Copycat Chick-fil-A Southwest Chicken Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

Are you craving Chick-fil-A’s Southwest Salad but don’t want to make the trip to Chick-Fil-A? Maybe it’s closed today because it’s Sunday! I’ve been there, so I did some “reverse-engineering” of the ingredients that make Chick-fil-A’s Southwest Salad and that zesty, creamy dressing so good.

This homemade copycat version gives you that same zesty salsa-ranch style flavor in minutes, using simple ingredients like sour cream, mayo, salsa, lime, jalapeño, cumin, and garlic for the dressing. (Being able to see what’s in the salad made it easier!)

The fun part is that you aren’t limited to using the dressing for salads. It also pairs well with burrito bowls or serves as a dip for chicken appetizers and chips.

Why This Recipe for Chick-Fil-A Southwest Salad?

I like this recipe for the same reasons I like a good Southwest salad at the restaurant. It’s full of flavor, which makes it more attractive than a plain (and boring) garden or Caesar salad. (Not that I have anything against Caesar salads, but the only thing I can say about them is that my fork gets a workout.)

The recipe, as shown, gets fairly close to the balance between zesty and creamy flavors that the dressing is known for, along with the flavorful chicken and the variety of textures and flavors in the salad. It’s also very customizable according to your unique taste.

Best of all? Whenever I need to pick up a few ingredients for this recipe, the grocery store is closer to my house than the nearest Chick-fil-A, which makes the drive more convenient. Yes, I do have to plan ahead a bit to make this salad, but that’s not too difficult when I may need to do the weekly grocery run anyway.

Ingredients for Chick-Fil-A Southwest Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

The number one thing to remember about Southwest Salad is that it’s supposed to be full of flavor. If your salad is boring and bland, it’s not a Southwest Salad! To make sure this imitation Chick-Fil-A Southwest Salad is the real deal, let’s start by making sure we have all the ingredients.

Ingredients for the Chicken Marinade

The chicken marinade is actually the simplest part. This makes sure it’s flavorful without clashing with the dressing.

• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil
• Freshly Squeezed Lime or Lemon Juice
• Southwest Seasoning (I like McCormick brand southwest seasoning the best)

Ingredients for Creamy Salsa Dressing

The dressing is the really interesting part here. Don’t let the long ingredient list intimidate you. Dressing is usually pretty easy to mix up!

• Full-Fat Sour Cream
• Mayonnaise
• Buttermilk
• Fresh Cilantro
• Jalapeño Peppers
• Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
• Medium Salsa
• Hot Sauce
• Ground Cumin
• Garlic Powder
• Sea Salt
• Cayenne Powder
• Ancho Chili Powder
• Black Pepper
• Smoked Paprika
• Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Ingredients for the Salad

Although I put this last, we shouldn’t treat the salad as an afterthought. We’ll want to make sure we have all these salad ingredients on hand.

• Boneless Chicken Breasts
• Spring Mix
• Grape Tomatoes (multicolored if you can find them)
• Fresh Cilantro Leaves
• Salt
• Ancho Chili Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Sour Cream
• Avocado Slices
• Crunchy Corn (I like to roast or grill it first, but that’s just me.)
• Black Beans
• Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
• Red Onion

Why So Many Ingredients for This Chick-Fil-A Southwest Salad?

As you might have guessed, I don’t like boring salad! Anyway, when I’m going to make an “imitation” restaurant-inspired recipe, I want to make sure I’m getting it right. Here’s what each ingredient brings to this salad.

Salt and Pepper

1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper for the marinade

1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 1 teaspoon sea salt for the dressing

Pinch of salt for the salad

I’m not a huge fan of overdoing it with salt in a salad, but it does help balance the dressing’s spice and enhance the overall salad’s savory flavors. It also helps tenderize the chicken and enhance its flavor while it’s marinating.

Oil

1/2 cup oil

Oil forms the base of the marinade, locking in the meat’s flavor and adding extra moisture. It’s pretty common to use olive oil for this, but avocado oil will work too.

Lime or Lemon Juice

3-4 tablespoons lime or lemon juice for marinade

Juice of 2 limes for dressing

Besides adding a sour citrus flavor, lime or lemon juice adds acid, which is important in a marinade. It also tenderizes the meat. It’s important to balance this carefully with the oil to keep either component from overwhelming the marinade.

