Mexican Chopped Salad

Mexican chopped salad is full of fresh vegetables, and black beans in a simple and healthy lime dressing. Get a fork full of wonderful with each bite!

In Arizona, this week, the temperatures are high! Since I love salad, this week is a week of salads. When planning my meals this week, there was no way I was cooking using the oven. The oven outside is hot enough. So, today, I made a chopped Mexican salad. Even though I love all salads, my Vegan Mexican chopped salad recipe is so filling and the dressing is so simple, it makes a perfect cool summer night meal. 

Jump to:

• Chopped Salad
• Ingredients
• Substitutions
• Dressing Ingredients 
• Dressing Substitutions
• Recipe FAQs
• Tips
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

Without a doubt, chopped salads taste different than other salads. Simply put, Mexican chopped salad has a unique texture. Not only do the ingredients all fit on one fork in each and every bit, but chopped salads are portable. For instance, I can eat a chopped salad, while working without having to cut or attempt to search my salad for a great combination of ingredients. Instead, each delicious bite is full of all the ingredients in my bowl. 

Chopped Salad

For instance, the goal of making any chopped salad is to chop all the ingredients into bite-sized pieces.

For that reason, I use my vegetable chopper to make my vegetables the same size. For Mexican chopped salad, I used the larger chopping blade for all the vegetables except for the jalapenos.

I chopped the jalapenos smaller, so to make them less overwhelming. 

Ingredients

• Romaine lettuce: I love the crispiness of Romaine lettuce chopped in a salad.
• Red onion: Red onion is sweet and not as harsh as white or yellow onions.
• Red bell pepper: Red peppers are also sweet and offer a freshness to a chopped salad.
• Jicama: Jicama is a root vegetable with thick, brown skin. It's white inside and tastes like an apple but not as sweet. It's a bit like a potato but with a lot fewer carbs. It tastes slightly sweet, refreshing, and very crunchy,
• Zucchini: Zucchini has a very mild taste that is slightly sweet, grassy, or green. Because of zucchini's mild flavor, it's a wonderful addition to any salad and is firmer, and has fewer seeds than cucumbers.
• Corn: I prefer fresh corn in the summer months.
• Grape tomatoes: Grape tomatoes are firmer and have less seed than cherry tomatoes.
• Jalapenos: When cooking with jalapenos, always wear gloves and remove the seeds and veins before chopping.
• Avocado: Avocado adds a creaminess to the chopped salad
• Cilantro: Cilantro is fresh and gives freshness.
• Black Beans: Black beans are firm and sturdy. They are meaty and a wonderful addition to a salad.

Substitutions

• Add-in Vegan Lentil Meat
• Instead of avocado, add guacamole
• Instead of dressing, add your favorite salsa or pico de gallo recipe
• Vegan sour cream is one of my favorite ways to serve Mexican chopped salad.
• If you don't like cilantro (some people say it states like soap), add basil or parsley for freshness.
• Jicama is similar to the texture of radishes. If you can't find jicama, try watermelon radishes, which are beautiful in color.
• Substitute pinto beans for black beans.

Dressing Ingredients 

Although there are always options, I chose to make a simple dressing that brings out the natural flavors in the salad.

• Lime Juice: Fresh lime juice is preferred. For even more lime flavor, add lime zest.
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup adds a little sweetness to the dressing.
• Cumin: Cumin brings a warm earthy flavor to the dressing.
• Coriander: Coriander is a very fresh-tasting spice. Its mildly sweet, lemony flavor is often harnessed in conjunction with other spices in savory recipes
• Garlic: The garlic in this recipe adds a warm buttery flavor to the dressing.

Dressing Substitutions

• Bottled lime juice is a substitute for fresh time juice.
• Date syrup or agave nectar makes a great sweetener for dressing.
• sing fresh herbs enhance the flavor of the dressing. Add cilantro for an extra flavor.

But, for those of you who prefer options, I suggest using vegan Southwest dressing, or maybe my vegan ranch dressing. 

Recipe FAQs

Tips

• Use a vegetable chopper to make uniform size vegetables.
• Do not dress the salad until right before serving.
• Tossing a salad in the dressing before serving allows for the dressing to saturate the entire salad.
• Use fresh herbs instead of dry herbs for the freshest taste.
• If you make the salad ahead of time, do not include the avocado until right before serving.

Try this Mexican chopped salad for a great lunch recipe or a quick, cool dinner this summer! This recipe takes less than 20 minutes from start to finish!

If you love this Mexican chopped salad, give us a 5-star review and a comment below!

📖 Recipe