This chicken salad recipe has all of the components of street corn: roasted corn kernels, hints of chili and lime, fresh cilantro, and of course, crumbly Cotija cheese. Combined with delicious roasted red peppers, jalapeno, red onion, and tender chunks of cooked chicken breast in a creamy dressing with lime juice, this chicken salad is bursting with flavor. Healthy street corn-inspired chicken salad is bursting with flavor, you’ll never guess that this recipe is lightened-up. Serve on top of greens, alongside crackers and carrots for dipping, or in your favorite wrap or roll for the best lunch ever.
All about this recipe
Street corn is corn on the cob, typically coated with a creamy mixture of sour cream and mayo, and topped with Cotija cheese and cilantro. This recipe includes similar ingredients, but modified to create a flavorful chicken salad recipe. The addition of roasted peppers and onions add a smoky and sweet flavor, and the addition of fresh chopped scallions with the cilantro adds a delicious herby flavor. The dressing here is a combination of mayo and Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, which offers a healthier and lower calorie option with a similar flavor profile. The end result is a flavorful and filling Tex-Mex inspired chicken salad.
Serve this salad on top of greens, or in your favorite wrap or roll, or with crackers and carrots for dipping!
What you’ll need to make healthy street corn-inspired chicken salad
- red bell pepper
- red onion
- jalapeno
- frozen corn
- olive oil spray
- kosher salt
- cooked chicken breast
- I used the meat from a rotisserie chicken, and it worked out perfectly. I love using this as the ultimate shortcut! Plus, the chicken breast is so flavorful and juicy.
- light mayo
- plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- The yogurt is mixed with the light mayo to create the base for the chicken salad dressing. I use yogurt here in order to stretch the mayo out for fewer calories. You do not taste the yogurt at all in this recipe or my other chicken salad recipes; all you taste is a creamy dressing.
- fresh lime
- paprika
- cumin
- chili powder
- cilantro
- scallions
- Cotija cheese
- I used this one.
- Cotija cheese is crumbly in texture. It is salty in flavor, and is typically found as a topping on street corn.
- If you can not find this particular cheese, you can either omit it altogether, or use parmesan cheese as a substitute.
How to make this healthy chicken salad
This chicken salad packs a ton of flavor, starting with roasted vegetables. The first step for this recipe, which takes the longest, is roasting the red pepper, jalapeno, red onion and corn. To start out, preheat the oven to 400F. Chop the bell pepper and red onion. Remove the seeds from the jalapeno and chop it. Add the vegetables to a baking sheet along with the frozen corn kernels.
Spray the vegetables with olive oil spray, and season with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized, and then remove the sheet pan from the oven to cool.
In the meantime, prepare the dressing. Add the mayo and yogurt to a bowl, along with the zest and juice of one lime. Then add the paprika, cumin, chili powder, and remaining kosher salt. Stir to combine.
Chop the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces, and add it to the dressing with the roasted pepper, jalapeno, corn, and onion. Chop the cilantro and scallions and add them to the bowl as well. Toss everything to coat. Make sure the dressing coats all of the other ingredients. Finally, sprinkle with the Cotija cheese.
Healthy Street Corn-Inspired Chicken Salad
Equipment
- baking sheet
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 red onion
- 1 jalapeno
- 16 oz frozen corn, one 16 ounce bag, roughly 2 1/2 cups
- olive oil spray
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Other Salad Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked chicken breast
- 1/2 cup light mayo
- 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 bunch scallions
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 1.5 oz Cotija cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Chop the red bell pepper and red onion.
- Seed and chop the jalapeno.
- Add the chopped pepper, onion and jalapeno to a sheet pan. Next, add the frozen corn to the sheet pan.
- Spray the vegetables with olive oil spray and season with 1/2 tsp kosher salt.
- Roast for about 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven and allow to cool.
- In the meantime, add the mayo, yogurt, zest and juice of the lime, cumin, paprika, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and chili powder to a bowl.
- Whisk to combine the ingredients.
- Chop the cooked chicken. Add the chopped chicken to the bowl along with the roasted vegetables.