In the dressing, I like to use freshly squeezed lime juice for a stronger flavor than bottled lime juice. The juice from 2 limes ought to do it.

Southwestern Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon southwestern seasoning

I’m going a little conservative with the southwestern seasoning here because the dressing is already full of flavor. I just want the chicken to be flavorful too, so I’m adding a smidge of this to the marinade.

Full-Fat Sour Cream, Buttermilk, and Mayonnaise

1 cup full-fat sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup mayonnaise

With these three ingredients, we add the full-bodied creaminess that the dressing for Chick-Fil-A’s creamy salsa dressing is known for. It’s important that the sour cream be full-fat to add extra richness to the dressing. Buttermilk is a major part of my “creamy” dressings because it adds the sharp tang of lactic acid. Mayonnaise is likely the weird one, since it’s typically made with eggs, but it does add extra creamy egg protein and fat to the dressing!

Cilantro

1/4 cup fresh cilantro for dressing

Bunch of fresh cilantro leaves for salad

Cilantro mixes a mild citrus flavor, bitterness, and sweetness in a way that makes it quite popular in “southwest” recipes that also include lemon or lime juice.

Jalapeño Peppers

2 jalapeño peppers

Jalapeño peppers add most of the spice you’ll want in the dressing. If you don’t want it super spicy, be sure to remove most of the seeds before dicing the peppers for the dressing.

Medium Salsa

1 cup medium salsa

Medium salsa adds a little, but not too much, spice. It also adds a bit of tomato flavor to the dressing. You can choose your favorite brand of tomato salsa or tomatillo salsa. The important thing is to make sure it says “medium” on the label.

Hot Sauce

1 tablespoon hot sauce (or to taste)

One thing about hot sauce is that it’s easy to adjust the amount to suit how spicy you like this particular dish. You can also choose the brand and type of hot sauce. As much as I like Buffalo sauce for spicy appetizers, I’ll avoid it for this dressing because authentic Buffalo sauce contains butter, which can make the dressing extra oily.

With Tabasco sauce, you may have to experiment with how much you like because it is HOT! I’ll often use Cholula hot sauce because, yes, it is green, but it’s also made with less-intense Jalapeño peppers.

Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Cumin is a popular addition to spicy food for its ability to balance the flavor with a slightly nutty, savory, and pungent note. This makes it popular in spice mixes across a broad range of regional cuisines, including Mexican food. (You’ll often see it in the ingredient list for taco seasoning.)

Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Garlic powder helps balance the dressing’s spice with a savory, earthy flavor profile. Garlic powder tends to be less intense than fresh minced garlic.

Cayenne Powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

Cayenne has a spicy flavor that pairs well with the tomato or tomatillo in your hot sauce. It’s called “picante” – a flavor that’s often closely associated with salsas and sauces prepared with tomatoes, onions, vinegar, and spicy seasoning.

Be careful not to add too much, unless you like the dressing super spicy! Cayenne has a Scoville scale rating of 30,000-50,000 Scoville Heat Units, making it much spicier than most varieties of chili powder.

Ancho Chili Powder

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

Ancho chili powder is commonly used in Mexican cuisine for its mildly spicy flavor and more sweet-smoky profile. The mild flavor makes it popular for enhancing the taste of sauces and dressings that are supposed to be a little spicy.

Smoked Paprika

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Paprika is made from smoked and dried red peppers and is typically more flavorful than “regular” paprika. It adds a smoky, spicy flavor to the dressing.

Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese for dressing

Additional Monterey Jack cheese for salad, to taste

Monterey Jack cheese is a popular addition to Southwestern and Mexican dishes. It is a semi-hard cheese with good melting properties comparable to cheddar and Gouda. (It’s not as important to melt the cheese here.) It also adds a mild cheesy flavor to the salad.

Fun Fact: Monterey Jack cheese originated in the 18th century and is one of the few cheeses with an American origin! Franciscan friars living in the Monterey area of California created the cheese.

Boneless Chicken Breasts

1 pound boneless chicken breasts

Because this is a Chick-Fil-A imitation recipe, it has to have chicken! The chicken provides most of the protein that I think a salad should have to make it a good, healthy meal.

Fresh Spring Mix

2 cups fresh spring mix

Spring mix typically consists of baby leafy greens such as spinach, arugula, and romaine. I like to use this instead of plain lettuce because it adds more color and better flavor – though, of course, nothing that is likely to overwhelm the other flavors in this salad and dressing!

