Chicken fajita salad loaded with grilled cilantro lime chicken, avocado, and fajita veggies then topped with a skinny cilantro lime dressing which doubles as a marinade. This nutritious and filling salad is FLAVOR PACKED salad is low in carbs and high in protein and has only 461 calories.
If you’re trying to eat healthily or lose weight this year then you need this delicious fajita chicken salad in your life ASAP. It’s packed with grilled spicy and zesty fajita spiced chicken breasts, avocado, fajita veggies, and a skinny cilantro lime dressing that doubles as a marinade.
The entire salad comes together in under 20 minutes and is all cooked in one pan for easy clean-up! The recipe makes 2 filling salads that will keep you full for hours. Double or triple the recipes as needed to please a large group.
Tips for making this super simple:
- Hit the marinade window: You can marinate the chicken up to six hours ahead of time. This will open and deepen the flavor! If you need to marinate it longer — say, overnight — omit the lime juice. The acid in even a small amount of citrus can negatively impact the texture of chicken when left in a marinade for a long time.
- Shake the dressing: If you have a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, it’s the perfect vessel for making salad dressing. As a bonus, you can make extra and store what you don’t use in the jar in the fridge, and your next salad will be even easier to make.
- Get ahead: Cook your chicken ahead of time so you can assemble this salad in a flash.
- Extra chicken? Great! Save it and serve alongside grilled veggies the next night, or shred it for use in a sandwich or another salad. This delicious chicken is also great in wraps, on rice, or in tacos!
How to Make Chicken Fajita Salad
To make this salad, begin by marinating the chicken. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl or jar and pour half the mixture on the chicken. The other half will be saved and used as a zesty low-calorie dressing!
Next, simply grill your chicken breasts, and in the same pan grill the fajita veggies.
Lastly, assemble romaine lettuce, chopped or whole on a plate. Top with the chicken, grilled fajita veggies, and fresh sliced avocados. Lastly, drizzle with the reserved marinade and enjoy!
Other additions to this salad
Although this salad is super flavor-packed and nutritious, I sometimes like to add whatever I have on hand for added texture and nutrition. Here are some delicious additions to try:
- tomatoes (cherry or any variety)
- corn (canned or fresh)
- fresh sliced red onion
- shredded cheese or Cotija cheese
- black beans or beans of choice
- Tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips
How to make ahead and store
To make this delicious salad ahead of time, grill the chicken and veggies and place them in an air-tight container until ready to use. When ready to serve, simply toss with chopped romaine and top with fresh sliced avocado and dressing.
More delicious Salads to try:
Grilled Fajita Chicken & Avocado Salad
Ingredients
- 2 medium boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into half horizontally
- 1 bell pepper bell peppers, sliced, colors of choice
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 avocado, sliced
Dressing/Marinade
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar, optional
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing/marinade in a medium bowl. Pour half the mixture onto the chicken breasts and coat chicken breasts with the marinade well. Cover and place in the fridge for 30-minutes or up to 24 hours or use immediately. Reserve the rest of the marinade for later to be used as a dressing.
- Heat a large heavy-duty pan or skillet to medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan and then add in the chicken breasts. Cook 4-5 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from pan onto a cutting board and cool for 5 minutes then slice or chop into bite size pieces. Add the sliced bell peppers & onion to the pan. cook on high for 1-2 minutes or until charred.
- Divide romaine lettuce into two salad bowl. Top each salad with half the chicken, fajita veggies, and sliced avocado. Serve with reserved dressing and sour-cream if desired. Enjoy the salad warm!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just printed this recipe to try, it looks and sounds great. Would this work w/sautéed onions as well, since Fajitas normally includes onions & peppers!?! Can’t wait to try it! Thank you Layla!
Yes, that works great too!
This was very good and easy. We had a quick thunderstorm, so I cooked the chicken on my Cast Iron Grill Pan with Avocado oil. Worked great! Not only is it a good Keto meal, but it’s a great Salad for any type of Diet. Replace the Chicken with something Vegetarian and you have that as well (Vegan). I didn’t see the Nutritional information? Is it possible to post? It simplifies life for us new Keto Dieters!
Happy you enjoyed the salad! I just added the nutritional info to the recipe box 🙂
Awesome! Thank you.
Does anyone have the nutrition values per salad
Eating Keto friendly! This is my new favorite site!
I Really want to make this recipe but the iNstructions are vague regardiNg the DressiNg/ marinade. How can i make thE salad without knowing the inGredieNts for the marinade or the method to maKe it? Any help would be aPpreciateD
Thank You
The dressing/marinade recipe is included in the list of ingredient.
Dressing/Marinade
3-4 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon brown sugar optional
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
Whisk those ingredients together, as it says in the instructions.
Really good salad!
when i clicked on the nutrition facts it wouldnt let me see the cAlories per serving. How do i find it?
I just wanted to let you know this has become one of my favorite salads!! The dressing is perfect. I love making this to take to work for lunches. Thanks for sharing!