Looking for a fresh and delicious meal idea? Try this quick and easy Mexican avocado salad recipe that is not only healthy but also bursting with all the southwest flavors you love! These salad bowls make perfect meal prep lunches or quick dinners and are easy to vary by changing the main protein or leaving it out. Bonus – you’ll want to use the irresistible avocado dressing on everything!

This avocado salad is one of those recipes I find myself making for lots of meals and with different variations.

It’s great for meal prepping lunches with cooked chicken like I show here (just save the dressing for when you eat it) and makes a wonderful dinner bowl with the chicken or any other protein I have, including taco seasoned ground turkey or beef, leftover pulled pork, or even air fried fish sticks for a fish taco vibe.

The thing that makes it different – and amazing in my opinion – is the simple creamy avocado dressing that you whir up in minutes with Mexican flavors that you can spice up or not, as you want.

In fact, this dressing is so good I’ve used it on other green salads, bean salads, and to top a simple burrito bowl!

I found the original recipe in a 1970s compilation cookbook and made just a few changes to it. I love it and hope you do, too.

Recipe Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make these amazing avocado salad bowls:

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

Greens: I like romaine for it’s hearty texture that stands up to all these ingredients and the creamy dressing. But it is just the base of the bowl so you can use spinach, shredded cabbage, or a spring mix of lettuces.
Onions: green onions are shown, but I’ve often made this with chopped sweet onions or quick pickled red onions.
Olives: black or green work well – you can also omit them.
Cheese: cheddar, jack, or pepper jack are the best for the southwest theme.
Chips: choose your favorite or leave out completely (you would wait to add these when you eat the salad if you’re meal prepping).
Chicken: like I mentioned, any type of protein works in this salad! The canned chicken shown is super convenient, but frozen and thawed rotisserie chicken is yummy, as are the other things I listed: leftover pulled pork, taco seasoned ground meat, or crisped fish sticks or chicken nuggets. (I should mention that the original 1970s recipe used canned tuna, but that just does’t strike me as a good option here, so I’ve never tried it!).
THE dressing: again – the best part of this is the dressing! The ingredients are included in the recipe card, but I’ll say that it uses sour cream which I’ve substituted greek yogurt for with great success, so both options are included. Use your favorite Mexican hot sauce to whatever spice level you like – or leave it out.

Simple Steps to Make Avocado Salad

Remember – the full instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the printable recipe card below.

making avocado dressing with immersion blender

Step 1: Make the dressing. You can use a blender or food processor, but the easiest is to use an immersion blender. Place all the ingredients in a tall jar and whir until smooth. TIP: The dressing is better if it’s made at least 30 minutes before serving for all the flavors to meld together.

mixing up the salad ingredients with tongs

Step 2: Make salad. Chop ingredients as needed and add them to a large bowl, setting aside the chips, avocado and some of the grated cheese for toppings. Add some of the dressing and toss until evenly coated.

Step 3: Make the bowls. Divide the tossed salad between 3-4 bowls. Top with sliced avocado, extra cheese, and crushed chips, if using. I also added a few more olives and tomatoes just for looks. You can leave as-is or drizzle more dressing over the toppings.

avocado bowl with avocado dressing drizzle

Storage

Once the greens and veggies have been coated in the avocado dressing, this should be eaten right away, or at least a few hours.

For Meal Prep: To make this for weekday lunches, you can prep all the fresh salad ingredients but do not toss with the dressing. Divide into serving size containers and top with extra cheese and sliced avocados. Package up chips and small portions of the dressing for each one. When eating, drizzle with the dressing, toss, and eat with the chips.

Are these avocado salad bowls healthy?

A first glance at the nutrition and 750 calories a serving, you may wonder. But the bowl is the entire meal and contains 27 grams of protein with only 36 grams of carbohydrates (less if you omit the chips) and 12 grams saturated fat. The rest is full of good-for-you fats, vitamins, fiber (11g!), and minerals. So, yes, this is a yummy and healthy option for lunch or dinner!

I hope you enjoy this easy avocado salad recipe – if you make it, be sure to leave a rating and review so I know how you liked it!

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