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Put a spin on a Southwestern Salad with this Chili Lime Southwestern Chicken Salad with a low fat and CREAMY Cilantro Chili Lime Dressing that doubles as your marinade!

Southwestern Chicken Salad with a Low Fat Creamy Dressing… I can hear the angels singing!

A Chili Lime Southwestern Chicken Salad with a low fat and CREAMY Cilantro Chili Lime Dressing

It’s safe to say that with THIS salad, you won’t miss a heavy amount of fat in a usual creamy dressing made up of mayo or heavy creams. The dressing is SO creamy and RICH without needing ANY mayo! Plus, all of the flavours in the salad dressing are marinaded right into the chicken with ONLY one ingredient you’re going to add in to the marinade to make this dressing ??? complete!

A Low Fat Creamy Dressing for Southwestern Chicken Salad

Since school holidays have finished over here, I’m finally able to get into a ‘healthy eating’ rhythm. Monday marked the first day of better eating (I know my ass is thanking me), dropping two kilos already (or 4 pounds)! This is the salad that kicked it off!

To make life easier, I cheated and used my magic bullet (small cup) to make up this dressing / marinade first. Hooray for no chopping needed! If you don’t have a small food processor or magic bullet though, you can simply chop the cilantro leaves before adding them into the dressing, as written in the recipe. It just so happens that I like cheating.

Marinated raw chicken pieces in a bowl for Southwestern Chicken Salad

Then, fry your marinaded chicken thighs until crispy and golden…..

Easy Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken on a pan

And assemble your salad!

Southwestern Chicken Salad With A Low Fat Creamy Dressing in a bowl

Pour the creamy dressing over the top! DONE!

A Low Fat Creamy Dressing pouring over Southwestern Chicken Salad

More Satisfying Salads:

Grilled Cajun Chicken Salad with Creamy Cajun Chicken Dressing

Broccolini, Prosciutto, Feta And Avocado Salad

Chicken Haloumi and Avocado Salad With Lime Dressing

Chickpea Tomato Salad

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Karina in a white and black dress with her hair blowing back, standing in front of her cooktop, cooking salmon in a pan

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4 from 9 votes

Chili Lime Southwestern Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
A Chili Lime Southwestern Chicken Salad with a low fat and CREAMY Cilantro Chili Lime Dressing that doubles as a marinade!
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Ingredients 
 

Marinade/Dressing:

  • 4 skinless boneless chicken thigh fillets
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/3 cup lime juice freshly squeezed
  • 4 tablespoons fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1/2-3/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes adjust to your preference of spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream - for dressing only

Salad:

  • 4 cups romaine lettuce or cos lettuce leaves, washed and dried
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 avocado ripe, sliced
  • 1 cup black beans washed and rinsed
  • 1 cup corn washed and rinsed

Instructions 

  • Whisk marinade ingredients together to combine, or pulse in a
    OR a
    until blended (all except for the greek yogurt). Pour half the marinade into a shallow dish to marinade the chicken fillets for two hours if time allows. Refrigerate the reserved, untouched marinade to use as the dressing.
  • Heat about one teaspoon of oil in a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat and grill chicken fillets on each side until golden, crispy and cooked through. (Grill in batches to prevent excess water being released.) Once chicken is cooked, set aside and allow to rest.
  • Slice chicken into strips and prepare salad with leaves, tomatoes, avocado slices, black beans, corn and chicken.
  • Prepare dressing with remaining marinade/dressing with the 1/4 cup greek yogurt; mix well to combine OR pulse in a small food processor or magic bullet small cup.
  • Drizzle the creamy dressing over the salad; divide into 4 bowls and serve.

Notes

Make sure to cook your chicken in small batches to avoid too much water being released.

Nutrition

Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 702mg | Potassium: 1.022mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 4.723IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this? Leave a comment below!

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Karina eating butter chicken from a gold fork out of a bowl with a nann bread on the side.

Hey Good Food Lovers! It’s nice to see you! My name is Karina. Welcome to Cafe Delites, my beloved space for the last 10 years where my passion for food has flourished and connected millions!

4 from 9 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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13 Comments

  1. Hopper says:

    5 stars
    This salad is amazing, the dressing is dynamite!
    I added just a bit more brown sugar to the dressing part and doubled it cause that’s how delicious it is.