Barbecue Chicken Ranch Salad
We’re big fans of big salads, and this Barbecue Chicken Ranch Salad fits the bill. It’s super fresh but also indulgent. This salad combines two of our favorite sauces (barbecue and ranch) with chicken, corn, tomatoes, black beans, green onions, and crispy shallots to make a main-dish salad that even the biggest salad skeptics will love.
Ingredients for the Barbecue Chicken Ranch Salad
This main-dish salad is loaded with chicken, veggies, crispy shallots, barbecue sauce, and a killer ranch dressing. This salad has a few different, delicious components that you’ll need to make before putting it all together.
The Protein, Veggies & Extras
This barbecue chicken ranch salad is packed with a variety of vegetables, proteins, and extras (like 2 sauces!). To make the salad, you’ll need:
- Romaine lettuce – we like the crunchiness of romaine here because it holds up to the other heartier ingredients.
- Chicken thighs – chicken thighs are usually juicier and more flavorful in our opinions, but if you only eat chicken breasts, those would work too. You’ll just need to adjust the cooking times.
- Fire roasted corn – we use thawed frozen fire roasted corn, but if you can’t find that, regular corn will work fine too.
- Tomatoes – we prefer using Romas here because they’re not too juicy, but you can use whatever you like.
- Black beans – these add a nice creamy texture and more protein to this salad.
- Green onions – we like the subtle bite of green onions in this salad.
- Barbecue sauce – you can use your favorite store bought sauce or make your own (for store bought, we like Sweet Baby Ray’s in this salad).
The Dressing
This salad is brought together by the most delicious chipotle ranch dressing. It’s creamy, savory, herby, and has just the right amount of subtle heat and smokiness. Here’s what you’ll need for it:
- Sour cream – sour cream makes this dressing ultra creamy and delicious.
- Buttermilk – this is a buttermilk ranch dressing, so it definitely needs buttermilk. The buttermilk provides additional tang and helps thin out the dressing a bit.
- Mayonnaise – we like adding a little mayo to our creamy dressings because it adds savory flavor and creaminess.
- Chipotle powder – the smoky, subtle heat of chipotle pepper powder goes so well with the barbecue sauce and veggies and proteins. If you can’t stand spicy food, you can leave this out.
- Herbs & spices – we like to use a mixture of dried herbs here, including parsley, chives, and dill, as well as spices like onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Sugar – we don’t like sweet ranch dressings, but even savory versions benefit from just a little sugar for balance. If you like your ranch dressings on the sweeter side, you can add more.
- Lemon juice – even though we’re using buttermilk and sour cream, we like the citrus notes of fresh lemon juice in this dressing. It also helps to thin it out so that it’s more pourable.
Crispy Shallot Topping
If you’re like us and aren’t often in the mood to deep fry but still love crispy, crunchy things, you’ll love these easy crispy shallots that we make in a microwave. To make these, you’ll need:
- Shallots – to make this work well, you’ll need to slice the shallots thin and very evenly. It’s easiest to do this with a mandoline, but you can use a sharp knife (and patience) instead.
- Neutral oil – while we’re not deep frying, these shallots do also need oil that can be heated to higher temperatures, so it’s best to use something neutral here with a high smoke point.
- Salt – all fried (or microwave-fried) foods need salt, so be sure to season your shallots when they’re done.
To make this Barbecue Chicken Ranch Salad
The first thing you’ll want to do for this salad is bake the chicken (if you prefer your chicken cooked on the barbecue, you can do that too).
Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup. Place ½ cup barbecue sauce in a bowl (reserve the rest for later), and brush it onto both sides of the chicken thighs. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165°F. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest before dicing.
Add the shallots to a microwave safe bowl. Pour in enough oil to fully cover the shallots, then microwave them for 5 minutes. Stir the shallots around, then microwave them for another minute. Stir again, microwave another 30 seconds to a minute, stir, and so on until the shallots are golden brown (about 7-8 minutes total). The shallots are done when they’re golden in color but not too brown. Place the shallots on a paper towel lined plate and season with salt. They’ll continue to cook slightly after you remove them from the microwave, and they’ll crisp up as they cool.
Place the lettuce, veggies, beans, and chicken into a large salad bowl. Mix the ingredients together for the chipotle ranch dressing, then toss the salad with the reserved barbecue sauce and your desired amount of ranch dressing. Top the salad with the crispy shallots.
Barbecue Chicken Ranch Salad
Ingredients
Chipotle Buttermilk Ranch
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp dried dill
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ chipotle pepper powder, leave out if you don’t like spicy
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
Crispy Shallots
- 3 shallots, sliced thin and evenly
- ½ cup canola or other neutral oil, enough to cover shallots
- Salt, to taste
Salad
- 2 romaine lettuce heads, chopped
- 1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 cup barbecue sauce, divided
- 1 cup frozen fire roasted corn, thawed
- 1 cup diced Roma tomatoes
- 1 cup black beans, drained
- ½ cup diced green onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. For easier cleanup, line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Place ½ cup barbecue sauce in a bowl (reserve the rest for later), and brush it onto both sides of the chicken thighs.
- Bake the chicken for 30 minutes or until the internal temp is 165F. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest before cutting it into bite sized pieces.
- Add the shallots to a microwave safe bowl and cover them with oil. Microwave the shallots for 5 minutes, then stir them and microwave for another minute. Stir again, microwave another 30 seconds to a minute, stir, and so on until shallots are golden brown but not burnt (about 7-8 minutes total).
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the shallots and place them on a paper towel lined plate to cool and crisp. Season the shallots with salt.
- Mix the ranch ingredients together.
- Place the lettuce, diced cooked chicken, corn, tomatoes, black beans, and green onions in a large salad bowl.
- Toss the salad with your desired amount of ranch dressing and all of the reserved barbecue sauce.
- Top the salad with the crispy shallots and enjoy!
