Tex Mex Hen Salad | Diethood

This Tex-Mex hen salad is a wholesome salad recipe you’ll be able to make this night! It’s made with juicy margarita-marinated grilled hen on a mattress of crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and crunchy pink onions with avocado, candy corn, and black beans. Don’t omit the creamy avocado dressing!

Wholesome Tex Mex Hen Salad

This tackle a Tex Mex Hen Salad is a bit of like a Santa Fe salad or Southwest hen salad. It’s severely love in the beginning chunk! The hen is marinated for hours in a easy however flavor-packed margarita marinade earlier than you grill it. The result’s the juiciest, maximum flavorful hen strips ever. It’s laborious to withstand gobbling them down earlier than you even compile the salad!

We’ll serve it over a mattress of crispy iceberg lettuce with ripe tomatoes, crunchy pink onions, and buttery avocado rounded out with corn, black beans, and avocado dressing. You’re going to head nuts for the zesty, highly spiced, creamy Tex Mex taste combos on this simple salad recipe. Each and every minute that hen spends marinating within the refrigerator is completely price it!

Why You’ll Love This Tex Mex Hen Salad Recipe

• Contemporary and simple elements. You don’t want any fancy or sophisticated elements to make this tasty and wholesome Tex Mex salad. Only some recent veggies right here, a slice or two of ultra-tender hen breast there. Simple peasy.
• Margarita marinade. This isn’t simply any grilled hen, it’s margarita grilled hen, and it’s DELICIOUS. So smooth, so juicy. It’s impressed through a variation that I had at Chili’s as soon as. My home made margarita marinade is straightforward to make with a package deal of margarita combine and recent lime juice.
• Meal-in-one. This Tex Mex hen salad has all of it. A variety of veggies, juicy marinated hen, and lots of zesty Southwestern taste wrapped up in a single wholesome bowlful. It’s pleasing to function is for lunch or a mild dinner, or you’ll be able to spherical out a meal together with your favourite facets.

Easy methods to Make a Tex Mex Hen Salad

We’ll stroll thru how you can make the BEST grilled hen salad loaded with Tex Mex taste, beginning with some notes at the elements you’ll want. Make sure you scroll to the recipe card under the put up for the total element quantities and recipe directions.

Salad Elements

• Hen: Skinless, boneless hen breasts, lower in part. You’ll additionally use hen thighs, they’ll simply take a bit of longer to cook dinner.
• Marinade: You’ll make a snappy Tex Mex hen marinade from margarita combine, lime juice (freshly squeezed is a will have to), olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
• Lettuce: I make this salad with crisp iceberg lettuce, however you’ll be able to use any leafy inexperienced that you’ve readily available. Romaine, arugula, butter lettuce, spinach, or perhaps a spring combine are all excellent choices.
• Candy Corn and Black Beans: You’ll use canned corn and beans for added comfort, simply make sure you rinse and drain them neatly previously. I additionally like to make this salad when I’ve leftover grilled corn at the cob.
• Tomatoes and Onion: Diced onion and tomatoes praise the Tex Mex flavors and upload some recent veggies to the combination. You’ll use pink onion or yellow onion. Inexperienced onions would additionally paintings.
• Avocado: Creamy avocado is filled with wholesome fat and tastes nice in this Mexican-style hen salad.
• Garnishes: Garnish this salad with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, or some other toppings you’d like. See additional within the put up for extra add-ons and variation concepts.
• Dressing: I toss the entirety in conjunction with my creamy avocado lime dressing. It’s gentle and recent and tremendous simple to make.

Instructions

• Marinate the hen. Mix the margarita combine and marinade elements in a big Ziploc bag. Upload the hen and toss to coat. Later on, let the hen marinate within the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
• Grill the hen. Grill your hen the use of your way of selection. I take advantage of a grill pan at the stovetop to cook dinner the hen for roughly 6 mins in line with aspect till cooked thru. This hen may be nice at the outside grill all the way through {the summertime} (observe the grilling instructions for my grilled blackened hen). 
• Bring together the salad. Start through including your chopped lettuce to a big salad bowl. Subsequent, layer at the corn kernels, rinsed and tired black beans, tomatoes, pink onion, and avocado. 
• Upload the hen and dressing. In spite of everything, slice up the grilled hen and upload this to the salad. Most sensible the entire thing with a beneficiant drizzle of avocado dressing, or your dressing of selection.

