Santa Fe Salad Copycat Recipe
It's my third and final meal in the series of taco seasoned chicken recipes. Earlier this week, I shared a spicy Chicken Taco Soup and the simple (yet scrumptious) Southwestern Chicken Quesadilla. This meal is definitely the quickest to make, there's no cooking required after the chicken is prepared!
As I mentioned in my previous posts, I've been on the lookout for quick and simple weeknight recipes that don't scrimp on complex flavors! Once you prepare several pieces of taco seasoned chicken early in the week, these meals will be simple to make even after a tiring day of work.
I was inspired to make this salad after having a similar version at BJ's Brewhouse over the holidays. During our week back home, we went out to eat with my in-laws one night. Having had a lot of wonderful food at all the festivities, I decided to go with a salad for my meal. I choose the Santa Fe salad and it quickly became my new favorite salad! This version is slightly different, but the overall flavors are spot on. The dressing is a perfect replica, I found the recipe on a pub copycat recipe website.The restaurant version of the salad used blackened chicken, but I used taco seasoned chicken instead. It was a perfect complement to the other southwestern flavors within the salad.
Santa Fe Salad ingredients:
- 5 oz lettuce, chopped or torn into pieces
- 1 oz corn kernels
- 1 oz chopped red onion
- 2 oz diced tomatoes
- 1 oz cheddar cheese
- Tortilla strips
- Chicken strips
- Taco seasoning packet
- Southwest salad dressing
- 1 cup Ranch dressing
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp Tabasco sauce
- Mix together ingredients for Santa Fe dressing in a mason jar or other container
- Refrigerate dressing at least 30 mins
- Cube taco seasoned chicken and set to side
- Chop/tear lettuce and place on plate
- Toss lettuce with corn, chopped onions, diced tomatoes and cheddar cheese
- Add cubed chicken and tortilla strips
- Top with dressing