Grape Tomatoes

Handful of grape tomatoes, cut in half

I like to use a mix of red, orange, and yellow grape tomatoes for extra color. They also add a nice tomato flavor, especially when I can pluck some ripe ones off my tomato plants. (I’m a big fan of gardening too.)

Avocado Slices

1-2 avocados, sliced

These may be optional for an “imitation Chick-Fil-A Southwest Salad,” but I like to have avocado slices for pretty much any Southwestern recipe. It just adds a nice touch.

Your Favorite Southwest Salad Add-Ins

1/2 cup add-ins

I like to aim for about half a cup of add-ins in my salad, though the exact amount of each add-on can be adjusted to your liking. My favorites include crunchy corn, black beans, diced red onion, and maybe a few multi-colored tortilla strips.

Step-By-Step Method for Making Chick-Fil-A Southwest Salad

The main thing is not to procrastinate with making this salad. Marinating the chicken takes the longest, but I like to have it completely done by suppertime!

Step One: Make the Marinade

Use a whisk to mix the marinade ingredients (salt, pepper, oil, lemon or lime juice, and southwestern seasoning) in a small bowl. Alternatively, they can be added to a mason jar and shaken to completely combine them.

Step Two: Marinate Chicken

Put the chicken in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Pour the marinade over the chicken and use a spoon to coat it completely. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-3 hours. (Don’t go much longer than 3 hours, or the texture of the meat can get weird.)

Step Three: Make the Creamy Salsa Dressing

While the chicken marinates, mix the ingredients for the creamy salsa dressing in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to add it to the salad. (This will give the flavors more time to blend together.)

Step Four: Grill the Chicken

When the chicken is almost done marinating, prepare the grill. Doesn’t really matter whether you use a coal or gas grill, or one of those George Foreman electric grills. The important thing is to get it ready to go before you get the chicken out of the refrigerator.

Grill the chicken until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chicken breast reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit (about 74 degrees Celsius). Then bring it back inside and slice it into bite-sized pieces.

Step Five: Make Salad

I like to save this for last to make sure the salad doesn’t get weird from sitting for a while. Divide the spring mix between four bowls. Sprinkle the cilantro leaves on top. Add the grape tomatoes, then layer on the cheese and sour cream. Your family (or dinner guests) can add their favorite add-ons, such as corn, black beans, tortilla strips, avocado slices, and red onions. Then add the chicken slices and serve with the dressing.

Hacks for a Perfect Homemade Spicy Southwest Salad

The number-one trick to making any salad is to avoid overdoing any single ingredient. The point of a salad is to be a nice blending of ingredients with no single one becoming the “point” of the whole thing. Here are a few tips to make your Chick-fil-A Southwest Salad a success.

Tips From Master Chefs

First things first, the “correct” dressing for the salad can make or break it. It might be tempting to go with a nice vinaigrette or some vinegar and oil to skip all the calories you’d think are in this creamy salsa dressing. However, if you do, it won’t be a “real” Southwest salad because you’re missing out on the creamy, spicy elements that make it so popular at Chick-fil-A.

The most important thing: Make sure you measure the dressing ingredients cautiously. The exact amounts can be tweaked to your liking. However, it’s easier to add more of any ingredient to boost flavor than to remove it if you overdid the spice. (It is possible to add more sour cream or mayonnaise if you need to cut the spice. However, doing that makes it easy to get too much dressing.)

Easy Substitutions for the Creamy Salsa Dressing or Salad

If you’re watching your calories, you can swap the sour cream for unflavored and unsweetened Greek yogurt. The difference in taste is barely noticeable and will reduce the dressing’s fat content.

You can use vegan mayonnaise instead of “regular,” egg-based mayonnaise if you like.

It’s possible to make your own buttermilk if you’d like to customize the buttermilk components. Add one tablespoon of a mild acid, such as white vinegar, to a measuring cup. Then fill it to the one-cup line with milk or a relatively neutral-flavored non-dairy milk, such as oat milk. Let it sit for a few minutes before adding it to the dressing. (It will start to curdle. This is normal.)

If you don’t have spring mix, baby spinach, arugula, or romaine will work in a pinch. Even with “full-grown” leafy greens, the leaves can be chopped into smaller pieces.

