BLT Chicken Salad with Easy Ranch Dressing

Here’s another easy Ranch dressing to go this BLT Chicken Salad.  In fact, I didn’t have buttermilk so I created a substitute with 1 teaspoon  of vinegar in 1/3 cup milk.  Just stir it in and let it sit for 5 minutes or so and you’ll have some slightly curdled buttermilk-like base for dressings. You can also use lemon juice.

I used some leftover roasted chicken thighs and one of the first tomatoes from my garden in this salad.  I love this time of year when I can partially decide what’s for dinner by strolling through the vegetable garden.  If you wanted a lighter salad, you could leave out the chicken. With the chicken it makes a great light meal.   Thanks to Raising the Salad Bar: Beyond Leafy Greens–Inventive Salads with Beans, Whole Grains, Pasta, Chicken, and More for this one. (That’s an affiliate link so I’ll make a few cents if you buy something from Amazon after clicking it.)  Lots of good salad recipes in that book.

Print Recipe

BLT Chicken Salad

Ingredients

For the Salad

• 1 small head Romaine lettuce, rinsed and chopped
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 cups cooked chicken
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, sliced

For the Ranch Dressing

• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or 1/3 cup milk plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar left to sit for 5 minutes)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons plain yogurt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 2 Tbs fresh chopped chives
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• If you’re making the buttermilk substitute, stir the milk and lemon juice together and let sit.
• Cook the bacon and drain on paper towels.
• Fix all the salad ingredients in a bowl.
• Put all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.
• Serve the dressing on the side so folks can add as much or as little as they’d like.