Chicken Taco Salad
User Reviews
4.6
Chicken Taco Salad
Description
This Chicken Taco Salad recipe uses a sauce of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and a blend of spices including cumin, chili powder, coriander, garlic, and a small amount of cocoa powder, providing complex flavors without chocolaty sweetness. Chicken breasts are cooked gently in this sauce using either pressure cooker, slow cooker, or stovetop methods, ensuring tender, flavorful meat that can be shredded or diced easily.
Served chilled or at room temperature, the salad base is made from chopped romaine lettuce and topped with black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, olives, cheddar or similar cheese, avocado, cilantro, and green onions. The combination brings together fresh textures with creamy and slightly spicy notes from the chicken. Optional additions include tortilla chips for crunch and ranch dressing for extra moisture and flavor.
The recipe notes tip towards convenient ingredients like tube-pack tomato paste and reassure about the unexpected addition of cocoa powder, which enriches the sauce depth without overt sweetness. Ranch dressing can be homemade or store-bought according to preference.
Ingredients
Chicken and Sauce:
- 1 (15-ounce) (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup onion diced, yellow or white
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Coriander
- ½ teaspoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 to 2 to 2 pounds chicken breast boneless skinless
Salad:
- 10 to 12 to 12 cups romaine lettuce about 3 medium heads of romaine, chopped; for salad
- 1 black beans rinsed and drained, canned
- 1 cup cilantro chopped
- 3 to 4 to 4 green onions chopped
- 1 cup corn kernels thawed frozen or fresh
- 1 to 2 to 2 cups cherry tomato halved
- 1 cup cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese; cubed or thinly sliced; or a combo
- 1 cup chopped olives
- 1 to 2 to 2 avocado seed removed and diced
- lime optional, wedges for serving
- tortilla chips for serving
- ranch dressing for serving (see note
Instructions
For the chicken:
- Pressure cooker, combine all the ingredients for the sauce, except the chicken, in an electric or stovetop pressure cooker and stir well. Nestle the chicken in the sauce. Cook on high pressure for 9 minutes (7 minutes if using a stovetop pressure cooker). Let the pressure naturally release.
- Slow cooker, combine all the ingredients for the sauce, except the chicken, in a slow cooker and stir well. Nestle the chicken in the sauce. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2-3 hours.
- Stovetop, combine all the ingredients for the sauce, except the chicken, in a saucepan. Nestle the chicken in the sauce. Bring to a simmer, stirring often to make sure it isn't sticking. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- When the chicken is finished cooking, take it out and dice or shred into small pieces.
- Puree the sauce (with an immersion or regular blender) until smooth. If you want the sauce even thicker, consider simmering it on the stove for 10 minutes until it thickens and reduces a bit (I'm never that patient).
- For the salad, either toss all the salad ingredients together in a bowl, including the chicken, or serve all the ingredients separately so everyone can build their own salad.
- Drizzle the salad with ranch dressing and cooled tomato sauce (from cooking the chicken). Toss, if desired. Top with crushed tortilla chips, serve with lime wedges, and dig in.
Notes
- Using tomato paste in tubes helps avoid opening and wasting a full can for small amounts, keeping it fresh longer.
- The cocoa powder adds subtle depth to the sauce without making it taste like chocolate.
- Ranch dressing can be homemade following a preferred recipe or purchased to suit taste.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.6
You'll Also Love