Guidelines for Luck

A home made Tex Mex hen salad is with reference to foolproof. That being stated, I spotted the next whilst checking out this recipe:

• Let the hen marinate. This takes a bit of of making plans forward, nevertheless it makes all of the distinction! The hen wishes about 2-8 hours to marinate within the margarita aggregate and truly take in all the ones flavors. No longer best that, marinating is vital for ultra-tender hen.
• Use what you will have. There’s no improper strategy to make a salad. In the event you’re lacking an element, switch it out for no matter you will have readily available to customise this Tex Mex hen salad then again you’d like. See under for some concepts.
• Cooking instances will range. Relying at the thickeness of your hen items, the precise grilling instances is also other from the days which can be given. Use my instructions as a tenet, however remember to test your hen for doneness (see under).

Can I Bake the Hen As a substitute?

Sure! In the event you’d like to bake your Tex Mex hen for this salad, bake the marinated hen for roughly 20-Half-hour at 400ºF till cooked thru. Actual baking instances depends upon the scale and thickness of your hen breasts. Confer with the instructions in my oven-baked hen breasts recipe for main points.

How Can I Inform When Hen Is Executed? 

The best way to inform if the hen breasts are performed cooking is to take the temperature the use of an instant-read thermometer. In keeping with USDA pointers, hen is cooked when the interior temperature reaches 165ºF.

Salad Permutations and Upload-Ons

It’s your salad, and you’ll be able to get dressed this Tex Mex hen salad up or down then again you’d like.

• Other protein. Instead of marinaded hen, best this salad with steak, or some other protein like salmon or grilled shrimp.
• Vegetarian. To make a vegetarian Tex Mex salad, skip the hen, or take a look at marinating tofu as a substitute. You’ll additionally best this salad with meaty fried mushrooms, tempeh, lentils, or chopped up chickpea patties.
• Other marinade. In the event you’d choose some other grilled hen marinade, take a look at my beer marinade or make juicy cilantro lime hen. You’ll even skip the marinade and best your salad with crispy fried hen as a substitute. 
• Grains. Instead of or along with lettuce, compile this salad on a mattress of quinoa or bulgur wheat, or take a look at coconut lime cauliflower rice for a low-carb model.
• Cheese. Disintegrate over recent Mexican cotija cheese or feta, or upload shredded Asiago, delicate Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack cheese, or a shredded Mexican cheese mix.
• Other dressing. Different excellent dressing choices are Catalina dressing or Ranch dressing. Or, you’ll be able to check out my favourite home made salad dressings for extra concepts. 
• Extra veggies. Bulk up the greens with no matter’s in season. Upload on sliced cucumber, shredded carrot, or shredded cabbage. You’ll additionally upload sauteed or roasted bell peppers, grilled zucchini, or grilled eggplant to the combination. 
• Extra add-ons. Disintegrate on cooked crispy bacon, or take a look at diced mango for some contrasting sweetness. You’ll additionally take a look at including pomegranate seeds, craisins, croutons, pumpkin seeds, or pepitas. Anything else is going!

What to Serve with a Tex Mex Hen Salad

We adore making this salad for a very easy gentle meal or wholesome lunch all the way through the week. You’ll’t beat the ones zesty flavors! After all, there are many tactics to show this hen salad right into a extra hearty meal. Take a look at those serving tips:

Easy methods to Make Forward and Retailer

• Refrigerator. It’s perfect to revel in this salad quickly after it’s made. Do your perfect to retailer leftover elements cut loose the dressing. Stay leftover salad coated within the refrigerator for 1-2 days. The refrigerated avocado dressing will keep recent for as much as 1 week.
• Make forward. To get a headstart in this salad, you’ll be able to meal prep the hen forward of time. Marinate and grill the hen as directed, and retailer it hermetic within the refrigerator for as much as 3-4 days. Slice it and upload it for your salad every time you’re able. You’ll additionally make the dressing prematurely and retailer it hermetic within the refrigerator.
• Freeze. Whilst I don’t suggest freezing the salad elements, you’ll be able to completely freeze any leftover margarita hen breast. Retailer the cooked and cooled hen hermetic and freeze it for as much as 3 months. Thaw the hen within the refrigerator in a single day earlier than including it for your subsequent Tex Mex salad.

ENJOY!

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