Servings: 6 Prep: 15 min Cook: 15 min Total: 30 min
I was trying to think of recipes for Memorial Day Weekend, when I came up with this recipe. I was in the middle of doing one of my favorite things … buying a roasted chicken from the local grocery store and then cutting it up and using parts for different things. I’m a BIG fan of making curried chicken salad with the chilled leg meat, for example.
In any event, I was picking my chicken, about to make some chicken salad; my mind was flooding with ideas about family BBQ’s, picnics, potlucks, the outdoors, etc. Then, this recipe just popped straight dead into the middle of my mind and almost knocked me on the floor. I KNEW it was an awesome idea, right when it hit me. It’s so simple, but it’s got nothing but full, fresh and well rounded flavors. It’s totally rustic and coarsely chopped, without any refined edges, whatsoever. It’s perfect!
Chicken Note: This recipe basically calls for cooked chicken meat. I personally use cut up chicken from roasted grocery store chickens. The salad is excellent whether the chicken is hot or cold. I can envision something like a pre-mixed salad, with everything already assembled and ready to go, except the chicken. Bring some raw chicken, marinated in a little BBQ sauce and grill it up just before ready to eat. Then, cut up the freshly grilled hot chicken, throw it in with the rest of the salad, toss it with the dressing and serve a warm BBQ’d chicken salad!
Other Random Note: I used big chunks of stuff. In the pictures, it’s just whole warm breast meat from a grocery store chicken. I’ve also got whole strips of bacon, but cut them about every inch, as well as cherry tomatoes, which I just cut in half. Big chunks of roasted peppers, too! I’m kind of drooling as I type this …
All I can say is, since this one hit me upside the head, I’ve been making it A LOT. This is EASILY one of my new favorites.
BBQ Cheddar-Chicken Salad with Tomatoes & Bacon
Print RateIngredients
- 1 1/2 lb cooked chicken meat (hot or cold) cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup sugar free bbq sauce
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar/colby cheese blend shredded
- 12 slices bacon pre-cooked and cut into big chunks
- 1/2 lb cherry tomatoes washed, dried and halved or quartered
- 2 small roasted bell peppers peeled, seeded and diced
- 4 cups mixed greens washed and dried
- salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix, season with a bit of salt and pepper and then serve!
- Note: As mentioned in the notes, you can use hot or cold cooked chicken for this. If I wanted to take this to a potluck with a BBQ, I'd make the salad with the fresh ingredients, mix the ranch and BBQ sauce together and bring as a separate dressing and then raw chicken, marinated in BBQ sauce. I'd grill the chicken and cut up, hot and fresh, then add to the salad with the dressing. Mix it up and serve!
- Serve!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
Hi DJ – thanks for another winner! I see you link to Guy’s SF BBQ Sauce. Does it come with your recommendation? 🙂 I’ve been making my own BBQ sauce, but would like a good bottled one to use in a pinch. I bought one brand (Walden something?) and it was inedible! So I’m a little gun-shy!
Hi Stephanie. Thank you! 🙂 Yes, I do recommend Guy’s BBQ Sauce. Like you, I also bought the BBQ sauce from Walden Farms and also really didn’t like it. I eventually went through it, but added a lot of other ingredients just to bulk it out. Guy’s tastes just like a regular BBQ Sauce! If I were to do a blind taste test and put the sauce side-by-side with a full sugar BBQ Sauce and asked you to spot the sugar-free one … I will confess that you MIGHT be able to tell the difference. There is a very (incredibly!) subtle "emptiness", be it due to mouthfeel, or just a difference in tastes, but … you CAN tell something is different. It’s like the difference between the sugar-free Heinz Ketchup and the regular Heinz ketchup. They’re both awesome, but you can spot the sugar-free one. However, you REALLY need to be paying attention to it. 99% of all people, if just given the sauce, would never even question it. I personally love it! I hope that helps!
Hi DJ, I saw this recipe post right when I turned on my laptop tonight to find another dressing recipe. I changed courses and made this salad (except the chicken as we were eating it with our grilled steak). I used a bottled BBQ sauce (not sugar free) and my homemade mayo/ranch dressing. We loved it! I’m in the process of developing my own SF BBQ sauce and look forward to using that in future. Thanks for another winner!
Hi Kathy, I’ve actually got a BBQ sauce on my site, if you look in the sauces section. Beyond that I’m also a fan of the Guy’s line of sugar-free BBQ sauces. I’m glad you liked this recipe, though. It’s certainly one of my favorites! 🙂
Hey DJ, I pinned your BBQ sauce recipe and am planning on trying it soon. Thanks again!
Roasted chicken from the food/grocery stores in our area is full of sugars! The sauces/rubs and marinates used on those chickens can be not only undetected by a person on low carb but can be lethal to a low carbers carb count. Blood sugars rise and you can’t understand why! Check out labels before buying any roasted chickens at grocery stores.