This BBQ Chicken Salad Lunch Prep meal is easy to prep at the beginning of the week and have for lunch all through the week. On Sundays, I prep either salads or soup for our lunches for the week. Taking time out at the beginning of the week to plan and prep for meals saves me so much time during the week. It’s something that I’ve been doing for years and today I’ll show you how to meal prep this salad for a week of lunches.

LUNCH PREP YOU WILL NEED

  1. (6) Glass Pyrex Storage Containers
  2. Cling Wrap
  3. (6) Stainless Steel Containers
  4. (6) Snack Size Ziplock
STEP 1: SET OUT INGREDIENTS AND CONTAINERS IN AN ASSEMBLY LINE

My BBQ Salad recipe, is written for 6 lunch prep meals and you will need the following:

  1. 2 (6-7 ounce) bags of butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce
  2. 1 Rotisserie chicken or 1 pound of cooked and shredded chicken
  3. 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans
  4. 1 (15-16 ounce) can or bag of frozen corn
  5. 1 bottle of favorite barbecue sauce
  6. 1 bottle of favorite ranch dressing or homemade ranch dressing
  7. 1 (5 ounce) bag of tortilla chips
  8. 1 (8 ounce) bag of shredded cheese (optional)

I prep all of the ingredients and lay them out creating an assembly line. The ingredients that need prepped are the chicken and the black beans. The chicken will need to be shredded and the beans drained. I divide the 2 bags of lettuce evenly, which is about 2 ounces of lettuce per salad.

STEP 2: HOW TO KEEP THE INGREDIENTS FRESH

I lay out 6 slices of cling wrap on my kitchen counter top and place a row of chicken, black beans, and corn onto the cling wrap. Then I roll up these ingredients together creating a chicken/bean roll. This hack will keep the lettuce fresh and prevent it from becoming soggy. (See picture below for example.)

STEP 3: BUILDING THE SALAD

This BBQ Salad Lunch Prep meal keeps fresh in a glass pyrex. I place the butter lettuce to the side of the glass pyrex, and then place the chicken/bean roll beside the lettuce. I add the ranch dressing to a small stainless steel container with a lid and put this next to the chicken/bean roll in the glass pyrex. If you want to add shredded cheese to the salad, you can place that beside the chicken/bean roll on the opposite side of the lettuce. I then crunch up a few tortilla chips and place them in a small snack size ziplock bag.

STEP 4: READY FOR LUNCH

When you are ready to eat the salad, remove the chicken, beans, and corn from the cling wrap and spread it over the bed of lettuce. Next, add the cheese, chips, and dressing to the top of the salad.

TIPS

Any salad can be packed this way to maintain freshness as long as you separate the lettuce from the other vegetables or ingredients. I hope this inspires you to prep salads for your lunches and replace your lunch with a salad. I would love to know if you enjoy this meal prep lunch idea and would like to see more in the future.

BBQ Chicken Salad Lunch Prep by Lindsey's Table

BBQ Chicken Salad Lunch Prep

Lindsey Cochran
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 salads

Equipment

  • 6 glass pyrex containers
  • 6 small condiment containers with lids
  • Cling Wrap
  • 6 snack size ziplocks

Ingredients
  

  • 2 (6-7 ounce) bags of butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce
  • 1 Rotisserie chicken or 1 pound of cooked and shredded chicken
  • 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans
  • 1 (15-16 ounce) can or bag of frozen corn
  • 1 bottle of favorite barbecue sauce
  • 1 bottle of favorite ranch dressing
  • 1 (5 ounce) bag of tortilla chips
  • 1 (8 ounce) bag of shredded cheese

Instructions
 

  • Clean the meat off of the rotisserie chicken and shred it using two forks.
  • Add desired about of barbecue sauce to the shredded chicken and mix together.
  • Drain the can of black beans.
  • Set out all ingredients and lunch containers on the kitchen counter, creating an assembly line.
  • Lay out 6 slices of cling wrap onto the kitchen counter.
  • Evenly divide the barbecue chicken, black beans, and corn into 6 portions and lay a row of each onto the cling wrap. (see example in blog post)
  • Roll up the barbecue chicken, black beans, and corn in the cling wrap, set aside.
  • Next, evenly divide the lettuce into 6 portions and add it to the side of each lunch container.
  • Place a chicken/bean roll beside the lettuce in each lunch container.
  • In 6 small condiment containers with lids, add 2 tablespoons of ranch dressing to each container.
  • Place the lids on the ranch dressing containers and set them beside each of the chicken/bean rolls in the lunch container.
  • May add desired amount of shredded cheese beside the chicken/bean roll to the opposite side of the lettuce.
  • Crush up a handful of tortilla chips and evenly divide them into 6 small snack size ziplock bags.
  • Place all six of the salads into the refrigerator until you're ready for lunch.
  • (Do not refrigerate the crushed up tortilla chips.)