The classic flavor combo makes an incredible healthy meal in this Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad!
A variety of veggies, simply seasoned chicken, crispy bacon, and a homemade Greek yogurt ranch dressing creates a meal-worthy salad that's bursting with nutrients.
My favorite things about this Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
I'm a sucker for a big, ultra-satiating salad that's full of veggies (and nutrients). While that's enough of a reason to love a salad, here's some of the reasons I know you're going to fall head over heels for this chicken bacon ranch salad!
Easy to prep
Chopping vegetables is the most work you're going to do for this salad (especially if you go the rotisserie chicken route).
Plus, you can even chop the veggies in advance. How's that for convenient?
Full of veggies and nutrients
I've made a point to include several different (but easy-to-find) vegetables in this recipe to add flavor variety and a big plethora of nutrients, too.
Maybe I'm just on a nutrient kick after reading Nutrivore by Sarah Ballantyne - but hey, you can't beat a salad that has so much variety AND tastes fantastic.
Easy to adjust
Want to add in a different veggie? Easy - add up to ½ cup to 1 cup. Swap it out for the cucumber or tomatoes if you'd like.
If you're using a different lettuce, just know that the overall texture is going to change. I like using romaine because it's crunchy but light, letting the chicken, bacon, and ranch become the forefront.
But if all you've got on hand are spring greens, spinach, or iceberg lettuce, you can totally swap them in.
Ingredients needed for a CBR Salad
- Chicken Breast: Feel free to use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken! The recipe below includes instructions for making simply-seasoned skillet chicken breast, too.
- Romaine Lettuce: Romaine is definitely my top choice as a base for this salad; it's neutral, crunchy, and light. If you'd like to swap it out, you can use iceberg lettuce or even spinach, but note that it'll change the overall flavor/texture of the salad.
- Bacon: For recipes like this, I always opt for thick-cut bacon to maximize the flavor you get with every bite.
- Tomatoes & Cucumbers: Adding more veggies gives this salad new flavors, different textures, and more nutrients. The variety takes this salad from good to great!
- Avocado: A great addition just to add some creamy texture to the salad! That said, if you're going to omit anything, I'd put avocado on the chopping block first.
- Ranch: Just like the chicken, you can use a storebought, ready-to-use favorite or use the included recipe for a Greek yogurt-based homemade ranch.
How to make a huge, satiating salad
Salads get a bad rap for being boring, tasteless "health food." While this salad is definitely healthy, it's ALSO big, flavorful, and satiating!
Here's a few tips for making any salad worthy of a meal:
- Think beyond the lettuce: Boring, sad salads are synonymous with a pile of lettuce. To make a salad that you actually WANT to eat, flip that on its head!
Lettuce doesn't have to be the star of the show - in fact, you don't even NEED lettuce to make a good salad. Add other veggies, mix-ins, and protein to provide varying flavor and texture.
- Variety matters! Again, steer away from a pile of lettuce with some dressing and make salad into a meal. That means variety!
Adding different veggies, fruits, and other mix-ins make salads drool-worthy. In the case of this Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad recipe, the tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, and bacon all work to add variety to each and every bite.
Tips and ways to customize this recipe
Yes, even salad recipes have tips for making an awesome salad! Here are a few:
Salad-making tips
- Prep everything up before you start to assemble the salad, including chopping the veggies and cooking/chopping the chicken and bacon.
- Don't be afraid to add salt and/or pepper to a salad! If you read lots of cookbooks, you'll notice that most chefs add salt and pepper to the lettuce, toss, and then add all other ingredients. Just ½ teaspoon of coarse salt and enhance the flavor of your salad.
- Use a large enough bowl to dress the salad. Ideally, you'll toss the salad to combine all the ingredients and coat everything in dressing before you dig in. While we all love the photos of ingredients resting on a bed of lettuce (like the ones in this post!), your salad will taste better once everything's combined!
How to customize this chicken bacon ranch salad
I've already mentioned a couple customizations above in the ingredients section, but they bear repeating here:
- Use rotisserie chicken, leftover roasted chicken, or Dutch Oven shredded chicken to speed up prep.
- Don't have romaine on hand? Feel free to use a different type of lettuce! I like romaine because of the crunch and it holds up well, but you can use iceberg lettuce, spring greens, or even spinach if that's your jam.
- Change up the veggies OR add something in.
Confession: when I photographed this recipe, I had some radicchio on hand to use up, so I chopped that up and added it to the salad. No shame in that!
If you don't have tomatoes, cucumber, or avocado on hand or just don't care to use them, feel free to swap 'em out for something you DO like or omit them entirely.
Some ideas of veggies you can add:
- Sliced red onion (run under cold water or soak in vinegar for 5-10 minutes to reduce the bite)
- Radicchio
- Red or green cabbage, thinly sliced
- Finely chopped spinach or kale (not to replace the romaine, but just as an added greenery boost!
- Sliced radish
More incredible salad recipes to try
Salads galore! Try one of these other salad recipes from Chelsea Joy Eats or save it for later:
- Roasted Grape Salad with Delicata Squash
- Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad with Quinoa
- Wild Rice Salad with Chicken & Kale
- BLT Breakfast Bowls (Low Carb)
📖 Recipe
Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
The classic flavor combo makes a perfect Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad!
Follow the recipe for simply-seasoned chicken or use leftover/pre-cooked chicken. Likewise, you can make the protein-packed Greek yogurt ranch dressing or use a prepared favorite!
Ingredients
For the Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing:
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (I like Wallaby 1% Greek yogurt)
- ¼ cup milk, non-dairy milk, or water
- 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried chives
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon finely cracked pepper
- 1-3 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice OR vinegar, to taste
For the Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad:
- 4 slices bacon (preferably thick-cut)
- 1 tablespoon reserved bacon grease
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (2-3 breasts) OR 3 cups rotisserie chicken
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 cups packed chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 ½ cups chopped cucumber
- ½ cup chopped red onion
- 1 large avocado, diced
- ⅓-½ cup ranch dressing (depending on preference)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing: Combine Greek yogurt, milk or water, dill, parsley, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, cracked pepper, and lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until completely incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Cook the bacon and chicken: Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove to a plate. Discard all but one tablespoon of bacon grease. Wipe out the skillet and return to heat with reserved bacon grease.
- Combine garlic, dill and parsley in a bowl. Place chicken on a cutting board and use a meat mallet to pound to even thickness (this is important so the chicken cooks evenly). Sprinkle spice mixture on both sides of the chicken breast. Cook in the skillet, using olive oil if you don't have enough bacon grease, for 6 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate to cool while you assemble the salad.
- Assemble the salad: In two large bowls, divide chopped romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and avocado. Crumble 2 strips bacon into each bowl. Slice or chop chicken and divide between bowls. Drizzle with ranch and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss salad and eat immediately.
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