This Barbecue Chicken Salad in a Jar recipe is delicious, filling, and healthy. Prepare on Sunday and have a healthy lunch ready all week.
I do not remember life before mason jar salads. Seriously, I make 5-10 every week for our lunches and can’t imagine trying to eat healthy without them. Mason jar salads make it so easy to fit in a nutritious portion controlled meal every day. Not to mention they are delicious and completely satisfying.
I have not posted a new mason jar salad recipe in a while – the last one was my farro and goat cheese salad back in April. I actually have lots of mason jar salad recipe ideas but I never seem to get around to them. My husband and I love the Greek Mason Jar Salad so that’s the one we stick with week after week. Anyway, it has been awhile and I have been craving a little variety with my mason jar salads so I thought it was time for a new recipe.
Last week I went out to dinner at the Cheesecake factory with my girlfriend Paula. I won’t tell you want I got because it was soooo unhealthy. Okay, it was the cashew chicken but it wasn’t that good and I barely ate any of it. However, as I was scanning the menu their barbecue ranch chicken salad caught my eye. I thought to myself “hmmm this would make a nice mason jar salad”. So I jotted down the ingredients and bought them the next day when I went to the grocery store.
Of course, my goal is to keep these salads healthy so I don’t want to fill them with a ton of fatty dressing.
How to Make Barbecue Chicken Salad in a Jar
I decided to use Wegmans’s yogurt ranch dressing and Annie’s Homegrown smokey maple barbecue sauce. Both of these ingredients together were AMAZING. Now you can use any ranch dressing or barbcue sauce you want but keep in mind it will change the flavor. That’s not a bad thing but just something to think about.
I kept the chicken part easy by using a rotisserie chicken. I mostly use the chicken breasts and save the legs and thighs for my husband to eat. You can always use basic shredded chicken, grilled chicken, or any chicken you have on hand.
As with most of my mason jar salad recipes I used cherry tomatoes and baby cucmubers for the dressing barrier. Then I layered avocado, corn, black beans, red onion, and romaine. I squirted the avocado with lemon juice to keep from browning. This seems to work very well for me.
I only used 1 tablespoon of beans and corn so you will probably have some leftover. I used the leftovers in tacos but you can freeze them if you want.
Last but not least I crushed about 4 tortilla chips and added that to the salad after I mixed and poured it onto the plate. I would not place the chips in with the salad. I think they would lose their crunch that way. Just throw them into a Ziploc snack bag and bring it with you.
Please note this salad needs a good shake to get the dressing moving from the bottom of the mason jar. Ranch, because it is thicker, gets a little stubborn sometimes.
This Barbecue Ranch Chicken Mason Jar Salad is scrumptious! I love the flavors and textures of this salad!
Read our Mason Jar Salad Guide to learn our top tips and tricks to perfect layered salads in a jar every time + get our top mason jar salad recipes.
Other Salad in a Jar Recipes
- Steak Salad in a Jar
- Tortellini Pasta Salad in a Jar
- Spinach Pasta Salad in a Jar
- Detox Salad in a Jar
- California Salad in a Jar
Barbecue Chicken Salad in a Jar
Equipment
- 5 32-ounce mason jars
- 5 mason jar lids
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons ranch yogurt dressing
- 5 tablespoons barbecue sauce
- 1 quart cherry tomatoes halved
- 5 baby cucumbers sliced
- 1 avocado peeled, seed removed, and chopped
- 5 tablespoons canned black beans
- 5 tablespoons frozen corn
- 1/2 red onion chopped
- 3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken
- 4-5 cups chopped romaine
- 9 to rtilla chips
Instructions
- Divide all ingredients among mason jars.
- Start with ranch dressing and barbecue sauce then layer tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, beans, corn, onion, chicken and end with romaine.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days. Pack tortilla chips on the side.
- When ready to eat shake mason jar and pour onto a plate.
Notes
These salads can be made up to 5-6 days ahead of time.
Kristyn says
How many tortilla chips per jar?
Tammy Overhoff says
Hi there. One serving. So depending on the tortilla brand that’s about 8 -10 tortilla chips.
Ellen says
Another winner, Tammy! So many good flavors in this one. I never mind eating it all week. It’s a regular in my rotation!
Tammy Kresge says
You’re so welcome. Thanks so much for taking the time to write a review.
chocolatemint says
Love your mason jar salads! Trying out the BBQ chicken this week. I’m a teacher and these will be a game changer for me during the school year. I never thought to use the big 32-oz jars, but that makes perfect sense. I made the Doritos Tacos Salads last week and my teenage children literally drooled over them…they’ll be in the kitchen this week learning your ways! LMAO
Donna Whittaker says
What size mason jars do you use? It looks like 32 oz? I am looking at getting some but want to make sure I get the best size.
Tammy Kresge says
Yes quart size 32 ounce
Jenny says
I used a package of pre-cooked grilled chicken breast strips from Aldi’s for mine, they are only $2.49! I chopped it up and just spread it across my 5 salads. It was super easy.
Tammy, I think you have changed my life 🙂 I’ve been making mason jar salads and trying all of your recipes. I wake up in the morning and grab my chocolate strawberry overnight oats before I even get my coffee! I think you are just wonderful, please keep sharing all of your wonderful ideas with us 🙂
Tammy Kresge says
Thank you so much for this comment. It made my day 🙂
Jenny says
I had a lot of downtime last year while I was going through chemo for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was looking for healthy ideas and recipes to keep my body strong and get in shape and stumbled across your site. I’m so glad I did, because my life is so much easier now and less stressful with your meal planning ideas. They really help me through the week now that I am back at work!
Arielle says
How many cherry tomatoes do you put in each mason jar? Not sure how many are in a quart. 🙂
Tammy Kresge says
I would say around 10 per jar.
Robin says
These look so good. Do you use the point size mason jars for these?
Kim says
I love your mason jar salads! I’ve been eating them for almost two months and I feel fantastic. I can’t pick a favorite, because all of them are yummy! I’ve lost about 5 pounds so far not eating those frozen diet lunches.
Tammy Kresge says
That is awesome!! Keep going girl!
Sarah says
These were GREAT! I just made my first batch of five today, and had one for lunch. YUMMMM!!! Delicious! It’s so exciting to find a new salad I feel like I can eat frequently and not get sick of! I did make a few minor changes: I did 1/2 ranch and 1/2 BBQ sauce (1 T. each) and that was more than enough dressing for me; I added about 1/2 T. chopped cilantro per jar to kick it up a notch; I used less red onions (about 3 T. TOTAL) and it was plenty for me. I think if I added any more it would’ve been overpowering. And no tomatoes as a personal preference. Super duper yummy! I highly recommend!
Jess p says
Love this recipe! How much chicken do you use though? It wasn’t listed!
Tara Valenza says
I just want to let you know that I made this salad for my lunches this week. Just finished the first one…. OMGawd! It’s is so tasty and I am completely in love with it! So good! I just can’t say it enough! Thank you so much for sharing! – Tara Valenza