Mexican Chicken Salad in a Jar

A creamy salsa dressing combines with chicken, black beans, corn, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce for a delicious Mexican Chicken Salad in a jar. An easy make ahead salad that’s perfect for a grab-and-go lunch!

Now you can grab a jar out of the fridge and have a delicious salad that’s ready for your lunch.

Mexican Chicken Salad in a Jar

A simple two ingredient salad dressing of sour cream and salsa flavors the lettuce, chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes and shredded cheese.

This creamy salad dressing is bursting with flavor and creaminess. You can make it with your favorite salsa, be it mild, medium or hot. The choice is yours.

Mexican Chicken Salad will quickly become your go-to make ahead lunch because it’s just so easy to make and just so delicious to eat!

Black beans and corn, along with tomatoes and cheddar cheese, give this easy salad recipe lots of textures and colors.

Feel free to use shredded Mexican cheese or even shredded taco cheese in place of the cheddar cheese.

I recommend using a hearty lettuce with firm lettuce leaves such as romaine or iceberg. Other lettuces that are more tender may wilt too much.

This main dish salad is light enough for a tasty lunch and if you are looking for a heartier salad for dinner just add more chicken!

Pickled jalapenos will add a burst of flavor to this creamy chicken salad, as will sliced fresh jalapeno pepper, sweet red bell pepper and even green beans.

You can change up the vegetables and add your favorites to this easy lunch salad.

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I love using glass mason jars when prepping a salad for lunch but you can easily use a plastic airtight container.

However, I would recommend keeping the salad dressing in a separate container.

When your mornings are busy it’s a delicious relief to have a jar or two of Mexican Chicken Salad in your fridge.

The beauty of this salad is that you can enjoy a perfect lunch that's already prepared for you!

Be sure to visit the Swirls of Flavor Amazon Storefront for GG's personal kitchen recommendations!

How to make mason jar salad with chicken

Scroll down for the full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below

• Combine the sour cream and salsa to make a creamy dressing
• Place half of the creamy salsa dressing, about 1/3 cup, in a large mason jar.

• Top with ½ cup chicken, ½ cup black beans, ½ cup corn

• Add ½ cup shredded cheese and 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

• Top with 2 cups shredded lettuce. Repeat with the remaining ingredients in a 2^nd mason jar.
• Place the top on and seal the mason jar.
• Refrigerate until ready to eat.
• To eat your salad, empty the ingredients into a large bowl and toss until the ingredients are evenly coated. 

Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips

• Use rotisserie chicken for the cooked chicken
• Or you can even use canned chicken for the cooked chicken. It really is surprisingly good!
• This recipe is a great way to use leftover chicken too!
• Be sure to use a hearty lettuce so it holds up and doesn't wilt in the jar
• You can double this recipe and make 4 mason jar salads
• Add chopped cucumber
• Add sliced green onions
• Add chopped red onion
• Add avocado slices right before tossing. If you add avocado to the jar when you're assembling the salad it will begin to turn color in the refrigerator. So just add sliced or chopped avocado right before eating your mason jar salad.
• When I’m ready to eat the salad, I like to dump all the ingredients into a big bowl and toss until everything is evenly coated with the salsa dressing

Substitutions

• Substitute plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream
• Substitute taco sauce for the salsa
• Substitute picante sauce for the salsa
• Substitute pico de gallo for the salsa

Storage

• Store your salad in a mason jar, covered, in the refrigerator.
• A mason jar salad will last in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• As always, I find it helpful to visit the FDA website for food storage guidelines

Chicken salad recipes

• Chicken Salad with Apples and Pecans
• Cobb Salad Recipe
• Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
• Grilled Chicken Asparagus Salad from Everyday Eileen

Ingredients for a Mexican chicken salad recipe

• sour cream
• salsa
• shredded cooked chicken
• canned black beans
• corn kernels
• shredded cheddar cheese
• cherry tomatoes
• shredded lettuce

Print

5 from 10 votes

Mexican Chicken Salad

A creamy salsa dressing combines with chicken, black beans, corn, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce for a delicious Mexican Chicken Salad in a jar. An easy make ahead salad that’s perfect for a grab and go lunch!

Course Main Course, Salad

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword chicken taco salad, mason jar salad, mexican chicken salad

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Calories 603kcal

Author Gwynn Galvin

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup salsa
• 1 cup shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup canned black beans , drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes , halved
• 4 cups shredded lettuce

I earn a commission from Instacart from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

• Combine the sour cream and salsa.
• Place half of the creamy salsa dressing, about 1/3 cup, in a large mason jar.
• Top with ½ cup chicken, ½ cup black beans, ½ cup corn, ½ cup shredded cheese, ½ cup cherry tomatoes and 2 cups shredded lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients in a 2nd mason jar.
• Place the top on and seal the mason jar.
• Refrigerate until ready to eat.
• To eat your salad, empty ingredients into a large bowl and toss until the ingredients are evenly coated.

Notes

Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips

• Use rotisserie chicken for the cooked chicken
• Or you can even use canned chicken for the cooked chicken. It really is surprisingly good!
• this recipe is a great way to use leftover chicken too!
• Be sure to use a hearty lettuce so it holds up in the jar
• You can double this recipe and make 4 mason jar salads
• Add chopped cucumber
• Add sliced green onions
• Add chopped red onion
• Add avocado slices right before tossing. If you add avocado to the jar when you're assembling the salad it will begin to turn color in the refrigerator. So just add avocado right before eating your mason jar salad.
• When I’m ready to eat the salad, I like to dump all the ingredients into a big bowl and toss until everything is evenly coated with the salsa dressing

Nutrition

Calories: 603kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 132mg | Sodium: 1239mg | Potassium: 1102mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 2169IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 525mg | Iron: 4mg