Chicken Fajita Salad

About This Recipe

This easy Chicken Fajita Salad recipe is packed with vibrant veggies, flavorful fajita chicken, and creamy avocado. It's a simple salad that is absolutely mouthwatering and gives you the flavor of fajitas in every bite.

Plus it's simple to make because the chicken and bell peppers are tossed in seasonings and then cooked on one sheet pan in the oven.

The dressing for this salad is a Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette, which you can customize to make as sweet or packed with cilantro as you prefer. You can also add red pepper flakes to make it spicy.

Feel free to customize your salad too, by adding more toppings like corn, cheese, or black beans. This recipe can serve as a great base to layer with your favorite fajita toppings!

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this recipe. The full recipe and list of ingredients can be found at the bottom of the page.

For the salad:

• Chicken breast
• Bell peppers
• Avocado
• Romain lettuce
• Chili powder & ground cumin

For the dressing:

• Olive oil
• Lime (for lime juice & lime zest)
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Honey
• Dijon

How to Make Chicken Fajita Salad

To make this salad, you'll start by tossing your chicken and bell peppers in olive oil, cumin and chili powder and then cook them on a baking sheet in the oven.

Next, you'll add the cooked chicken and bell peppers to a large bowl with romaine lettuce and avocado. Then you'll toss everything in a delicious Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette and enjoy! Optionally, garnish with more cilantro or a lime wedge. 

The chicken and bell peppers in this salad are sliced, seasoned, and cooked in the oven, which is an easy way to make chicken fajitas and comes from our Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas recipe.

Ingredient Notes

Chicken Breasts: This recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you could substitute boneless chicken thighs. Instead of cooking your chicken (and bell peppers) in the oven, you could also grill them or cook them in a large skillet on the stovetop.

Bell Peppers: Use any color of bell pepper.

Cheese: Shredded cheese is a popular addition to this recipe (cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese).

Romaine Lettuce: I find that romaine lettuce gives the best texture to this salad, but you could substitute this for a lettuce mix or spinach if you prefer.

Other Toppings: Some other tasty toppings for this salad that you could try include corn, black beans, jalapenos, sour cream, red onion, tortilla strips or cherry tomatoes.

About The Dressing

The salad dressing for this recipe is a Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette. I've used the juice and zest of one lime, so that the lime flavor balances the cilantro. If you aren't a big fan of cilantro, you can also use less than called for or omit it completely and the dressing will still be tasty.

This dressing is very versatile. Feel free to customize it by adding more honey (for sweetness), more garlic, or red pepper (for spice).

Dressing Options

Here are a few other dressing options that would be tasty either as homemade or store-bought alternatives:

• Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Jalapeno Lime Vinaigrette
• Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Store Leftovers

If you have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days.

To prevent your avocado from browning, wait to dice it until just before adding it to your salad.

To preserve the texture of your salad, mix and store your dressing separately and toss your salad just before serving.

Top Tips

1. Add a pinch (or more) of red pepper flakes to your dressing to give it some spice.
2. You can grill your chicken and bell peppers instead of baking them in the oven if you prefer.
3. If you want to try this recipe as meal prep or make it ahead of time, store your dressing separately and wait to cut your avocado until just before serving (to prevent it from browning).
4. If you are feeling festive, try serving your salad in tortilla bowls, as it is in many restaurants! You can use a special pan to make tortilla shells.

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• Tex Mex Chopped Salad
• Southwest Chicken Salad
• Taco Salad