Like most salads, this Southwest salad is very customizable! Some people leave the salt out to reduce their salt intake. Others like to add extra spice to the dressing or use their own add-ins to introduce extra crunch or flavor to the salad.

Common Mistakes With This Imitation Chick-Fil-A Southwest Salad

Making this salad can take a bit of tweaking to get it exactly right! Here are a few mistakes to avoid:

Not Enough Flavor

The most common mistake is being too conservative with the flavor. I straight-up added southwest seasoning and lime juice to the usual marinade recipe to keep the chicken from turning out too bland. (Vague “marinade” just wasn’t doing it, even if it is sometimes possible to find a bottle of Southwest marinade.)

Also, don’t forget to add all the spices and seasonings to the dressing! This is important to really bring out the flavor that the creamy salsa dressing is supposed to have.

Not Enough Texture

Adding texture to your salad is key to that crunch we all know and love. It’s super easy to let the leafy greens dominate everything in a salad. However, other “add-ins” like the corn and tortilla strips add the crunch that helps make this salad a hit.

Forgetting the Chicken

It’s an imitation Chick-fil-A salad. It’s supposed to have chicken. However, I’ve actually seen the looks on people’s faces when they realize they forgot to take the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator to grill it! I like to set a reminder to get the chicken when it’s time to grill it.

Making the Salad Too Soon or Leaving It Out Too Long

You wouldn’t think this would be much of a problem. However, as with most foods, leaving the salad out for too long can pose food safety risks, such as bacterial growth. Tomato juice can also reach the leafy greens, causing them to wilt faster. So I will usually wait to assemble the salad until I’m ready to serve it.

FAQ About Imitation Chick-Fil-A Southwest Chicken Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

While I think this salad is mostly just time-consuming to make (if worth it!), we do sometimes get questions about it! Here, I tried to ask some of the most commonly asked questions about this imitation Chick-Fil-A salad. If you think of one we haven’t asked yet, feel free to ask in the comments section, and we’ll answer as soon as possible.

How close is this imitation recipe to the original Chick-fil-A version?

The recipe as shown is as close as I could get it. The original version includes a dressing that I can only describe (without being a food snob about fast food) as a mix of creamy and picante, which is kind of a fancy word for “a mix of spicy and tomato flavored”. It also includes flavorful grilled chicken and salad with a nice mix of textures and flavors. It took a bit of experimenting, but I think this recipe does well at imitating the original.

I’m not a big fan of lime juice. Is that replaceable?

Well, first, have you tried using freshly squeezed lime juice from a couple of limes? You’ll really notice a difference in flavor if you’ve only ever used bottled lime juice!

Second, freshly squeezed lemon juice may make an acceptable substitute in a pinch. The dressing (and chicken) will just have more of a lemon than lime flavor.

The dressing ingredients separated while it was in the fridge. Is that fixable?

It should be! Just give it a good stir before adding it to the salad.

The weather’s too foul for the grill! Any alternatives?

I get that. In fact, nine times out of ten, when the weather was too foul for me to go get some Southwest chicken salad at the restaurant, it was also too foul to grill out. So I’ll either use my handy-dandy indoor grill (Cuisinart makes one, too) or cook the chicken in a skillet with a little olive oil.

Is it safe to marinate the chicken on the kitchen counter?

The CDC doesn’t recommend leaving chicken out for as long as it would take to marinate! Also, if you have a cat that has the bad habit of jumping on the counter, as my very naughty kitty does, the raw chicken and some of the marinade’s seasonings might harm the cat’s health. So it’s best to refrigerate the chicken while it’s marinating.

I may have accidentally put some jalapeno seeds in the dressing and made it too spicy! Is this fixable?

While I try to avoid this problem in the first place, you can cut the spice by adding an extra dollop of sour cream or mayonnaise to the dressing and stirring it well. (Yes, it may mean making some extra salad to use up all the dressing.)

More Chick-fil-A Copycat Recipes

Besides the Southwest salad, sometimes I do get a craving for other Chick-fil-A main dishes, sides, and desserts. Here are a few of my favorite Chick-fil-A imitation recipes.

• Chick-Fil-A Ice Cream Recipe
• Chick-fil-A Kale Crunch Salad Recipe
• Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich Recipe
• Chick-fil-A Coleslaw Recipe
• Chick-fil-A Biscuit Recipe

Did you try this recipe? Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments, and don’t forget to pin and rate this recipe.