This BBQ Chicken Salad with Healthy Ranch Dressing is the most perfect summer recipe with a healthy twist. The dressing is incredibly easy to whisk together and the BBQ chicken is even easier. It is great for meal prepping lunches for the week, to take to a picnic or have for a family dinner! Plus, it is made gluten free, thanks to Carrington Farms Crounons!
This post is sponsored by Carrington Farms.
Hello summer! I know that summer does not technically start until late June, but here in Philadelphia it is in the 90s the entire week so I am declaring it summer unofficially official. And when the heat cranks up, que all of the refreshing meals. This week I am meal prepping tons of refreshing recipes including this BBQ chicken salad with healthy ranch dressing for lunch! This salad is not your average salad however: it is full of hearty complex carbohydrates, fiber, protein, raw vegetables and even a gluten free crunch thanks to Carrington Farms Crounons!
Okay so I know your next question: What are Crounons?
Carrington Farms Crounons are “Non-Croutons” that are gluten free, dairy free and organic. They are made from crispy, puffed quinoa, which adds to the protein and fiber contain in this salad! For this recipe, I used the Garden Herb flavor but they have 3 other flavors: Butter & Roasted Garlic, Garlic Parmesan and Cracked Pepper and Sea Salt! When it comes to crouton alternatives that are gluten free, these have to be the best I have tried so far. They are unmatched when it comes to crunch, flavor AND not getting soggy when mixed with the other salad ingredients and dressing.
SO… what will I need to make a BBQ Chicken Salad?
- Shredded BBQ Chicken
- Mixed Greens/Lettuce
- Shredded Carrots
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Fresh Corn
- Cucumber
- Roasted Chickpeas
- Pickled or Raw Red Onions
- Crounons
AND… what will I need to make Healthy Ranch Dressing?
- Greek Yogurt (or dairy free thick yogurt)
- Milk of Choice
- Dried Dill Weed
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Dried Cilantro
- Dried Parsley
- Salt & Pepper
How do I make shredded BBQ Chicken?
If you haven’t noticed, I love to use my crockpot for making shredded chicken recipes. It is a set-it-and-forget-it method that has minimal clean up and allows you do other things while it cooks! In a crockpot, you will add half of the BBQ sauce, then the chicken breasts, then the remaining BBQ sauce. You will want to make sure they are all completely covered and you should be good! Set it on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. Once the time is up, take two forks and shred the chicken. You will notice there is excess liquid but this is good! After shredding, you’ll notice that the liquid will start to be absorbed by the chicken. If you have an Instant Pot, you can use that but I do not so I would just use your typical chicken settings! For the BBQ sauce, I used Primal Kitchen, as they are Whole30, gluten free, dairy free and Paleo!
Can I make ranch dressing dairy free?
This recipe is incredibly easy to make dairy free! Since the BBQ chicken, Crounons and remaining salad ingredients are all dairy free, all you would need is to switch out the Greek yogurt. You can use any dairy free thick yogurt but I would not suggest any that are coconut based. If you cannot find a thick dairy free yogurt, just reduce the milk of choice (I used plain almond milk) to get that dressing consistency.
Can I make any substitutions or add more ingredients?
- BBQ Chicken: Changing this will change the main flavor of the salad, however you can replace with turkey breast or if you are vegan or vegetarian, you can leave out completely. I would suggest adding BBQ sauce to the chickpeas and add black beans for a well balanced dish!
- Corn: You can leave this out if you wish. As for the kind, you can use canned, fresh off of the cobb, frozen & defrosted or even charred corn!
- Pickled Onions: either pickled or raw red onions will work! I personally do not digest raw red onion well so I chose pickled.
- Roasted Chickpeas: these can be left out of the recipe or you can replace with rinsed chickpeas from the can.
- Sweet Potatoes: if you looking for something lower in carbohydrates, you can leave these out. You could also leave these out and turn it into a BBQ chicken sandwich or wrap!
- Ranch Dressing: You can use a store bought ranch if you would like or make a simple olive oil, lemon and pepper dressing!
Need more salad recipes? Check these out!
- Prosciutto and Pomegranate Kale Salad
- Asian Chicken Cashew Quinoa Salad
- Autumn Chopped Salad with Homemade Dressing
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BBQ Chicken Salad with Healthy Ranch
Equipment
- Crockpot
Ingredients
BBQ Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1 cup BBQ sauce I used Primal Kitchen (gluten free, Whole30, paleo)
Salad
- 8 cups mixed greens or lettuce
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1/2 cup cucumber diced
- 1 cup sweet potatoes diced and roasted
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup pickled onions sub raw red onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup roasted chickpeas see notes
- Carrington Farms Crounons
Healthy Ranch Dressing
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup milk of choice
- 1/4 tsp dried dill weed
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp dried cilantro
- 1 dash salt and pepper
Instructions
BBQ Chicken
- Add 1/2 the BBQ sauce into a crockpot, then the chicken breasts and the remaining BBQ sauce on top. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours
- Once the chicken is cooked, take two forks to shred the chicken and mix with the remaining liquid. Let sit for 10 more minutes to soak up the remaining juice.
Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Peel the sweet potato and dice into cubes. Coat with Carrington Farms Avocado Oil, salt and pepper
- Roast at 400°F for 45 minutes, flipping halfway. Let cool before adding to salad
Salad
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the greens/lettuce, cucumber, shredded carrots, corn, pickled onions, roasted chickpeas, sweet potatoes and Carrington Farms Crounons. Mix well and store until ready to eat. You will add the chicken and dressing when time to eat!
Healthy Ranch Dressing
- Add the Greek yogurt, milk of choice, dried dill weed, garlic powder, onion powder, dried cilantro, dried parsley, salt and pepper into a bowl. Whisk together until smooth and add water to get desired consistency.
Notes
- You can use rinsed chickpeas in place of roasted chickpeas. If you want to roast them, coat in the same avocado oil, salt and pepper as the sweet potatoes and put in the oven alongside of them.
- See blog post for full list of substitutions
- Feel free to half this recipe or double it!
- Make sure you store the chicken and dressing separate from the salad so that it does not get soggy.
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