Chipotle Chicken Salad; shredded chicken mixed with peppers, onions, celery and fresh cilantro tossed in a chipotle-lime mayo dressing! So easy and SO good!
Words cannot express my love for this salad.
Chicken + a truckload of veggies tossed in a chipotle-lime-mayo dressing, it’s seriously heaven on this earth.
And heaven on earth is just what I needed after the Tiger’s bit-it in the World Series on Sunday and then I woke up yesterday to find this all over the place.
Yup… 75 degrees on Friday, snow on Tuesday. Thanks #sandy. Not.
First, please don’t let the title scare you. This isn’t crazy spicy or anything. I mean, it has some heat that’ll creep-up on you in the back of your throat… but I wasn’t grasping for the carton of milk to soothe the burn or anything, I was more like grasping for a corona, that I didn’t happen to have, so I settled for some iced tea which wasn’t bad… but it wasn’t a corona either. Such is life :/.
Not a mayo-fan? You could so swap it out for a little Greek yogurt to make a lighter version! Or do half and half… it’s all pretty versatile.
While the rotisserie chicken was still warm I started pulling the chicken off of the bones and shredding it. Waiting until the chicken is cold will make the whole process a lot harder, and who likes the idea of that?
Next is a whole lot of chopping. Finely dice up one stalk of celery, two green onions, a quarter cup of red onions, a 1/4 cup of both red and orange bell pepper and then finally roughly chop up about a quarter cup of fresh cilantro.
I throw all those veggies into the bowl with the chicken and scooted it off to the side while I started on the dressing.
Firstly and most importantly… I finely chopped up two whole chipotle peppers and plopped them into a small bowl.
Then I measured out two teaspoons of the adobo sauce.
This is about a half cup of mayo {I eyeballed it}, you can always add more if you find it too dry.
I had a juicy lime, so I only used half of it which was roughly a tablespoon-tablespoon and a half.
Then I seasoned it all with a couple pinches of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
I gave it all a good stir and then tasted it to see if it needed more salt… or lime juice… or adobo :).
Next, pour the chipotle/mayo goodness allover top!
Mix it well so everything is coated and serve! Of course a few hours in the fridge wouldn’t hurt it.
Not only is this Chipotle Chicken Salad crazy delicious but it’s also crazy easy too! Don’t let all that dicing freak you out. The whole recipe, from top-to-bottom can be pulled together in 30 minutes flat.
I like to serve mine with a little crisp lettuce inside a soft flour tortilla. But you could definitely eat this in just lettuce leaves for a gluten free approach or scoop it up with some tortillas… es muy fantástico!!
Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to break into the leftovers and have myself a midnight snack.
Enjoy! And if you give this Chipotle Chicken Salad recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
My cookbook Simply Scratch : 120 Wholesome Homemade Recipes Made Easy is now available! CLICK HERE for details and THANK YOU in advance!
Chipotle Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded cooked chicken, leftover or rotisserie
- 1 rib celery, diced small
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup finely diced orange bell pepper
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, 2 peppers if small
- 1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, finely minced
- 2 teaspoons Adobo Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo, plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or half a juicy lime
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- While the rotisserie chicken is still warm; remove both light and dark meat and shred into a large bowl.
- To the chicken add; finely diced celery, sliced green onions, red onion, diced peppers and chopped cilantro.
- In a small bowl combine the minced chipotles, the adobo sauce, mayo, lime juice, kosher salt and black pepper. Stir to combine and taste to check for seasoning.
- Pour the chipotle-lime-mayo over the shredded chicken and vegetables and toss to coat evenly.
- Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Serve on a flour tortilla with lettuce and more torn cilantro if desired. For a fun twist, crush tortillas on top too!
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The weather has been crazy everywhere it seems. It started snowing here (in Germany) last weekend and it has been FREEZING ever since. I think we are expecting slightly warmer weather the next few days but I can’t remember that it ever snowed this early!!!
Great recipe, as always. I actually quite like recipes that require some chopping. I find it therapeutic.
Dang. I want this for breakfast lunch and dinner today!
Laurie – I hope all is well and you fared well with Hurricane Sandy! It didn’t hit us in Baltimroe as bad as we thought it would. Thank goodness – although we didn’t have any snow, we did have quite a bit of hail on Monday. This dish reminds me of my favorite chinese chicken salad at a local joint around here – cilantro, lime, pulled chicken, peppers – all in a creamy dressing – it’s THE BEST. I never thought to remake something similar at home, but now I MUST. This looks SO SO good and I don’t think I could stop at a couple wraps – I would just shovel it all in my mouth if I could!
Laurie, looks totaly amazing…can almost taste it from here! It’s certainly a “must try” for me!!!
Yay! Hope you like these!
Perfect offering for the incredibly (early) cold and snowy weather here in the french Jura mountains… (like Antonia)…And, like her, I don’t mind “mincing” (unless husband “forgot” to sharpen them!!)…
I’m going to wrap this amazing filling in huge “Pain de Sucre” or romaine lettuce or buckwheat/sarrasin galette rounds…Could I possible use fromage blanc or greek full-fat yogurt as a sub for the mayo by any chance?..I miss the “creamy factor” of good ol’Hellman’s/Best Foods (what it’s called on the West side of the Rockies!!)…but my daughter HATES mayonnaise….bummer!!!!
Yes you could definitely swap out Greek yogurt! It would give it a nice little tang too!
Holy yum! What a fun twist on the typical chicken salad. I MUST make. 🙂
Yessyeyesyseysyeysesye. 1,000%. Yes.
i don’t even eat meat and this sounds delicious. i might try it with tofu. thanks for the recipe!
Yum, yum and yum again. My first time to your blog, love that you’re right here in the great state of Michigan. I do so have a special place in my heart for all bloggers from here.
Michigan is a pretty great state 🙂
I love this take on chicken salad! I’m making this soon!
I love this!! Thank you for sharing!
I just tried chicken salad for the first time the other day (I know, pathetic) but I actually really liked it! I was very surprised! I’m so glad to find this recipe as well. I’m excited to start trying new chicken salads and seeing how they compare.
This one looks like it will not disappoint, thanks for sharing :).
Hope things are quiet now that the storm is gone. Hope you all made it through sane and safely! I love this chicken salad, looks amazing!
I ain’t afeared of no dicin’. All those colorful veggies make the chicken salad so pretty, and I could put this Chipotle Lime mayo on a whole heap of things!
This chicken salad looks awesome! I love that you use rotisserie chicken – so tender, juicy and flavorful – along with all the bell pepper! I can see how this salad would easily become a staple in my house!
Seriously Laurie now I’m starving! 🙂
wow the flavors combo in this are amazing – i would totally love some corona with a few of these. that would definitely be the best combo since this has that lime in it!
You had me at chipotle, Laurie! I always stock up on that so you know I’ll be making these very soon! I can’t wait to stuff in a sandwich bun with some freshly sliced avocado. YUM!
This recipe looks fantastic. The peppers will cost a bit to get… but the salad looks worth it!
Yum! This is my kind of chicken salad – lots of flavor and some heat!
I love how simple this is!
LOVE a spicy chicken salad and LOVE that you served it in tortillas! Looks delicious!
Wow! This was insanely delicious! I will definitely be making this again!! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
If you haven’t made this yet, YOU SHOULD. I’m years late to the game, but this recipe is absolutely delicious. I’m worried I might eat all of it in one day. I added another teaspoon of the adobo sauce, but otherwise, it’s perfection.
So glad you enjoyed it, Monique!