Tortilla Crusted Chicken Salad with Cilantro Dressing
Hearty tortilla crusted chicken salad filled with tomatoes, avocado, black beans, cheddar cheese, and tossed with a cilantro dressing.
If you’re looking for a hearty main course salad to add to your meal rotation, this Tortilla Crusted Chicken Salad with Cilantro Dressing is a great choice.
The idea for tortilla crusted chicken came about when I visited a popular Mexican restaurant in DC and enjoyed fish tacos crusted with tortilla chips. It adds great texture and is a fun change of pace from regular breadcrumbs.
I feel like I did everything backwards this week.
I was probably supposed to tell you guys about this salad on Monday (especially since it was the Monday after Thanksgiving and all) and then share those cupcakes with you today. As a sort of end-of-the-week celebration dessert.
The cilantro dressing is a simple combination of cilantro, red wine vinegar, lime juice, oil, and garlic.
During summer, I love to top this salad with a generous spoonful of fresh pico de gallo and grilled corn.
Rough lettuce amounts are provided below in the recipe, but feel free to adjust the quantities depending on how many people you’re serving!
Tortilla Crusted Chicken Salad with Cilantro Dressing
Ingredients
Cilantro Dressing:
- 1 garlic clove roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup (60 mL) safflower or other neutral oil
- ¼ cup (60 mL) red wine vinegar
- ½ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
Tortilla Crusted Chicken:
- 1 large handful thin corn tortilla chips
- 1 boneless chicken breast (without the skin)
- unbleached all-purpose flour for dredging
- 1 large egg beaten
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- vegetable oil for cooking
Salad:
- 3-4 cups mixed greens
- 2 cups thinly sliced romaine leaves
- 1 small ripe avocado thinly sliced or cubed
- ½ cup cooked black beans
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ⅓ cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
- cilantro leaves for garnishing
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Prepare Dressing: Combine ingredients in a high powered blender and puree until smooth. Set aside in a container with a tight fitting lid (dressing can also be refrigerated and kept for up to a week in the fridge.
- Prepare Chicken: Place tortilla chips in the bowl of a small food processor and process until tortilla chips are evenly ground, but still have some texture. This might take several minutes. Prepare a breading station with flour, the beaten egg, and ground tortilla chips on separate plates or sheets of wax paper.
- Pound out the chicken breast between two pieces of wax paper until it is ½ to ¾-inch thick. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken breast in flour, shaking off any excess; dip in the beaten egg, and coat on both sides with the ground tortilla chips.
- In a medium sized non-stick skillet, heat a thin layer of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the breaded chicken breast (it should immediately sizzle in the cooking oil) and cook until golden brown on both sides, roughly 3 to 4 minutes per side. Adjust heat as needed; total cook time will vary depending on the thickness of your chicken breast.
- Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean paper-towel lined plate and immediately sprinkle lightly with salt. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving on the salad.
- Assemble Salad: Combine the mixed greens, romaine lettuce, avocado, cherry tomatoes, and grated cheese in a large salad bowl. Toss with dressing until the leaves are evenly coated (be sure to shake the dressing well before using). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve and top with slices of tortilla crusted chicken, cilantro leaves, and limed wedges for squeezing.
31 Comments on “Tortilla Crusted Chicken Salad with Cilantro Dressing”
I know this is an old post but I just found it while searching for meal ideas. Can’t wait to try this recipe! I think I’ll use Hint Of Lime tortilla chips for the coating though. Mmm, mmm, good!
Hope you like it!
I’m a big measurer, but even I haven’t measured lettuce. lol I would love this salad. Just a great idea to coat it with tortilla chips.
Haha! I’m just imagining breaking out a measuring cup for spring mix and it makes me laugh just thinking about it. Thank you!!
The tortilla crusting is absolutely brilliant and all the uses that could be there. Uff… Can’t wait to try it!
I seriously need this salad after a weekend of gluttony!
It’s not gluttony free, but close enough, right??? Thanks Lauren! Hope you had a great time on your trip! Park City looked amazzzing.
This salad looks amazing! And I pretty much could drink that dressing!
What a clever idea of using tortillas. I always have some on hand!
Now THIS is a salad. I’m in the camp where the more that’s on a salad the better. Love!
Me too! Definitely into the toppings 🙂
This might be a salad but it’s totally fun enough for me to be excited about it, even on Fridays!
Thanks so much Joanne! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
This sounds incredible. I like the name you gave it. It describes the salad well.
Oh good! It was HARD, haha!
All you had to say was cilantro dressing and I was in. I’ve been looking for a good recipe for this since my whole family is cilantro obsessed! I think I would sub the regular flour for corn flour to make gluten free!
That is such a great idea Liz! Thanks for suggesting it–I often forget to mention gluten-free alternatives to my recipes, but should probably start doing that. I am obsessed with cilantro, I can’t imagine the people that hate it! And I know a lot of people do.
This is genius! I have coated chicken in many things, but never has it occurred to me to use tortilla chips! Great idea. This salad sounds great and the photos are beautiful (as usual)!
Thank you so much Molly!!! Your goat cheese salad looked ammmazing. Let’s swap!
Oooh, I love the idea of crusting the chicken in tortilla chips. And that dressing looks delicious. Could definitely use this salad after all the holiday cookies I’ve been eating, ha!
Oh man, I don’t even want to discuss the amount of cookies I’ve been eating lately. The FB cookie swap is NOT helping–I have no will power whatsoever.
Tortilla-crusted chicken – I can’t wait to try this! Love this salad idea!
Thanks so much Anna! 🙂
I make a salad like the sometimes, but with Bell & Evans breaded chicken breasts (it’s my lazy day salad).
Sounds good!! I haven’t bought that chicken in a while, but should do that for a quick dinner.
This salad has my name all over it!! I always have tortilla chips at home, yet using it to coat chicken of fish (love this for fish tacos!!) has never crossed my mind! This is getting added to next week’s dinner line up for sure!
Oh yay! Thanks so much Kelli! Hope you have a great weekend!
Haha! You sound like me. Coming up with a final name for my recipe takes me forever. Seriously, it is not any easy task!
Love this salad! I have have a similar one on my site that I did back in may or something with tortilla chip crusted chicken, but yours is prettier and to to be honest probably healthier too! Love all the fresh colors!
It’s hard sometimes. Sounds ridiculous, but its true. You definitely know this better than I do, since you post a zillion more recipes than me.
I remember that salad, Tieghan! 🙂
Laura, you always have me smiling! So funny about wrestling over what to name a recipe – totally been there! I think it nearly took Gretchen and me longer to name our latest cookie bar recipe than it does to make it! Ahhhhhh … the trials and tribulations of being a food blogger! Regardless, this is a stellar recipe! The eye-popping photos are totally making me want to eat it right now (and I haven’t even had breakfast yet!). The cilantro dressing sounds especially fantastic! 😀
Oh my goodness–can I just give you a big thank you? For some reason or other, your comment just made me catch a major typo in the first line (food blog fail!). Sigh. Anyway, you’re so right. Sometimes it couldn’t be easier and other times, I have to stare into space for like 20 minutes before I can figure it out. You always leave the nicest comments, Shelley! Thank you. (Love those bars you posted!)