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Grilled chicken with a creamy yogurt dressing

It’s salad time! And I’ve been eating salads on Keto since I started. It’s my go to meal because it’s a great one bowl wonder. It’s super easy to make and you can pretty much throw it together with left overs form your fridge or you can go all gourmet on it. For today’s recipe I’m making a very simple Keto chicken salad.

For this salad I’m using veggies I had in my fridge, some cucumber, lettuce and tomato. Some olives and feta (what a great combo) and some grilled chicken. And for the dressing I’m making a very basic olive oil and lemon vinaigrette with a yogurt twist. Now for my American friends, full fat greek yogurt is what I’m talking about, not that fruity stuff you find in your local supermarket.

Anyway enough jibber jabber, it’s time to whip up this salad.

Salad for two

The great thing about this recipe is that you can cook up a big batch of the chicken and also a nice large amount of the dressings which saves you time. You can pretty much assemble the salad everyday as your meal. I made sure that this salad is really packed with fat. That fat comes from the olive oil and it has flavour from the resting juices of the chicken. It’s the perfect Keto meal, IMHO. And remember, before you eat it, give it all a good mix.

Beware the salad?

People are always looking for a salad recipe, keto friendly or otherwise. Salads are the poster boys for healthy eating. I mean why would they not be, the foundation for salad is lettuce and other green leaves which have often been associated with healthy eating. But salad’s can be your enemy when it comes to weight loss.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing unhealthy about a salad. It’s just that salads can be very calorie dense dishes. I mean add some bacon, avocado and a generous amount of ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing and that’s a massive number of calories. Just because something is low-carb doesn’t mean it can’t make you pack on the pounds.

The key with a good salad is learning to balance the calories. This salad is a good example. It’s like 884 calories for the whole thing. But don’t let me put your off salads. I just want you to be mindful when eating them. I like a small salad as one of the side dishes with my meal.

Keto Salad Recipes

Do you need recipes for a salad? Yes of course. But you can also do without one. The key here is to have fresh ingredients and build layers of flavor. At the end of the day you want something that tastes good.

I’ve got some amazing salad recipes. We’ve got my mom’s tuna salad, a delicious seafood salad, an Asian style beef salad and a chicken junglee salad which is one of my easiest salads to make.

Make your own salad

The way I like to construct a salad is by starting with the protein. Could be anything from boiled eggs to chicken breast. Then I want to get an array of veggies. Stuff like red onions, cherry tomatoes, broccoli maybe, bell peppers etc.

Then I want some kind of dairy element like feta cheese, parmesan shavings etc. It really depends on what cuisine I want. Because if I’m doing say a Thai style salad then the dairy is a bit out of place.

You can also add a crunchy element. Something like sunflower seeds, peanuts or walnuts work well. Then for the dressing. Now I think about whether I want a mayo based one or something more simple like a vinaigrette. The options are endless.

Then you want some fresh herbs like cilantro, dill, green onions or parsley which you use at the end. Every salad needs some acidity so I’m thinking of lime juice, red wine vinegar, maybe some balsamic. I season with salt and pepper. And of course pick your lettuce of choice, could be romaine lettuce, could be iceberg, could be aragula.

Look at the end of the day the possibilities are endless for keto-friendly salads. Sure there might be a couple of extra grams of carbs from the veggies. But is it something to fuss over? Absolutely not. So whether you want a keto cobb salad or a keto broccoli salad go ahead and enjoy. And maybe throw some slices bacon on there too!