This Mexican Chopped Salad is topped with a Homemade Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing for a flavorful and healthy and hearty salad for lunch, dinner or to serve as a side dish. It's gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan plus it is filled with fresh vegetables like romaine lettuce, corn, black beans, bell peppers, onion, tomato, and avocado. This dish is simply bursting with flavors and textures making it an easy family favorite.
Mexican Chopped Salad
This Mexican Chopped Salad is a delightful and hearty salad that you can serve as a main course or side dish. This gorgeous bowl of goodness is filled with veggies like tomato, avocado, corn, bell pepper, black beans, and red onion. Add in some fresh cilantro and a healthy and homemade Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing and you have a salad that is elevated, surprising, and will simply jump off the plate with flavors. This is not your normal boring salad.
Many Mexican dishes can be heavy, so this is a great swap for when you are craving a burrito, but need a healthier option. The flavors are all there. Or you can even serve this Mexican Salad with your favorite tacos, quesadilla, fajitas, or enchiladas as a healthy side dish. It's a great way to lighten up the presentation and add more veggies to your table. Either way, you serve it, you can't go wrong with the crazy good flavors, easy assembly, and delicious taste.
What does a chopped salad mean?
If you aren't familiar with chopped salads or Mexican Chopped Salad, they are so good because the ingredients are cut into bite-sized pieces so you can easily dive right in with a fork. I photographed mine with the ingredients on top for presentation, but often they are all tossed together instead of layered making them super simple to get a bite of all of the ingredients at one time.
This is my favorite way to make and serve salads!
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Why You'll Love this Mexican Chopped Salad...
- You'll love this Mexican Chopped Salad because it's easy to put together in around 10 minutes with easy-to-find ingredients.
- It uses that can of black beans and corn in your pantry. 🙂
- It's super healthy! A serving is around 330 calories with 10 grams of plant-based protein.
- It's vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free BUT still so good!
- It's hearty and can be made ahead for meal prep including healthy lunches.
- It's a super versatile recipe that's good for a meal or side dish.
- Plus, isn't it pretty?
Ingredients
Here's an overview of what you'll need to make the Mexican Chopped Salad. Keep scrolling for the exact measurements in the recipe.
For the Salad:
- Romaine Lettuce: I love the crunch of romaine lettuce in a chopped salad. It holds up well to creamy dressings and the substantial ingredients in this recipe. It's also great for meal-prepping salads because it doesn't wilt as quickly as some other greens.
- Bell Pepper: Two bright bell peppers add lots of flavor and texture to the salad.
- Corn: Corn kernels add sweetness to the salad and substance. You can use drained canned corn or frozen corn that has been cooked and cooled.
- Black Beans: Use your regular can of black beans. Be sure to rinse and drain them well.
- Cherry Tomato: You can use whatever type of tomato you have, but I like the look and ease of halved cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes for the Mexican Chopped Salad.
- Avocado: You'll want an avocado that's ripe but not mushy so it doesn't come apart when tossing the salad.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro is a must for the salad!
- Lime: Lime is a gorgeous garnish for this recipe. Squeeze some extra on top before eating it.
For the Dressing:
My full Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing Recipe is here, but this is what you'll need to gather to make it.
- Avocado: Look for a ripe avocado that will be soft enough to blend together into a dressing.
- Lime: Fresh lime juice is the best option to make the Avocado Lime Dressing.
- Cilantro: I love fresh cilantro in this recipe. It makes the salad dressing taste like guacamole. If you don't like cilantro, feel free to just leave it out without a substitute.
- Garlic: You can use minced garlic to make the dressing.
- Olive Oil: A touch of olive oil makes this recipe extra rich. Pick a mild one that will not overpower the other flavors.
- Greek Yogurt: Creamy greek yogurt makes this recipe even more delicious.
- Water: You will need just enough water to get the salad dressing to the right consistency.
- Salt and Pepper
Other Dressing Options:
You can also swap out the Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing for another Mexican salad dressing. If you are short on time, you can use bottled dressing (a few options are below) or try a few different healthy salad dressings from my website.
