Salsa Verde Shredded Chicken Salad
On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s I came across an ingredient that I love so much but hadn’t purchased in awhile, their salsa verde. This jar is truly heavenly. With a freezer full of Butcherbox chicken breasts, I knew exactly what was about to go down. Running around TJ’s I also grabbed another pantry staple favorite of ours: cowboy salsa. This salsa is next level and the perfect addition to this salad.
To make this dish, it requires pretty minimal effort. First, grab all of the veggies, chop them up following the instructions below, and set them aside. For the chicken, we want to get a nice juicy shredded chicken that you can make sure is included in every bit of this salad. If I were home in our apartment, I would’ve used my instant pot for the easiest method of getting this result: cook, covered in water, on high pressure for 8 minutes. However, since I am at my parents, I relied on the tried and trusted method of poaching chicken in boiling water. While the chicken is cooking, add the diced bell pepper onto a skillet with avocado oil and sauté for around 10 minutes until crisped and cooked through.
Dress the romaine with olive oil and hot sauce (I always prefer Cholula, hell I could drink it straight, but I also love Franks) and top it with the salsa, black beans, grape tomatoes, jalapenos, avocado, and sautéed peppers. Once the chicken is finished cooking, remove it from the water and, using two forks, shred it into small pieces. Place the shredded chicken back into the pot and add in the salsa verde and season with salt and pepper. Make sure to mix the chicken and the salsa well so that it is equally distributed and well coated. Then, place the shredded chicken on top of the salad and enjoy! This is a meal I love to make for a big group dinner as I find it doesn’t take a ton of time or effort, but I also highly recommend as a meal prep option! I had this the second day for lunch and it still hit the spot. If you’re planning on meal prepping this salad, I would hold off on combining all of the ingredients on top of the romaine until at least the day before you are ready to enjoy. Instead, prepare the chicken and toss it with all of the other ingredients minus the romaine and avocado. Then, when you’re ready to enjoy the meal, place that mixture on top of the dressed romaine and add in the avocado. Easy as 1, 2, 3!
Salsa Verde Shredded Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast (3)
- Romaine (4 heads)
- Bell pepper (1)
- Lime (1)
- Jalapeno (1)
- Avocado (2)
- Grape tomatoes (1/2 cup)
- Salsa (1/2 cup)
- Salsa verde (1/2 cup)
- Black beans (1 12oz can)
- Hot sauce (3 tablespoons)
- Avocado oil (1 teaspoon)
- Olive oil (1/4 cup)
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add in the three chicken breasts and cook, covered, for around 15 minutes, or until fully cooked through
- While the chicken is cooking, chop the romaine and jalapeno into small pieces, cut the avocado into small chunks, dice the bell pepper into small pieces, and halve the grape tomatoes and set all aside
- In a skillet with 1 teaspoon of avocado oil, add in the bell peppers and sauté for around 10 minutes until they are crisped and cooked through
- In a large bowl, add in the chopped romaine and toss with the ¼ cup of olive oil and 3 tablespoons of hot sauce
- Top the dressed romaine with the avocado chunks, halved grape tomatoes, sliced jalapeno, salsa, and black beans
- Once the chicken is cooked through, shred it into small pieces using two forks and place back in the pot
- Pour ½ cup of the salsa verde into the pot, season with salt and pepper, and combine so that the chicken is fully seasoned
- Place the shredded salsa verde chicken on top of the salad, squeeze the juice of 1 lemon on top, and enjoy!
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Nut Free
- Soy Free