This easy Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Salad with Cilantro Ranch Dressing is the perfect summer salad.
Tender barbecued chicken is cooked in the slow cooker for a few hours and then paired with plenty of black beans and fresh veggies.
Watch How to Make This Recipe
Last, but not least, there’s a creamy drizzle of cilantro ranch over everything for the perfect bite. I know you’ll love this recipe!
Salad Ingredients
Chicken Breast: we’re using boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe which cooks relatively quickly in the slow cooker.
Bbq Sauce: just grab your favorite barbecue sauce for this recipe. Whatever sauce you like to eat will work well here!
Greek Yogurt: the base of the creamy cilantro ranch dressing is whole milk Greek yogurt.
Fresh Herbs: the dressing uses a combination of fresh cilantro, dill, and chives.
Toppings: the base of this delicious salad is chopped romaine and then we’re topping it with black beans, corn, diced red onion, tomato, and avocado.
Ingredient Swaps and Frequently Asked Questions
bbq sauce –Β want to make the chicken sugar free? grab a sugar free bbq sauce that you love.
Greek yogurt – need to keep this recipe dairy free? you can swap the Greek yogurt for mayo instead.
fresh herbs – don’t have fresh herbs? you can use dried if that’s all you have. The general rule of thumb is one teaspoon of dried herbs for every one tablespoon of fresh.
Make the BBQ Chicken: Add the chicken breast, barbecue sauce, water, apple cider vinegar, and salt to your crockpot. Stir to combine. Cook on high for 2-3 hours until the chicken breast is cooked through and shreddable. Use two forks to shred the chicken breast in the barbecue sauce.
Make the Cilantro Ranch: Add the ranch dressing ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Assemble your salad: Start with romaine lettuce and top with the barbecue chicken, corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion. Drizzle the cilantro ranch dressing and extra drizzle of bbq sauce over everything and serve. Enjoy!
Salad Shortcut Ideas
Use rotisserie chicken – if you’re extra short on time, feel free to grab a rotisserie chicken, shred the breast meat, and then toss with barbecue sauce!
Buy pre-chopped veggies – one of my favorite ways to save time with this recipe is to buy pre-chopped veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, and onion.
Grab a store-bought dressing – don’t have time to make the dressing? grab your favorite ranch or avocado ranch and use it instead!
Meal Prep & Storage Tips
Want to make this recipe for your weekly meal prep? Here are my favorite tips:
Prep the chicken in advance: the cooked chicken will last 3-4 days when stored in an air-tight container in the fridge. Feel free to make in advance and then reheat in the microwave before adding to your salad for a quick lunch.
Make the dressing: make the dressing in advance and then store in an air-tight container like a mason jar.
Chop and store your veggies: make throwing your salad together extra easy by chopping your veggies in advance and then storing in air-tight containers in the fridge.
IΒ hope you give thisΒ Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Salad a try! It’s a delicious and hearty salad that you’ll love!
If you do give this recipe a try, I want to know!Β Leave a comment with a star rating below.Β You can alsoΒ snap a photo & tag @allthehealthythingsΒ onΒ INSTAGRAM.Β Your reviews help support All the Healthy Things and make it possible for me to continue to create the recipes you know and love.
Make the BBQ Chicken: Add the chicken breast, barbecue sauce, water, apple cider vinegar, and salt to your crockpot. Stir to combine. Cook on high for 2-3 hours until the chicken breast is cooked through and shreddable. Use two forks to shred the chicken breast in the barbecue sauce.
Make the Cilantro Ranch: Add the ranch dressing ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Assemble your salad: Start with romaine lettuce and top with the barbecue chicken, corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion. Drizzle the cilantro ranch dressing and extra drizzle of bbq sauce over everything and serve. Enjoy!
Delicious salad! Iβve made other southwest inspired salads before but the bbq chicken put this one over the top for us. I used a Carolina inspired bbq sauce and the chicken came out cooked perfectly. I was feeling a little lazy so used a store bought yogurt based cilantro ranch instead of making it. The combination of all the flavors was just beautiful!
This salad was so so good! And the dressing was phenomenal! I ended up using the dressing on some tacos a couple days later and it was amazing! Will absolutely make this again! I donβt typically use exclamation marks for every single sentence, but thatβs how good this salad was!
Yay – once again you save the day! I have left over bbq chicken from a few days ago! I never would have thought to put in a salad – brilliant! I’m the dressing will make it pop!
This is delicious! I ended up grilling the bbq chicken sauce that was easier for me with the day, but all of the flavors were delicious together! I definitely will be making the dressing again for salads and tacos.
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This was so good! Such and easy and versatile meal. The kids did rice bowls instead of salad, and that worked great too!
★★★★★
Delicious salad! Iβve made other southwest inspired salads before but the bbq chicken put this one over the top for us. I used a Carolina inspired bbq sauce and the chicken came out cooked perfectly. I was feeling a little lazy so used a store bought yogurt based cilantro ranch instead of making it. The combination of all the flavors was just beautiful!
★★★★★
This was delish! I made the meat for the boys to put over rice and they loved it! I had the salad..delish!
★★★★★
This is the perfect summer meal. The flavors are great together, and I love that I donβt have to turn on the oven or stove!
★★★★★
So quick, easy, but most importantly DELICIOUS!
★★★★★
so happy you loved it, Amber!
This salad was so so good! And the dressing was phenomenal! I ended up using the dressing on some tacos a couple days later and it was amazing! Will absolutely make this again! I donβt typically use exclamation marks for every single sentence, but thatβs how good this salad was!
★★★★★
Yay – once again you save the day! I have left over bbq chicken from a few days ago! I never would have thought to put in a salad – brilliant! I’m the dressing will make it pop!
★★★★★
This is delicious! I ended up grilling the bbq chicken sauce that was easier for me with the day, but all of the flavors were delicious together! I definitely will be making the dressing again for salads and tacos.
★★★★★
This salad was so good, but the dressing is amazing! It’s my new go-to ranch. I’ve made it about 4 times and it’s delicious!
★★★★★
yay! so glad you liked it, Amy!
Such an easy flavorfilled meal! Will make this often! Was perfect with fresh spinach, kale and lettuce from the garden.