Loaded salads are totally my jam. They make life colorful and delicious and it’s a great way to use whatever is left in my fridge. Yesterday I whipped up this BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad for my boyfriend and myself because I had some leftover quinoa I needed to ditch before I hit the road for NYC. The result was one flavorful, protein rich salad that will sure be happening again very soon. Layers of quinoa, grilled corn, black beans, shredded BBQ chicken, diced avocado, BBQ sauce and a little cheese gave this salad about 324 dimensions and each bite was packed with flavor.
It’s kind of like a BBQ chicken pizza but subbed with quinoa which makes it healthier and guilt free! Hands down this is one of my new favorite salads that you absolutely have to try! Any quinoa skeptics out there will most likely change their mind after a few bites of this. (But feel free to sub in couscous or rice if you feel inclined)
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
This recipe calls for already cooked chicken so plan ahead! I prefer to cook my chicken in the crockpot, using 6 chicken thighs, 1 white onion sliced and 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce. I cook on low for about 6-7 hours and then shred and refrigerate for later.
Tags: bbq chicken, bbq chicken pizza, bbq chicken salad, bbq quinoa salad, bbq sauce, Black Beans, chickens, cooking chicken, grains, grilled corn, Quinoa, quinoa salad, Salad, salads, shredded bbq chicken
Looks yummy and healthy, to boot!
Sometimes leftovers thrown together make the best meal! This looks like a total winner.
Yum! This sounds so awesome.
This is right up our alley. And what a fun & unique way to serve quinoa!
Sounds truly fabulous…. don’t you just love when you throw a bunch of stuff together and end up with a fabulous new dish? I sure do.
This is like a complete meal in one beautiful dish!
Um, yes YES. Consider me giddy for this meal.
This is my new go-to meal. Love the quinoa.
I am sure that is a good and healthy food.
I am making this tonight!
This sounds perfect for so many occasions! Thanks for posting!
Loaded salads are my jam too. I’ll have 5 of these please
Made this tonight and I LOVED it!!
Me too!
mmm…yum! When I saw this pic I was also thinking BBQ chicken pizza in a healthier form – this is a great recipe!
Oh my… now my favorite pizza is in salad form?? Where’s my fork!!! Brilliant Ms. G… simply brilliant!!
My husband and I fell in love with quinoa during a recent trip to Peru. Now he begs me to make it each week. I made this tonight and it was PERFECT! I skipped the cheese because someone in this house can’t leave alone a brick of cheese sitting in the fridge (me!). I also used rotissere chicken and squirted BBQ sauce on it. Total shortcut, but it got a delicious meal on table after a long day at work. Thanks for a great recipe, Gaby. This is a keeper!
Hi gaby. This looks like a great recipe, and I think I will try it. I just bought a Weber q 320 and think I will try cooking the chicken in a pan on the grill.
Cheers
This is certainly a healthy salad and very tasty at that!!! Love all the ingredients so the combination must be great! Great recipe!
Umm, yum. That’s all I can say for fear that I will start drooling. I love quinoa, especially in salads – it gives them such a wonderful heartiness!
Found this on pinterest…couldn’t wait to try it. I’ve got everything together, waiting for avocado, cheese, & green onions at the last minute. It tasted great before the last additions, can’t wait for dinner tonight! Thanks for the great recipe!
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Looks delicious!! I am saving this to add into my rotations next week!! Thanks for sharing
This looks amazing!! I so need to try this nice and healthy.
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This salad was so good I just had to blog about it! Thank you so much for sharing!!
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YUM! Made this tonight with chicken I had leftover from http://chaosinthekitchen.com/2009/07/lime-and-coconut-chicken/ including the sauce in place of BBQ – it was delicious! Can’t wait to try it with the BBQ chicken and BBQ sauce. Definitely will be a regular at our house. Thanks!
yay!! glad you loved it!
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Hi Gaby. I made this for dinner a few nights ago and it was amazing! I made several alterations based on what I had on hand: I added half a red pepper, a couple handfuls of spinach, omitted the cheese, and added some ranch dressing and lime juice. Even my non-salad-loving husband couldn’t get enough of it! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Gaby, I am a Quinoa virgin! I would love some tips on cooking it. I can’t wait to make this salad:-)
This looks great! Is there a dressing or no?
Hey Stacey! No dressing other than the BBQ sauce
Thanks!
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This was amazing!!!!!!!! My favorite salad is BBQ chicken and I love this twist with quiona! Thanks for sharing, I had to share it with my readers too!
http://sugartotdesigns.blogspot.com/2012/07/dinner-brought-to-you-by-pinterest.html
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never seen nor can I get quinoa. what is a suitable substitute?
you could always use rice!
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we made this tonight and it was awesome! thanks!!
ooooo I wanna make it tonight too!! Great idea
Glad you loved it!
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This is great. Use turkey or salmon for a different taste.
Absolutely! Turkey or Salmon would be great! or vegetarian!
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Had this for lunch today! (added some jalapenos, plain Greek yogurt, and crumbled cornbread on top) and it was amazing! Love this, thank you for a great recipe!
oooo love the addition of cornbread!! great idea!
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In lieu of chicken I used tofu marinated in BBQ sauce and baked until crispy and caramelized. Otherwise I made the recipe exactly as written. I’m sure this is great with chicken, but it’s also really easy to turn into a vegetarian friendly dish. Only thing I would change is to omit the green onions next time. They didn’t add much and actually tasted kind of out of place. Cooked yellow onions might be the way to go.
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What is considered a serving? Do you know how many calories per serving ?
I made this exactly as written and my boyfriend won’t stop talking about how delicious it was! So simple and yet so healthy and delicious. This will definitely be a regular dish in our rotation.
awww thanks Melissa! Your comment just made my morning
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We tried this about a month ago and it’s now a weekly favorite! Even my 2.5 year old likes and requests it! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
So glad you loved it!!
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This was delicious…made it without the cheese cause we’re not cheese fans and it was still great…and less calories! I was asked to add it to the regular repertoire!
yay!! love that!
Made this tonight for dinner….the husband and I both LOVED it! Wasn’t sure how I would feel about it, but was SO pleasantly surprised! Thanks for a great recipe that will definitely be added to my list of regular dinners!
Thanks Kristin! So glad you loved it!
Quick question! Did you use 1 cup COOKED quinoa or am I supposed to start with 1 cup dry and use whatever that expands to? I know you had yours cooked before hand but I will be making mine tonight….
Hi Staci! 1 cup of cooked quinoa is enough to make the dish! So you’ll need about 1/2 cup of raw quinoa and 1 cup of water and then cook it up
Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly!! Sorry I was confused because I had always thought that quinoa quadrupled, so making 1/4 cup dry (a single serving) would equal 1 cup cooked! The conversions always have confused me haha but this looks delicious! Making it tonight
Tried this out for the first time tonight… so delicious (and healthy)
added some chopped green cabbage for extra crunch.