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This southwest salad recipe is fresh, colorful, and packed with bold flavor. It’s a bright, slightly sweet twist on a classic southwest salad, with juicy mango, crisp romaine, sweet corn, and a tangy lime-garlic vinaigrette. It works beautifully as a fresh side dish, a light lunch, or an easy dinner salad with grilled chicken.
This is “the” recipe that started this website! I created this salad decades ago, and my kids and their friends couldn’t get enough of it. I’d get calls from hungry teenagers all year long asking for the recipe, so I finally put it online where everyone could find it.
If you enjoy fresh, flavor-packed recipes like my Chicken Fajitas, Taco Meat, or a classic Strawberry Salad, this one belongs on your table too.
What Is Southwest Salad?
A southwest salad is a hearty, flavor-packed salad typically made with crisp lettuce, corn, beans, tomatoes, and a bold dressing—often creamy or citrus-based—with a mix of smoky, tangy, and slightly spicy flavors. This version keeps those classic southwest flavors but adds fresh mango and a bright lime-garlic vinaigrette for a lighter, slightly sweet twist.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- CRUNCH for days!
- Citrus and garlic flavor make a perfect marriage
- Just enough sweetness — thank you, mango + corn!
- Great as a main dish or a side!
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Grab These a Few Days Before Serving: It’s often necessary to buy your mango and avocado a few days before you plan to make this salad, as they’re not at their prime ripeness when you first purchase them. They benefit from ripening on the counter for a few days.
This Vinaigrette: Can be used to dress other things. Perk up roasted veggies, marinate chicken thighs before grilling, and drizzle over baked tomatoes or grilled salmon. Be sure to scoop out some of the garlic!
Make It a Main! Add grilled chicken, steak, apple chicken sausage, or shredded rotisserie chicken. Who doesn’t love a southwest chicken salad?!
SOUTHWEST SALAD INGREDIENTS + NOTES
- Southwest Salad Dressing: Soy sauce might seem like an unusual ingredient, and certainly not a traditional southwestern ingredient. I agree!! But you’ll love it! It brings just the right amount of salt and that deep, rich umami flavor.
- Lettuce: I love using romaine for that hearty crunch — but feel free to use other types of lettuce, too! Any lettuce is delicious with this dressing.
- Corn: To make this salad super easy, I use frozen corn — but fresh is always delicious! Grill up a few ears, cut off the kernels, and add them to your salad for a grilled twist and flavor upgrade.
- Peppers: Feel free to use any color pepper you like. The same grill mindset can be transferred to your bell peppers, too! Pop your red bell peppers on the grill before you cut them for an added crispy grill treat. Alternatively, you can roast them in the oven, as I do for my reader-favorite recipe, simple roasted peppers. I make this pepper recipe frequently. I love this as a speedy and easy side dish, and they are, honestly, almost candy-like.
- Mango: Mangos are readily available year-round in the US supermarkets. This salad is just the antidote for the winter blues! Whip it up during the cold, dreary winter months for an easy, healthy dose of summer flavor.
- Peaches: When peaches are in peak season, I like to switch out the mangos with chunks of fresh, juicy peaches. The combo is heavenly!
Variations + Add-Ins
- Beans: These are a great addition! Any beans will work. We like Ranch Beans, pinto beans, or black beans! Be sure to rinse and drain them thoroughly.
- Crushed Tortilla Chips: Add some crunch to the salad with some crushed tortilla chips or tortilla strips on top.
- Get Cheesy! Cheese is delicious in this salad. We like cubes of pepper Jack tossed in. Feta or Cotija cheese are also very good in this salad.
- Tomatoes: Add any tomato. Chopped and seeded Roma, grape tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes all work very well!
SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS
We like this with so many dishes! Grilled flank steak, shish kabob, Greek chicken, cilantro lime grilled chicken, grilled brats, grilled pork chops, chicken kebabs, no-peek chicken, huli huli chicken, pork tenderloin, Mississippi pot roast, and smothered chicken.
STORING + FREEZING + MAKE-AHEAD
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Refrigerator? Like most green salads, this salad recipe LOVES being chilled! And you’ll love it cold too — the flavors soar when chilled. Store your finished salad in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Can You Freeze This? Sadly, no! Salads do NOT like freezers. Lettuce wilts and turns quite slimy — it’s just never the same after it’s been frozen. Opt for the fridge only!
- Make-Ahead Tips: I love making the dressing ahead of time — up to a full day before serving — so the flavors have time to really get to know each other. Just give your jar a shake before topping your salad with it.
- Food Safety: For more information on food safety, please visit this link.
MORE DELICIOUS SALADS
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Southwest Salad
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Salad:
- 12 cups romaine lettuce torn
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 tomato chopped
- 1 sweet red pepper julienned
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed and cooled
- 3/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 avocados sliced
- 2 mangoes chopped
Instructions
- Make the dressing by adding all ingredients to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well to combine.
- Add all salad ingredients to a large salad bowl and toss to combine. Toss with dressing to taste right before serving.
I made this along with your white chicken enchiladas. O-M-G! What an awesome meal. I hate it when people say they’ve made a recipe then give a list of things they did differently. but I learned that it’s the basic recipe that made it all work, anyway, and that was the good thing. Having said that… I usually change up a recipe until I’ve tried it, but I had some black beans I needed to use up and did add those and I didn’t use the soy sauce.
Hey Donna! So happy you enjoyed it!! I make that combo often cuz my family goes crazy for it!! <3
I doubled the recipe and ate it all
Glad you liked it, Tessa! 😀