- Homemade Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
- Homemade Chipotle Lime Ranch
- Creamy Cilantro Lime (bottled)
- Zesty Lime Vinaigrette (bottled)
- Cilantro Lime Ranch (bottled)
Instructions
Here's an overview of instructions to make Mexican Chopped Salad, but keep reading for the full printable recipe.
How to Prep the Salad:
- First prep the ingredients for the salad. Gather all the Mexican Chopped Salad ingredients and dice or chop the romaine lettuce, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, and avocado. Cut the cherry tomato in half.
- Carefully put the lettuce in the bottom of a shallow but wide bowl. Lay the bell pepper, corn, red onion, black beans, tomato, and avocado on top in lines like shown.
- Drizzle with the dressing.
- Serve immediately as shown or toss into a more traditional chopped salad in a large salad bowl.
How to Prep the Dressing:
The full directions to make this dressing are in this post.
- To make the homemade Avocado Cilantro Lime salad dressing, take the skin off the avocado and remove the pit.
- Put the avocado, lime, cilantro, garlic, olive oil, and greek yogurt in your food processor or blender.
- Add a tablespoon of water at a time until you get your desired consistency. Add the dressing to a separate bowl.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Variations
I love this Mexican Chopped Salad as written, but here are some other tasty variations.
- Mix Up the Veggies: You can mix up the veggies to what you like or have on hand. Other yummy options would be carrots, cucumber, olives, radishes, jicama, mgreen onions, or celery.
- Add Extras: I kept this simple but jazzed the Mexican Salad up with tortillas strips, crumbled tortilla chips, salsa, or sunflower seeds.
- Make it Cheesy: Add some Mexican cheese blend, feta cheese, cotija cheese, or crumbled queso fresco to amp up the flavor and dairy.
- Make it Meaty: You can amp up the protein by adding grilled chicken, grilled steak, or even grilled shrimp or fish to the salad.
FAQ
How do I store leftovers?
Store any leftovers of Mexican Chopped Salad that are undressed and without avocado in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Can I meal prep this salad?
Yes! This salad holds up well in the fridge without the dressing or the avocado and is a great option for meal prep or making ahead. Make this ahead a few days without the dressing or avocado and the romaine and other veggies will hold up. Just an avocado and dressing when you are ready to eat it.
This Mexican Chopped Salad is Perfect for Lunch or Dinner!
This Mexican Chopped Salad is so versatile and tasty! It's the perfect lunch or dinner recipe and one you will want to keep in your back pocket. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.
I love this salad on its own but here are some delicious main courses to serve it with.
Serve It With:
- Vegetarian Taco Soup
- Black Bean & Avocado Quesadilla
- Black Bean Enchilada Bake
- Vegetarian Sheet Pan Fajitas
- Taco Stuffed Mushrooms
- Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Homemade Salsa
- Easy Guacamole
Mexican Chopped Salad with Avocado Lime Dressing Share on X
More Chopped Salads to Love:
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Mediterranean Chopped Salad
- Kale Chopped Salad
- Fall Harvest Chopped Salad
- Vegan Cobb Salad
If you make this Mexican Chopped Salad recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment and a star rating ★ below. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook too!
Mexican Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup corn
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup cherry tomato, halved
- 1 avocado, diced
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup Avocado Lime Dressing
- garnish: lime wedges
Instructions
- Gather all the Mexican Chopped Salad ingredients and dice or chop the romaine lettuce, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, and avocado. Cut the cherry tomato in half.
- Mix together the Avocado Lime Dressing following the directions in that recipe.
- Carefully put the lettuce in the bottom of a shallow but wide bowl. Lay the bell pepper, corn, red onion, black beans, tomato, and avocado on top in lines like shown.
- Drizzle with the dressing.
- Serve immediately like shown or toss like a more traditional chopped salad before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Tisha says
This is a salad I could eat everyday!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I love Mexican flavors in everything! Chopped salads are my favorite for lunch and I am in love with this easy and delicious salad.
Nadalie says
I always love a fresh salad! This goes well to a lot of main dish!
Gloria says
This is a great salad for a side dish or main event. Great for crowds. Easy to prepare too.