This easy and delicious BBQ Chicken Salad is a full meal in itself. It's made with fresh ingredients and moist BBQ chicken breasts, and drizzled with more BBQ sauce and avocado ranch dressing.
Pound chicken to ½ inch thick throughout (this will prevent overcooking and will result in moist chicken). Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides - about ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper should be enough for all 4 chicken breasts.
If pan-searing, heat some olive oil on a large skillet. If grilling, heat up your grill and brush the grates with some oil. Cook chicken for 6 minutes per side. Brush both sides with some BBQ sauce (I used about ⅓ cup of BBQ sauce to brush all 4 chicken breasts). Cook 1-2 more minutes per side so that the BBQ sauce caramelizes, and until cooked through.
Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. Then, slice or chop the chicken, and brush with some more BBQ sauce, to taste. Set aside.
Make the avocado ranch dressing:
In a food processor, combine all the avocado ranch dressing ingredients. Process until evenly combined. Thin it out with water if needed.
Assemble the salad:
Arrange the lettuce, tomatoes, corn, tortilla strips, onions, avocado, prepared BBQ chicken, and cheese. Drizzle with the remaining BBQ sauce and the avocado ranch dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Special equipment: Food processor, grill or skillet, meat mallet.
Chicken: Pound the chicken to 1/2 inch thick evenly with a meat mallet. This will ensure that you don't need to overcook the chicken, 6-8 minutes per side will be enough.
Make-ahead: All ingredients can be prepped ahead and assembled the next days. The one exception is the sliced avocado - the avocado has the be sliced right before serving.
Disclaimer: Nutritional values (per serving) are approximates only.