- Chop the scallions and cilantro and add them to the bowl.
- Toss the ingredients to thoroughly coat them with the dressing.
- Top with the sprinled Cotija cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out these other flavorful chicken salad recipes:
This sounded so good, I had to make it today for my lunches for the week. It’s absolutely delicious and full of flavor- especially the dressing! I can’t wait to have this all week for lunch. Thanks Steph for another amazing recipe!
Wow! This is delicious! So easy and fast! My husband loved it too!
Another winner reminds me of my favorite Panera salad which is no longer available -southwest (?), but much healthier! My husband liked it as a wrap. Wow you are so good @ recipes! Can’t believe you don’t have a book or show yet!
Delicious!! One of my new favorite lunch recipes!
This is THE best chicken salad ever! So flavorful and different from your typical chicken salad. Looking forward to eating this for lunch this week and will definitely be making again! 🙂
THIS. IS. INCREDIBLE. I am so excited to eat this all week!
Amazing 😊 my new favorite everyday lunch. The flavor is spot on and Omg the sauce I could eat it on everything!
Because I like things spicy, I doubled the jalapeños and cilantro. This was so good I was licking the spoon and bowl. I think it would be amazing heated too.
made this for lunch this week and it is DELICIOUS! served it with some tortilla chips and absolute 10/10!
I love all the meal prep lunch recipes. I made this for my lunch this week, and it’s so flavorful.
This is so yummy!!! Love your chicken salad recipes!!!
Made it for the second time this week BECAUSE ITS FABULOUS!!!!! Tied for my favorite chicken salad with Steph’s cranberry celery chicken salad.
Just made this for dinner. Sooo good! Steph doesn’t make a bad recipe. Can’t wait for leftovers.
Made this for meal prep last week and topped with grilled chicken. So delicious!
I just made this for my lunches this week and Steph has done it again! It’s so flavorful and you would never know it’s lightened up! Thanks again!
I don’t think I have ever left a recipe review before, but this stuff is fantastic! I will definitely make it again!
Wowza!!! This recipe is phenomenal. I can’t stop eating it – but it’s so low in WW points that’s ok! Strongly suggest you try this!
Not surprised, but yet another delicious chicken salad from my favorite recipe maker genius! The combo of the creamy dressing + the sweet corn + other roasted veggies is delicious. Ate it with shredded romaine (which I drizzled with balsamic to give it a little oomph) and got some WW points back as well. So so yummy – will for sure make again.
One of the best recipes on this site. I left out the cheese in this and it was still absolutely delicious!
This recipe is so delicious!! I made it for quick lunches during the week and it’s so yummy! I love that it’s a different than the typical chicken salad. I used it in a wrap for lunch for my sister and she was amazed at how good it was! Highly recommend this recipe!
Let me start this by saying, I was very skeptical that this would be good. I don’t think it tastes much like Mexican street corn, it is so much better! This chicken salad is delicious and such a nice change from traditional chicken salad. Next time I am going to make this with grilled corn cut off the cob. Great recipe, will definitely make it again.
This has quickly become one of my favorite lunches!
So good!!!!!!!!!
This is one of my favorite recipes for meal prep! I could eat it every day for lunch and not get sick of it….even my picky husban likes it!
This was so fresh and delcious!! Will definitely make again
Wow! Made this this morning for my lunches this week and just wow! This has excellent flavor and is making me excited for my lunches this week.
Just made this and had for lunch. Followed except I didn’t have the jalapeño but didn’t need it. This has so much flavor. So delicious. Makes a great lunch!
Just made this for dinner… delicious!
Thanks for the recipe.
Holy guacamole! This is my new favorite recipe. This is absolutely delicious!! I will be making a double recipe next time.
I’m obsessed with everything you make but this is a different level. I love it so much!
Just made this for lunch. Only change I made was adding yellow bell pepper too. Absolutely delicious! Will definitely be having again.
I could eat this every day and be perfectly content. so good!! Thank you for sharing ❤️
Wow, this flavor was bold and delicious!! I just started WW and am living off your recipes. Thank you so much!!
So flavorful! Will be making again