Chicken fajita layered salad is a fun take on classic layered salad. With layers of beans, chicken, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, corn, cheese, and a creamy dressing, this is a beautiful and delicious dish to bring to a party.
We have been grilling a lot of chicken lately, I mean lots. It makes an easy dinner, kids love it, we love it, can’t go wrong. I made a double batch of margarita marinated chicken this past weekend and had some left over. Since we had some friends coming over Monday night for dinner, I thought I could use the leftover chicken to make something. I decided to make a layered salad because they are quick to assemble and you can make it the night before.
Layered salads make such a beautiful presentation for when guests are over or if you have to bring something to a party. This time, instead of the classic layered salad, I went with the margarita flavors of my left over chicken and made a chicken fajita layered salad.
Layered salads are beautiful if served in a trifle dish or glass bowl, but if you don’t have either, you can use a 9/13 pan. The classic layered salad has a mayo/sour cream dressing but for this one I added fajita spices to give it a nice zip and fajita flavor. As I mention before, I used some cubed up grilled margarita marinated chicken but you can use any chicken you have on hand. I also used a mixture of chili beans and black beans because I just really love black beans and the chili beans add more flavor.
Above is a picture of what order I layered the ingredients but have fun and change it up if you like. I hope you enjoy this salad as much as we did! Don’t forget to get all the latest on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.
Chicken Fajita Layered Salad
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz can chili beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 head iceburg lettuce
- 1 head Romaine lettuce
- 1 15 oz bag frozen corn, thawed
- 1 orange bell pepper diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
- 2 cups tomatoes cut small you can use cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or I used small cocktail tomatoes
- 2 cups diced chicken
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- chopped cilantro for garnish
- Dressing
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3/4 tablespoon fajita seasoning mix
Instructions
Dressing
- In a medium bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream and fajita seasoning mix. Store in refrigerator until ready to make the salad.
Salad
- In a large glass bowl or trifle bowl layer in this order: beans, 1/2 lettuce, peppers, chicken, 1/2 lettuce, corn, tomatoes, cheese, prepared dressing, red onion, and cilantro.
- Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Trish Farano
This was very good and very attractive. I followed your basic recipe but cut it in half since there are only two of us. I had two ears of fresh corn on the cob and I had cooked a bag of small red beans, so I used those instead of the beans specified in the recipe. (I love black beans, but like that you can use whatever kind you want.) I was pleased that after tossing for dinner, the leftovers I took for lunch the next day were still in good shape, which isn’t the norm for dressed salads. Next time, I might layer in some avocado and I can’t wait to take it for a church potluck; I’m sure it will be well received. I served with cornbread and it was a great weeknight dinner.
heather
I am so happy you enjoyed it Trish. I think avocado would be great! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Krysten (@themomnoms)
This looks like a winning dinner to me! I try to use chicken as our main protein most of the time because it’s so lean and I know my kid will eat it. But sometimes I run into the “OMG CHICKEN IS SO BORING” stage. This looks like a good recipe to add to the collection though!
heather
Thank you! My little one loves chicken and beans so this is one of her favorites. Hope you guys enjoy!