Chicken Taco Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

All the flavors and toppings that you know and love from a classic taco salad, but lightened up a little for something fresh and delicious. It’s loaded with all the good stuff and that cilantro-lime vinaigrette? You’ll want to keep a jar of it in your fridge at all times.

Looking for more bold salads? Try our Chicken Fajita Salad or Mojo Chicken Salad.

Why Our Recipe

Deliciously seasoned chicken that uses basic pantry spices.
A homemade cilantro-lime vinaigrette you’ll want to drizzle on everything.
Packed with beans, avocado, tomatoes, red onion, corn, and olives.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette being poured over Chicken Taco Salad.

While tacos are a traditional Mexican food, taco salad is actually an American invention. This dish was created by the Fritos company in the 1960s. Although the founder of Fritos was Mexican, he designed taco salad as a clever way to use Fritos chips as a bowl. We’re always okay with the original version because it’s absolutely delicious. Our version is a great option for those wanting something a little lighter without the Fritos.

Ingredient Notes

Ingredients for Chicken Taco Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette.

Chicken Tenders: Perfect for quick cooking and so convenient for a salad. You could also use chicken breasts or thighs. They’ll just require a longer cooking time.
Lime Juice: Fresh lime juice is always going to have the best flavor. Bottled lime juice can also be used. There are about 2 tablespoons of lime juice in 1 lime, but that can vary.
Spices: We use a blend of chili powder, ground cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper, or use 2 1/2 teaspoons of taco seasoning.
Olive Oil: Keeps the chicken from sticking to the pan while cooking. Use any neutral cooking oil like avocado, canola, or vegetable.
Fresh Cilantro: Try to leave out most of the stems and measure the leaves loosely packed.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Since this is a dressing, you’ll taste the oil so you want to use the good stuff with extra virgin olive oil. Sometimes people will also use avocado oil for dressings because it has a buttery flavor which also works in a dressing.
Red Wine Vinegar: White wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar can be used as a substitute in the same amount.
Mixed Greens: That spring salad mix is one of our favorite blends, but you can really use any blend you’d like. Chopped romaine works great and so does spinach.

Additional Topping Ideas

The great thing about salads is that you can mix and match toppings to your heart’s content! For our taco salad, we use kidney beans, corn (frozen, though fresh or canned can also be used), red onion, sliced black olives, diced tomatoes, and avocado.

Black beans in place of the kidney beans. You could also load it up with crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese, pickled jalapenos, pickled red onions, or even toss on those tortilla strips.

A forkful of Chicken Taco Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette hovering over a bowl of salad.

Meal Prep & Storage Instructions

Pre-Cook Chicken: Cook the chicken ahead of time and refrigerate.
Assembly: Assemble the salad without the dressing and store it in the fridge. Add the dressing and avocado just before serving.

You can store undressed salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days, but salad that already has dressing on it does not keep long in the refrigerator and will get soggy quickly.