Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad

Before going low carb, chicken bacon ranch wraps were my favourite of the different options for wrap sandwiches at the local sports bar.

While I suppose I could always do it up as a lettuce wrap for a low-carb lunch, I’m more about turning sandwiches into salad form.

If I’m going to forgo bread, I’m all about the main dish salads, in its place. A complete meal, in one bowl!

I’ve been on a big entree salad kick lately, and today I’m posting a bunch of my recipes for them, staring with my best chicken bacon ranch salad!

No boring salads among them, either.

While this bacon cheddar ranch chicken salad is one of the more basic salads among them, it’s a nice quick lunch - no marinating involved, the seasoned chicken comes together right in the pan.

Oh, and if crispy salty bacon is YOUR love language, you’re going to love the way I cook mine: in the oven.

Oven roasted bacon is one of the best ways (THE best, IMHO) to cook bacon, and it takes this delicious lunch to the next level.

It’s simple, but still a great recipe - your whole family is sure to love it.

Anyway, let’s get to it!

Ingredients

This ranch chicken salad recipe is a SUPER simple recipe, and you’ll definitely be able to find all the ingredients in almost any grocery store.

I tend to look at this in 3 parts - the base salad, the toppings, and the chicken.

Some notes for you:

Base Salad

While some like to serve bacon ranch chicken salad family style - even the whole salad in a big trifle bowl - I do them as individual salads.

I like to meal prep several days worth of salad base bowls on grocery day - some sort of fresh greens, along with some fairly neutral fresh vegetables - Usually shredded broccoli stems, carrot, green onions, cucumber, and radish.

1 batch makes 10 salads, so we’ve got a few days worth of base salads to adorn all kinds of different ways. (They tend to last 6-7 days in the fridge.)

It’s a pretty slick way to get a lot of fresh veggies into our diet, and feels like SO much less work than making full salads individually.

It makes for really easy lunches, just toss some stuff on it, and go!

See my Salad Meal Prep post for full details on how I do it.

Want to make this salad as a standalone thing?

You can use a base of salad greens, spring mix, baby spinach, and/or romaine lettuce. I’d add some cucumber, broccoli florets, and maybe some green bell pepper in, for good measure.

Salad Toppings

While I may vary things from time to time, generally I top this salad with:

Cheese: Generally shredded cheddar cheese, but sometimes I’ll use Monterey jack or Parmesan cheese

Tomato - slices, cherry tomatoes, or grape tomatoes.

Ripe avocado slices and sliced red onion, and sliced or shredded red cabbage.

When I’m in the mood to add fresh herbs, I’ll toss some fresh dill on there, as well.

As this is a ranch chicken bacon salad, you’ll also need some crispy bacon and creamy ranch dressing.

I’m lazy and tend to use store-bought ranch dressing, but you can obviously use homemade ranch dressing if you prefer!

In terms of the crispy bacon, I like to bake it.

Pro tip: Bake a whole package at once, and keep the remainder of the crispy bacon in the fridge for more salads over the next few days!

How to Make Crispy Bacon

I am a huge fan of cooking bacon in the oven - it is SO very low-effort, and makes perfectly crispy bacon.

Here’s how I do it:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Arrange bacon slices on the prepared baking sheet, so that they are very close, but not really touching.

Bake for 21-22 minutes or so, until the bacon is cooked down and crispy.

Carefully transfer the bacon out of the rendered fat, and onto a plate lined with paper towels.

Blot with additional paper towel, and chop up into large bacon bits for use.

Ranch Seasoned Chicken

I quick cook some boneless skinless chicken breast in some olive oil, with a few very basic seasonings used in ranch dressing:

Dill Weed
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

I don’t measure - just use what you like. Go heavier on the seasonings you prefer, less of you want less - it’s your entree salad!

In terms of the type of chicken, you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs, if you prefer.

Feeling a bit lazy? Toss on some leftover rotisserie chicken instead.

When using leftover chicken, I usually just use it cold, your mileage may vary.

How to Make Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post. Here is the pictorial walk through, with some more detailed instructions where necessary.

Slice chicken breasts into thin strips or bite sized pieces, season with a little salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Add chicken, season with garlic powder, onion powder, and dill weed, stirring well to combine.

Cook chicken until browned, then turn heat down to medium heat until chicken is cooked through. Remove from heat.

Once the chicken is cooked through, divide over the salads.

Serve immediately, with ranch dressing.

More Keto Main Dish Salad Recipes

Looking for more low carb salad recipes that are substantial enough to serve as a meal? Look no further!

Buffalo Chicken Salad
Cobb Salad
Italian Sub Salad
Keto Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Chicken
Keto Taco Salad
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Salad Meal Prep
Seafood Cobb Salad
Seared Tuna Salad
Sesame Ginger Chicken Salad
Shawarma Chicken Salad
Steak Salad with Creamy Wasabi Dressing
Thai Pesto Salmon Salad

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