Chicken taco salad jars
32 min · 48 g protein · 411 cals / serving
Taco night in a jar: smoky chili-lime chicken, black beans, sweet corn, fresh pico de gallo, pickled jalapeños and sharp cheddar, with a chipotle-lime yogurt crema at the bottom and crisp romaine on top. The tortilla chips travel in their own bag and get crushed over at lunch, so they actually crunch.
Ingredients
Chili-lime chicken
- 1 1/4 lb chicken breast
- 1 tsp canola oil
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika, smoked
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tbsp lime juice
Chipotle crema
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 pepper + 1 tsp sauce chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
Jars
- 3/4 cup pico de gallo
- 1 can (15 oz), drained black beans
- 3/4 cup canned sweetcorn, drained
- 2 tbsp pickled jalapenos
- 2/3 cup grated low fat cheddar cheese
- 1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped
Crunch
- 1 1/2 oz baked tortilla chips
Steps
- Toss the chicken with the oil, chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, oregano and half the salt. Sear in a hot skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat for 5–6 minutes per side, until charred in spots and 165°F inside. Squeeze over the lime juice, rest 5 minutes, then dice and let it cool completely.
- Stir the yogurt, chipotle, lime juice, cilantro, garlic and the rest of the salt into a smooth crema. Taste: add more adobo sauce if you like it hotter.
- Layer four 1-liter (32-oz) jars: crema at the bottom, then pico de gallo, black beans, corn, chicken, jalapeños and cheese, with the romaine packed in on top. Seal.
- Pack the tortilla chips in four small bags. At lunch, tip the jar into a bowl, toss, and crush the chips over the top.
Good to know
How long do the jars keep?
Four days in the fridge. Wet things (crema, salsa, beans) go at the bottom and the lettuce on top, so the romaine is still crisp on day four.
How do I keep the chips crunchy?
Never put them in the jar. A small bag or a separate little box keeps them crisp, and crushing them over at the last second makes the salad taste like a taco.
Can I add avocado?
Yes, but add it at lunch: cut half an avocado per person in the morning, squeeze lime over it and pack it in its skin, wrapped tightly. It adds calories, so the score drops a little.
Per
- Calories
- 100
- Protein
- (49%)
- 12 g
- Fat
- (20%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (31%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 312 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1643 kcal goes into the pot and 1787 g of ingredients comes out as about 1640 g of food: 100 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.