There’s a dirty rumor going around about salad: “If you want to eat healthy, and you’re eating at a restaurant, just order a salad.” Well, it’s about time someone puts this rumor to rest. If you want to be healthy, or if you’re trying to lose weight, you should pay attention to what is going into your salad. Take this BBQ Chicken Ranch Salad, for instance. I cut carbs, calories and fat by paying attention to nutrition labels.
This nutrition attentiveness doesn’t simply take place in the home. For instance, the Original BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad at CPK comes in at a whopping 1,090 calories while the Hand-Tossed BBQ Chicken Pizza at CPK comes in at 1,070 calories. Okay, fine, those 20 calories aren’t a huge difference, but that still means that you would be ingesting more calories in a salad than you would in a pizza.
There was a time when I so loved this salad. The ranch, the barbecue sauce. Sometimes, ignorance is truly bliss. Like when I didn’t know that ranch dressing had about 75 calories per tablespoon, depending. Those were the good old days, except they weren’t. I was eating bad-for-you food and justifying it by adding some lettuce to it. Well, not anymore. I’m so happy I stumbled upon Bolthouse Farms Ranch Dressing. Made from yogurt and only 45 calories per tablespoon, it tastes like the real thing.
So, 1,090 calorie salads be gone! Introducing my skinnified BBQ Chicken Ranch Salad:
This is the dressing I’m talking about: 
Have a BBQ Chicken Ranch Salad party:
Crawford Serving Bowl I Salad Bowl and Chopper I Salad Scissors I Coo Cutting Boards I Flatware Set I White Startford Salad Bowl I Blue Apron I Mesh Colander Set I Avocado Cuber I Wood Salad Hands I Felt Wine Racks I Carved Aurelian Serving Set I Vika Sky Salad Set
Ingredients
- - 2 cups lettuce of choice (about 10 calories, depending)
- - 1/4 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese (45 calories)
- - 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce of choice, such as Amy's (about 35 calories, depending)
- - 2 tablespoons ranch dressing, such as Bolthouse Farms (45 calories, depending)
- - 1/2 cup cooked chicken breast, chopped (about 115 calories)
Instructions
- If chicken has not yet been cooked, do so according to instructions on packaging.
- On stove top, toss chopped chicken breast and BBQ sauce over medium heat until thoroughly warmed.
- In a salad bown, combine rinsed lettuce and cheddar cheese.
- Top with BBQ chicken and serve will ranch dressing.
Hey there! My name is Jordan Nettleship. I'm a Christian, an author, and a nutty health freak. I adore cooking, my husband Ryan, my puppy Mercedes, writing young adult fiction and being my weird self ;) I believe that "skinny" isn't about how you look, it's about how you feel.