Today’s recipe takes two of my favorite restaurant/fast food salads and marries them together for a bowl full of YUM!

If you have ever tried McDonald’s Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad, then you know it’s super yummy! Chicken, bacon, tomato, cheese, and some salad greens are topped with Ranch dressing.

You know what other kind of salad I love? Taco salads! I will eat a taco salad from just about anywhere. When I think of homemade taco salads, though, I think of tortilla strips, black beans, and corn.

So today’s salad takes the bacon/chicken/Ranch salad I love and mixes it with ingredients typically found in a taco salad…I’m calling it my “Southwest Bacon Chicken and Ranch Salad”!

About the tortillas.

I decided to use tostada shells that I broke into pieces for this salad. I wanted to use up some of the leftover tostada shells I had from when I made the Chicken Tostadas the other day. But please don’t feel like you have to buy a whole pack of tostada shells to make this salad. You don’t. You could just as easily use tortilla strips or broken tortilla chips.

I used 4 tostada shells, which gave me about 2 cups of broken tostada shell pieces. If you are counting points, here are some numbers for you:

4 tostada shells is 8 WW SP, which is the same as 23 tortilla chips.

For an even more fun idea, try using mulit-colored tortilla strips! Fresh Gourmet makes tortilla strips that are red, yellow, and black! You can add 1 cup of these bad boys for the same number of WW SP as the 4 tostada shells. How fun are these?!

What is Southwestern corn?

I used a can or Southwestern corn I found at Aldi, but most  stores have some variation of the the same thing. Any corn that says it includes, “Poblano and red peppers” is what I consider “Southwest corn”.

If you don’t have Southwest corn, feel free to use regular canned corn (drained) or leave out the corn all together. Green Giant also makes canned “Mexicorn” that would work perfectly as well.

Low point salads at fast food joints.

I mentioned that this salad was partly inspired by my favorite salad from McDonald’s. If you haven’t already found the Meal Planning Mommies “MyWW Fast food/Restaurant survival guide with green, blue, and purple points”, you should check it out! There are LOTS of low point options on the list!

But for a really great tasting salad that you can make at home that is only 6 green, 3 blue, and 3 purple MyWW points per serving, you will want to try out today’s recipe!

Here is what you need:

4 sliced center cut bacon strips
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 (15.25 ounce) can Southwest corn, drained
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
5 ounces (about 8 cups) salad greens (I used a mix of baby spinach, baby chard, and baby green kale, but any salad greens will work.)
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Colby Jack cheese
4 tostada shells (or 20 tortilla chips), crushed
1/2 cup Kraft light Ranch dressing

Here is what you do:

Cook bacon in a large skillet. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Pat grease off of bacon with paper towel. Crumble bacon once cooled.

Carefully pour grease from the pan to a bowl where it can cool and then discard the grease.

Cook chicken, sprinkled with salt and pepper, in the remaining bacon grease in the skillet for 6-7 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked, mixing occasionally.

Add corn and beans to the skillet with the chicken and cook 2-3 minutes.

Layer the ingredients in each serving bowl this way: 1 cup salad greens, 1/2 cup chicken/corn mixture, 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 tablespoon bacon, 1/4 cup crushed tortilla chips, and 1 tablespoon Ranch dressing.

Makes 8 servings
One serving is 1 cup salad greens, 1/2 cup chicken/corn mixture, 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 tablespoon bacon, 1/4 cup crushed tortilla chips, and 1 tablespoon Ranch dressing.
One serving is 6 green, 3 Blue, and 3 Purple points.

Print Recipe

4.75 from 4 votes

Southwest Chicken Bacon and Ranch Salad

One serving is 6 green, 3 Blue, and 3 Purple points.

Makes: 8 servings

Calories: 211

Author: Alisha Hughes

Ingredients

• 4 slices center cut bacon strips
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can Southwest corn, drained
• 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 5 ounce (about 8 cups) salad greens (I used a mix of baby spinach, baby chard, and baby green kale, but any salad greens will work)
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Colby jack cheese
• 4 tostada shells (or 20 tortilla chips), crushed
• 1/2 cup Kraft light Ranch dressing

Instructions

• Cook bacon in a large skillet. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Pat grease off of bacon with paper towel. Crumble bacon once cooled.
• Carefully pour grease from the pan to a bowl where it can cool and then discard the grease.
• Cook chicken, sprinkled with salt and pepper, in the remaining bacon grease in the skillet for 6-7 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked, mixing occasionally.
• Add corn and beans to the skillet with the chicken and cook 2-3 minutes.
• Layer the ingredients in each serving bowl this way: 1 cup salad greens, 1/2 cup chicken/corn mixture, 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 tablespoon bacon, 1/4 cup crushed tortilla chips, and 1 tablespoon Ranch dressing.