This Loaded BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad is one of my favorite make ahead meals!!
I throw around the term on brand a LOT! I'll say something like, this restaurant is totally on brand. Wearing yoga pants daily is on brand. My bright red bike helmet... on brand. You get the idea! Today and every other day for that matter, it's safe to say that loaded salads are totally ON BRAND. They make life colorful and delicious and it's a great way to use whatever is left in my fridge. Yesterday I whipped up a ton of these salads for the week! I just assemble the entire thing, minus the avocado, so then we can grab them for lunch when we're hungry and add some avocado right before we eat. Layers of quinoa, grilled corn, black beans, shredded BBQ chicken, diced avocado, BBQ sauce and a little cheese give 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! Hands down this is one of my favorite salads that you absolutely have to try!
BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
- ½ cup fresh corn cut from the cob
- ½ cup black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup shredded BBQ chicken can use a store bought chicken and tossed with a little BBQ sauce
- 1 avocado chopped
- 3-4 tablespoons White Cheddar cheese shredded
- BBQ sauce
- 2 scallions chopped
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss together the quinoa, corn, black beans, chicken and avocado. Season with salt and pepper
- Transfer mixture onto a bowl and top with shredded cheese, BBQ sauce, scallions and cilantro.
- Serve
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe from What’s Gaby Cooking
I love this big beautiful salad! Sound so delish!
I'm with ya, loaded salads are a staple in our house too. This salad looks great, and after all the grease we ingested yesterday, a healthy way to start the week. Thanks for sharing this!
I don't eat meat, so I substitute salmon ... Either salmon jerky or smoked salmon ... for the chicken. Yum!
great idea!
This is my kind of salad! I need a little bbq in my life to hold me over until summer!
How many does this recipe serve?
About 4 🙂
Tried this out for the first time tonight... so delicious (and healthy) 🙂 added some chopped green cabbage for extra crunch.
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
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!
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!
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!!
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 🙂
What is considered a serving? Do you know how many calories per serving ?
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.
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!
This is great. Use turkey or salmon for a different taste.
Absolutely! Turkey or Salmon would be great! or vegetarian!