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Shredded Chicken Mexican Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Todays recipe is a shredded chicken Mexican salad with a creamy cilantro dressing. I’ve been messing with this recipe for quite a while and finally feel satisfied with it. The dressing was hard to nail, but thanks to some inspiration from Pinch of Yum’s Creamy Cilantro Dressing Recipe, I’ve finally got a dressing recipe that I am happy with. One secret I found is using yogurt. This makes the dressing creamier and balances out the leafiness of the cilantro.
My original inspiration for this recipe came from a Grocery Store in Santa Barbara called Lazy Acres. They made a similar salad which I used to get when I lived there. It was so good that naturally, I felt compelled to create my own version.
When coming up with my own version, I decided to omit the tortilla chips. Tortilla chips are somewhat of a processed food and most are made with vegetable oils (which can be very damaging to your arteries and body, read more about vegetable oils here). Although there are healthier options for tortilla chips, I decided to leave them out. Feel free to add them back in if you’d like. I think the salad is delicious both ways.
When making my version of this salad I also decided to shred the chicken I really like the taste of the shredded chicken and find that it allows the spices to coat and season the chicken better. I’m also quite happy with my cooking method for the chicken. Cooking the breast bone in and with the skin on yields a nice juicy breast. I have also found the chicken to still be quite tasty and juicy if refrigerated and eaten the next day. Making this a great make ahead and/or on the go meal.
Overall this salad is both nutritious and delicious and makes for an excellent lunch to enjoy at home, school, work, or on a nature adventure. Anyways I hope this recipe brings you health and happiness.
With love from my kitchen to yours,
Kayley
Shredded Chicken Mexican Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing
AuthorKayley O'BrienPreheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Salt and pepper the chicken breasts and place them on a baking sheet, skin side up. Bake for about 35-45 minutes till done. Your chicken is done when you get an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit or you cut into a thick part of the breast and the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear. Once done let sit on the counter for 10 minutes let cool and reabsorb the juices.
Once cool, remove the bone and shred the chicken with a fork or two and your hands. Mix in the chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, and a dash more salt.
While the chicken is still cooking prepare the salads and dressing. For the salads divid the lettuce, pepper, corn and cotija cheese amongst 4 plates or Tupperwares.
For the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth.
Finally, assemble the salads. Divid the chicken into 4 servings and place one serving on each salad. Top with some chopped cilantro leaves and serve with 1/4 of the dressing and enjoy.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Salt and pepper the chicken breasts and place them on a baking sheet, skin side up. Bake for about 35-45 minutes till done. Your chicken is done when you get an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit or you cut into a thick part of the breast and the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear. Once done let sit on the counter for 10 minutes let cool and reabsorb the juices.
Once cool, remove the bone and shred the chicken with a fork or two and your hands. Mix in the chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, and a dash more salt.
While the chicken is still cooking prepare the salads and dressing. For the salads divid the lettuce, pepper, corn and cotija cheese amongst 4 plates or Tupperwares.
For the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth.
Finally, assemble the salads. Divid the chicken into 4 servings and place one serving on each salad. Top with some chopped cilantro leaves and serve with 1/4 of the dressing and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition:
| Ingredients | Cals | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Protein |
| 2 Chicken Breast (skin on bone in) (1.5 lbs raw bone in) | 1,179.4 | 64.2g | 0g | 0g | 143.5g |
| 8 cups lettuce (376g) | 64 | 1.1g | 12.4g | 8g | 4.8g |
| 1 bell pepper, diced (160g) | 11.1g | 0.3g | 10.6g | 2g | 1.4g |
| 1 corn on the cob, cut off cob (1 1/4 cup) (190g) | 137.5 | 2.5g | 30g | 4.1g | 4.8g |
| ⅓ cup cotija cheese (2 oz) | 180 | 14g | 0g | 0g | 12g |
| 1 ⅓ cup cilantro (21.3g) | 4.9 | 0.1g | 0.8g | 0.6g | 0.5g |
| ¼ cup Straus plain whole milk yogurt | 32.5 | 2g | 4g | 0g | 2.7g |
| 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 390 | 42g | 0g | 0g | 0g |
| Total (Serves 4) | 1, 999.4 | 126.4g | 57.8g | 14.7g | 169.7g |
| 1 Serving | 499.9 | 31.6g | 14.5g | 3.7g | 42.4g |
(1, 2, 3)
Notes:
*1 serving Net Carbs (Carbs – Fiber) = 14.5g – 3.7g = 10.8g
* Nutrition is based on the products I use. I provide a nutrition table so that you can quickly check to see if your food products match or so that you can easily calculate the nutrition for any changes you want to make to the recipe. I think this helps if you have very specific diet goals and/or fitness and/or health goals. I also wanted you to be able to see exactly where I get the numbers for my nutrition facts so that you can see that they are reliable and learn more about macro breakdowns of food.
Works Cited
1. Nutritionix. Gladson. https://www.nutritionix.com/ Accessed 21 January 2019.
2. “Nutrition Label of cotija.” Cacque, CA, 2019.
3. “Nutrition Label of yogurt.” Straus, Petaluma, CA, 2019.
About Kayley
Kayley is a certified gut health nutrition coach who helps people to overcome their chronic gut and digestive issues at the root using the principles of ancestral nutrition and holistic health. (Continue Reading Here)
