries in the oven.

• Heat fryer or preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cut a potato into small “fry-shaped” strips.
• If using a fryer, place the fries into the oil and cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
• If using an oven, toss the fries in oil of choice, place on a cooking sheet in a single layer, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until golden brown.

IS SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD HEALTHY?

Well, yes and no! Sometimes eating a salad can be less healthy than eating a burger and fries when you go out to dinner. Just because it is a salad doesn’t mean it is healthy.

Unfortunately, it is also high up on the list of worst foods to consume. Because of this, added sugars, and genetically modified foods, most salads aren’t very healthy at all. Soybean oil is likely the first ingredient in any dressing that isn’t homemade.

This southwest salad is made with all healthy ingredients and makes for an easy meal.

HOW TO KEEP SALAD FRESH?

We love to make large amounts of food at a time, so we don’t have to spend as much time in the kitchen throughout the week. Some foods like salad are hard to make ahead of time because lettuce can wilt quickly.

We made this salad and enjoyed it days later, and it was still fresh. Simply put, the salad together, leaving out the avocado and dressing. Add those two right before eating to keep the salad from getting soggy. If you are a meal prepper or want to make this for packed lunches, we have some tips for you!

Want more dinner inspirations? Try this Sausage Potato Skillet.

5 from 6 votes

Loaded Southwest Chicken Salad with Homemade French Fries

By the studio Ascher Prep: 15 minutes minsCook: 10 minutes minsAdditional Time: 5 minutes minsTotal: 30 minutes mins Servings: 4 SaveSaved Pin Print This loaded southwest chicken salad with homemade french fries is simple to whip up and will quickly become a family favorite! Learn how to make your own chipotle ranch to keep this meal healthy with 100% clean ingredients.

Equipment

• salad bowl
• cast iron skillet

Ingredients

CHIPOTLE RANCH DRESSING

• ½ cup greek yogurt
• ½ cup homemade mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 key lime, juiced
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken tenders
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil for cooking

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD

• 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 cup homemade fries
• Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

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Instructions

CHIPOTLE RANCH DRESSING

• Add all the ingredients to a small mixing bowl.
• Mix until everything is well combined.
• Set aside.

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN

• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add in 1 tablespoon of avocado oil.
• While the skillet is heating, cut the chicken tenders into one-inch strips.
• Mix the chipotle spices in a large bowl. Add the chicken to the spices and toss to coat.
• Place the chicken in the cast iron skillet and cook until done, stirring often. About 10 minutes.

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD

• Place lettuce on a plate
• Top with southwest chicken, avocado slices, and french fries.
• Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with homemade southwest dressing.
• Garnish with fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice.

Notes

We've included the complete step-by-step video tutorial above in the post!

Nutrition

Calories: 290kcal, Carbohydrates: 12g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 65mg, Sodium: 1200mg, Potassium: 616mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 4827IU, Vitamin C: 12mg, Calcium: 71mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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