I like making big batches of food whenever I get the chance. Since I mealprep on Sundays, that’s easy to do.
Meal prepping is all about cooking in big batches and divvying it up throughout the week. Casseroles, sheetpan meals, and skillet dinners are perfect for it.
Then, there’s meal prepping salads. You can’t really combine everything and expect it to keep for a week. Your lettuce is wilt up into soft balls of greens, and your avocado will turn into brown mush. If you keep everything separate and then just put it together when you want to eat it, it kind of defeats the purpose of meal prepping.
The solution: chicken salads. You know the one your mom or grandma used to make with mayonnaise, grapes and pecans…that type of chicken salad.
Well, this is one of those! You won’t find any grapes or celery (yuck) here, though. This is all about the best Southwestern ingredients you can find: black beans, roasted corn, bell peppers and jalapenos.
The chicken I used here is poached. It’s easy to do and makes the chicken tender and flavorful. Poaching chicken is the best way to cook it for things like chicken salads or enchiladas. Here’s my tips to poaching your chicken right:
- Season the chicken liberally. Sear in some hot oil on both sides and then add water.
- Make sure the water covers the chicken by at least 1/2″.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.
- Simmer, covered, for 8-10 minutes.
This salad is slathered in a bit of mayonnaise, but its base is mostly sour cream. It’s so wonderful to eat in tortillas, with tortilla chips, or even by itself.
Enjoy!
Southwestern Chicken Salad
A zesty chicken salad with Southwestern flair perfect for dipping or piling into tortillas.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and shredded
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 (15oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (10 oz.) can roasted corn, drained
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 TBS. cumin
- 8 mini bell peppers, diced (or 2 large bell peppers, diced)
Directions
- In a large bowl, stir together chicken, jalapeno, onions, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and bell peppers.
- In another bowl, stir together sour cream, mayonnaise, cumin, salt and pepper.
- Add to chicken bowl and stir until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips, tortillas, or by itself.
