Creamy BBQ Chicken Salad

A satisfying salad made with tender chicken, smoked almonds, juicy grape tomatoes, sweet corn kernels, curly kale, and onion all toasted together with mayonnaise and BBQ sauce. This Creamy BBQ Chicken Salad is a tasty way to use up leftover grilled chicken and perfect for lunches! You can serve it over a bed of greens, as a sandwich, or in your favorite tortilla.

This post was created in partnership with Primal Kitchen. 

Make this Creamy BBQ Chicken Salad – say goodbye to boring lunches

A veggie-filled, real food diet doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, on this blog, we give proof that a veggie-filled real food diet is the exact opposite. It’s full of flavor, satisfying, healthy, and delicious. It’s our mission to share recipes that are nourishing, approachable, flavorful, and fit all types of dietary preferences.

This Creamy BBQ Chicken Salad makes for a tasty lunch and is a great way to use up leftover chicken. These flavors just scream “perfect summer salad”! In addition, this recipe is meal prep friendly! We love to make a batch over the weekend to enjoy during the week!

Whether you serve it over a bed of greens, in a sandwich, or wrapped up in a tortilla, this delicious summer salad is sure to be a hit!

BBQ Chicken Salad Ingredients

• Cooked chicken (diced or shredded) – leftover grilled chicken or Instant Pot Shredded Chicken works great in this recipe. Butcher Box is our go-to when it comes to quality meats.
• Curly kale – feel free to substitute chopped baby spinach
• Grape tomatoes 
• Red onion
• Green onion – thinly sliced, white and light green parts
• Sweet corn kernels – fresh, frozen, or canned. Option to roast the corn before adding it to the salad for a flavor boost! 
• Dry roasted almonds or smoked almonds – adds a salty, crunchy texture. For nut-free, use dry roasted sunflower seeds.
• Mayo – our favorite is Primal Kitchen Mayo with Avocado Oil. It’s made with only real food ingredients and a staple in our kitchens. For egg-free use vegan mayo.
• BBQ sauce – any BBQ sauce will work but if you’re looking for an option that’s made with real food ingredients and no added sugar (which can be hard to find), we recommend Primal Kitchen’s BBQ sauces which comes in several different flavors that we know you’ll love.
• Salt and pepper
• Optional for serving: green parts of green onion, extra almonds, small cheese cubes, or shredded cheese (omit for dairy-free), quartered or halved grape tomatoes, and lime wedges.

Confused about poultry labeling? Check this post out to learn all about how to choose the best chicken in the grocery store. 

How to make this BBQ Chicken Salad recipe

1. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Stir to mix well.
2. Store salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Roast the corn to add more flavor.

This is optional but we like the flavor and little bit of extra crunch that it adds to the salad. 

How to roast corn:

• Set oven to 425℉. Place corn on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Toss with 1-2 teaspoons of oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• Roast for 10-20 minutes until corn is roasted to your liking, tossing halfway through.

How to serve Creamy BBQ Chicken Salad

As mentioned above there are several ways you can serve our Creamy BBQ Chicken Salad. Here are our favorite ways to serve this veggie-filled salad that’s complete with quality protein and healthy fats:

• On a bed of greens topped with sliced green onion, extra almonds, and a lime wedge. We also like to add cubed cheddar cheese which you can omit for dairy-free.
• As a sandwich along with a lettuce leaf and sliced avocado.
• Tucked into a lettuce wrap with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. We also like to add shredded cheddar cheese which you can omit for dairy-free.
• Wrapped in a tortilla with a squeeze of lime juice. We also like to add a lettuce leaf, shredded cheddar cheese, and sliced avocado to the wrap.
• Topped on crackers which make for an ever so tasty and satisfying snack.

The dressing is made with just two simple ingredients

Primal Kitchen’s Classic BBQ Sauce and Primal Kitchen Mayo made with Avocado Oil are what make this BBQ Chicken Salad so creamy and flavorful. We love that Primal Kitchen products are made with real food ingredients and are created with quality and health in mind.

The mayo is what started it all. It’s made with avocado oil and organic eggs for a taste that’s uncompromisingly delicious!

Primal Kitchen’s Classic BBQ Sauce is organic, unsweetened, and ready to spread onto savory dishes with a bold, smoky flavor. This pantry standby can be used to marinate meats, top-up burgers, or as a delicious dunk for sweet potato fries.

For an incredible deal on our favorite Primal Kitchen Foods products, click here.

Other creamy chicken salads to try

• Curry Chicken Salad
• Cranberry Chicken Salad with Apples
• Strawberry Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

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This post was made possible by our friends at Primal Kitchen. Although we received compensation for this post, the opinions expressed here are – as always – 100% our own. Thank you for supporting the great companies we work with thereby allowing us to continue creating great recipes and content for you.

All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!

Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter.