This Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad with Dairy Free Southwestern Buttermilk Ranch Dressing is a healthy, delicious family dinner recipe AND a perfect recipe for meal prep!

As challenging as dinner can be, so, too, can work lunches.

I work from home, and my husband works downtown. While it’s easier in theory for me to eat healthy lunches working from home, I’m usually so strapped for time. I’m always working at lightning pace, trying to finish up as much work as possible before the kids get home. I often default to either eating a less satisfying “lunch snack” after they get home in the afternoon, or a less healthy grab-and-go lunch while I’m out running errands.

So in trying to be better about both meal planning for dinners AND meal prep for work lunches, I’ve started making this dairy free chicken salad that fulfills both!

Ingredients for this BBQ chicken salad

It starts with super easy sautéed chicken breast spiced simply with salt, pepper, and paprika.

You can use any head of lettuce you prefer – romaine, red leaf, green leaf, or butter lettuce.

Then the remaining ingredients are simple common ingredients:

• chopped red peppers
• corn
• edamame
• black beans.

When meal prepping, it’s always a good idea to keep cans of black beans in the pantry. Black beans can help you make quick, satisfying meals.

It’s also a good idea to keep frozen vegetables on hand. I always have frozen corn in my freezer since it’s not always in season. You can also easily find frozen edamame at your local grocery store.

How to make Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad

To make this Southwest BBQ Dairy Free Chicken Salad for dinner, simply assemble the ingredients – along with the dressing below – and serve immediately.

This is a great salad to make ahead of time and then bring to potlucks, picnics, and to parties.

You can keep the cooked chicken in a separate container so as not to wilt the other salad ingredients and make them soggy by serving time, then combine them together once you are ready to serve.

Easy Meal Prep Recipe

This salad is also absolutely PERFECT for meal planning. You can enjoy it for lunch or for dinner.

For lunches, I divide these into five separate containers without the dressing. Be sure to keep the dressing in a separate container so the veggies don’t get soggy during the week.

This southwest BBQ chicken salad will keep well in the refrigerator for up to five days. Simply grab one for lunch each day, or dinner, and eat!

How to make dairy-free southwest buttermilk ranch dressing

This quick and easy Dairy-Free Southwest Buttermilk Dressing goes so well with the salad.

To make this homemade dressing, you’ll need:

• mayonnaise
• dairy-free buttermilk (add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to 1/2 cup almond milk and let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes)
• paprika
• chopped cilantro
• lime juice.

Simply whisk together all of the ingredients and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use.

You can, of course, make this with regular store-bought or homemade buttermilk instead of my dairy-free version if you’d prefer.

I keep my homemade dressing in a water-tight, seal-proof salad shaker and it stays fresh for up to a week. You could also keep these in mason jars or any other airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to one week.

More healthy meal prep recipes

• Thai Coconut Lime Chicken
• Thai-Inspired Red Curry Pasta
• Sausage Tortellini Soup Recipe
• Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
• Dairy Free Chicken Salad with Southwest Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

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