A quintessential summer salad featuring any favorite grilled meat- designed to use up leftover BBQ! Try it with thin sliced steak, chunks of chicken, or even pulled pork. We like to have BBQ chicken/steak/pork and corn on the cob one night for dinner, and then make a little extra to throw this salad together the next day. It combines your favorite BBQ flavors with fresh crisp greens, corn, red onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, black beans, avocado and crispy fried onions to take it over the top. Top it with our homemade Buttermilk Ranch, or my hack for BBQ Ranch Dressing and create a salad worthy of a restaurant!
Ingredient Notes
Feel free to be creative with your vegetable add ins. The following is just what I like to put in there!
- Protein – You can use any grilled BBQ meat you like, here. Leftovers work great- try pulled pork, thin sliced steak, or leftover BBQ chicken. If you’re grilling up something fresh, I like to grill chicken thighs seasoned with BBQ Rub and brushed with BBQ sauce in the last few minutes. You can prep the rest of the ingredients while your chicken is cooking!
- Romaine Lettuce – You can of course switch this up, but you definitely want a good crisp lettuce in the mix.
- Corn on the Cob – Leftover Corn on the cob works fantastic here. Just cut off the cob and you’re good to go. You can throw it in cold, or warm it up in a skillet. If I’m making it fresh for this salad, I slice the corn off the un-cooked cob and toss it in a skillet with a pat of butter. Cook for 4-5 minutes until golden. You can also simply use frozen fresh corn from a bag.
- Tomatoes
- Bell Pepper
- Red Onion
- Avocado
- Black Beans
- French Fried Onions – grab a bag from the produce section, by the salad nuts, etc. or make your own.
- Chopped Cilantro
- Buttermilk Ranch Dressing – This homemade ranch is my go-to!
- BBQ Sauce – You may enjoy just our classic Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, as-is! OR try my BBQ Ranch by placing 1 cup of ranch dressing in a bowl and whisking in your favorite BBQ sauce 1 tablespoon at a time, tasting as you go until you like it best. (Pro Tip: This makes for a really great dipping sauce for fries, as well.)
How to Make a BBQ Ranch Salad
- Pile everything in your bowl and then top it with the dreamiest dressing! This is great with my Homemade Buttermilk Ranch. I’d start there. Or, whisk a little BBQ Sauce into your ranch. Toss and enjoy!
Storing and Other Tips
- As written, this recipe serves 4 pretty generously. If you’re just feeding yourself, store leftover salad components chopped and ready in separate airtight containers in the fridge so you can easily toss together a salad when you need a quick meal.
- If serving a crowd, feel free to toss the salad and dressing before dishing up.
Frequently Asked Questions
I don’t like ranch dressing. Can I use something else?
This salad would be delicious with a good honey mustard! Try this Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette.
Can I make this salad vegetarian/vegan?
Of course! This salad would be great with a mix of rice and beans in place of the protein, or topped with Air Fried Chickpeas. For vegan options, use your favorite vegan ranch or try the honey mustard vinaigrette linked in the previous question.
BBQ Ranch Salad
A quintessential summer salad featuring any favorite grilled meat – designed to use up leftover BBQ! Try it with thin sliced steak, chunks of chicken, or even pulled pork.
Servings servings
Equipment
- 4 Large salad bowls These are my favorite bowls for big dinner salads.
Ingredients
- leftover BBQ such as bbq chicken, steak, or pork. If you're cooking it up fresh, season 1 ½-2 pounds chicken thighs with salt and pepper, or a bbq rub and grill, brushing with your favorite bbq sauce in the last few mins of grilling.
- 1-2 heads romaine clean and chopped/torn
- 2-3 ears corn on the cob
- 2 large tomatoes diced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- ½ red onion diced or sliced thin
- 1-2 avocados diced or sliced
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 package french fried onions look for them in the produce department
- chopped cilantro optional
- Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
- BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Slice leftover BBQ meat, or grill up your choice of BBQ meat.
- Corn: If using leftovers, simply slice off the cob. You can add it to the salad warm or cold! If using un-cooked, cut off the cob and saute in a pan with a pat of butter for 4-5 minutes until golden. You can also defrost fresh frozen corn from a bag.
- For Dressing: You may enjoy just our classic Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, as-is! OR try my BBQ Ranch by placing 1 cup of ranch dressing in a bowl and whisking in your favorite BBQ sauce 1 tablespoon at a time, tasting as you go until you like it best. (Pro Tip: This makes for a really great dipping sauce for fries, as well.)
- Arrange greens in bowls. Add BBQ meat and vegetables on top. Sprinkle with french fried onions and top with dressing.
Notes
- Nutritional info was calculated using 3 cups of cooked pulled pork, equivalent to 3/4 cup of pulled pork per salad.
- Recipe quantities are approximate. As written, this recipe serves 4 pretty generously. If you’re just feeding yourself, store leftover salad components chopped and ready in separate airtight containers in the fridge so you can easily toss together a salad when you need a quick meal.
- If serving a crowd, feel free to toss the salad and dressing before dishing up.
Nutrition
Serving: 4g, Calories: 475kcal, Carbohydrates: 50g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.003g, Cholesterol: 76mg, Sodium: 1076mg, Potassium: 612mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 33g, Vitamin A: 2477IU, Vitamin C: 59mg, Calcium: 109mg, Iron: 3mg
Calories: 475kcal
Cost: $20
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Questions & Reviews
This is my favorite kind of summer salad. Thanks! I do a similar salad and never get tired of it. For the dressing I start with ranch dressing and slowly add Sriracha sauce to taste. It gives the salad an awesome kick!