← Back to the recipe garden

🥗 Salads & bowls

Grilled chipotle chicken and corn dense bean salad

Charred, smoky, creamy, and very not messing around

⏱️ Time estimate: about 45 minutes

Chipotle-adobo chicken and charred corn get tossed with peppers, cilantro, beans, tomatoes, avocado, and a smoky lime dressing.

Grilled chipotle chicken and corn dense bean salad in a bowl

Ingredients

For the chicken marinade

  • 1 pound chicken thighs
  • 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo, about 7 ounces
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • Big pinch of sea salt
  • 1/4 cup avocado oil or olive oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 5 cloves garlic

For the salad

  • 3 ears corn
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 2 bell peppers
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 can butter beans
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • 2 firm avocados

For the dressing

  • 1/2 cup avocado oil
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons chipotle powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • Sea salt, to taste

Instructions

  1. Blend the marinade. Blend the chipotles, lime juice, oil, water, sea salt, and garlic until smooth and bright orange.
  2. Marinate the chicken. Poke the chicken all over with a fork, coat it in the marinade, and chill for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
  3. Grill the chicken and corn. Oil and preheat the grill to high. Drizzle the corn with avocado oil, then grill the corn and chicken together. Cook the chicken about 8 minutes on the first side and 6 on the second, until nicely charred and cooked through to 165°F. Turn the corn every few minutes until charred and deeper golden. Let the chicken rest and the corn cool.
  4. Prep the salad. Dice the bell peppers, mince the cilantro and red onion, rinse the beans, halve the tomatoes, cube the avocados, chop the chicken, and cut the corn from the cobs. Add everything to a large bowl.
  5. Whisk the dressing. Mix the avocado oil, lime juice, rice vinegar, chipotle powder, cumin, garlic, sea salt, and mayonnaise until creamy.
  6. Finish. Toss the salad with the dressing and, if you can wait, let it hang out for about an hour before serving so everything gets extra cozy together.