Inspired by a BLT sandwich, this BLT Salad with Chicken is an easy and hearty salad that is perfect as a meal prep. Made with simple ingredients, this refreshing take on a classic is loaded with all your favourite flavours of a BLT.
Turn your BLT into a healthy and easy meal prep with this BLT chicken salad recipe! There’s no such thing as a boring salad in this household and this BLT salad is no exception. It’s full of flavour and comes together so quickly and easily!
Why You’ll Love This BLT Chopped Salad
- It’s a simple but filling salad that can be thrown together quickly. You can even purchase pre-cooked chicken to add to the salad to save on time.
- You don’t really need to follow any measurements for this BLT salad. You can just toss as much or as little of each ingredient into your bowl as you’d like! Want more lettuce? Add more. Want less chicken? Use less!
- It’s light and refreshing. I can eat this with out without dressing thanks to the creamy avocado but I also have a homemade honey mustard sauce that really brightens up the salad.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- romaine lettuce — here’s how to cut romaine lettuce for a salad.
- red onions — if you find the taste of red onions on their own to be too sharp, give them a quick soak in cold water.
- grilled chicken thighs — For this specific salad, I seasoned the chicken with 1 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and 2 tsp of brown sugar before searing them on a grill pan for 6 minutes per side. You can use chicken breasts as well. Alternatively, you can use baked chicken thighs or air fryer chicken thighs.
- tomatoes — I used cherry tomatoes for the salad but feel free to use grape tomatoes as well.
- corn — you can grill your corn, make corn in the instant pot, use frozen corn, or use canned corn.
- bacon — there are so many ways you can make your bacon. Pan fry the bacon, bake the bacon (my favourite mess-free method!), or air fry bacon. You can even buy pre-cooked bacon to save time.
- avocado — I usually serve half an avocado per salad but feel free to use more or less.
- honey mustard dressing — you can buy your own dressing or use whatever you have in your fridge but my go-to is this honey mustard dressing where I mix equal parts mayonnaise with honey and Dijon mustard.
How to Make a BLT Salad
- To bake the bacon: Heat oven to 400F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, then place the bacon strips side by side. Bake the bacon for 18-20 minutes or until it’s reached your desired level of crispiness. Transfer the bacon with tongs to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb extra oil. Roughly chop into small pieces.
- To cook the chicken: season it as you wish and grill the chicken thighs for 6 to 8 minutes on one side with the grill covered. Flip and grill for another 6 to 8 minutes. Let rest for a couple of minutes before dicing. Cook time will vary a bit depending on the size of your chicken thighs so use an instant-read meat thermometer to check for doneness. See my post on how to grill chicken thighs for more detailed instructions.
- Toss the romaine lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, corn, bacon, and diced chicken breasts together.
- Top with sliced avocado.
- Serve with dressing on the side or drizzled on top.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- In my opinion, the more avocado the better lol. You can skip the dressing with enough creamy avocado!
- Some more salad dressings I like are my Tangy Orange Citrus Dressing, Hummus Salad Dressing, or my Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing. You can also go with store-bought if you’d like.
- Try to cut everything into bite-sized pieces so you’re able to get a bite of everything with every forkful.
Make Ahead Tips
- Meal prep: store the salads in an airtight container. Do not cut the avocado or top with dressing until ready to enjoy. The avocados will brown over time and the dressing with make the salad soggy so hold off on those! Prepped salad will last for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: You can freeze the cooked chicken and cooked bacon. Allow the chicken and bacon to cool before transferring it into an airtight container before storing them in the freezer.
More Salads To Try
Need more healthy recipe inspo? Try these hearty salads!
- Chopped Chicken Salad
- Chicken Cobb Salad (Meal Prep)
- Chopped Salad with Shrimp
- Honey Chipotle Chicken Salad
- Grilled Chicken Salad with Blueberries
- Spinach Strawberry Salad
BLT Salad with Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon
- 8-10 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 4-6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1-2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup corn
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 2 avocados
Instructions
- To bake the bacon: Heat oven to 400F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, then place the bacon strips side by side. Bake the bacon for 18-20 minutes or until it’s reached your desired level of crispiness. Transfer the bacon with tongs to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb extra oil. Roughly chop into small pieces.
- To cook the chicken: season it as you wish and grill the chicken thighs for 6 to 8 minutes on one side with the grill covered. Flip and grill for another 6 to 8 minutes. Let rest for a couple of minutes before dicing. Cook time will vary a bit depending on the size of your chicken thighs so use an instant-read meat thermometer to check for doneness. See my post on how to grill chicken thighs for more detailed instructions.
- Toss the romaine lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, corn, bacon, and diced chicken breasts together.
- Top with sliced avocado.
- Serve with dressing on the side or drizzled on top.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
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