Your favorite already cooked chicken nuggets makes this shortcut fried chicken salad recipe both super easy and super delicious!
Things I am not shy about include the following: That I am totally willing to put bacon into pretty much anything, including all forms of dessert.
That I keep a bag of puffed Cheetos in my house at all times in case of, you know, emergency. Puffed, not the crunchy kind, although the Southern husband loves the crunchy kind so we have those too.
That every once in a while, it is okay to serve your family Frito Chili Pie for dinner, so long as you make them something super-healthy both the day before and the day after.
And that there is a time and place for working chicken nuggets into your salad, and that if you do, your fried chicken salad is going to taste all kinds of magnificent.
And on a whole other level of things that I am not shy about, I am not shy about telling the entire world how proud I am of my smart and sassy daughter.
Last weekend she received the Blue Key Award from Clemson University’s School of Education. This award goes to one student in the college who has distinguished themselves in terms of academic scholarship and campus leadership. For this year it’s my bunny.
I’m not shy about saying I am overwhelmed with admiration and love and I spent most of the ceremony just looking at her and remembering when she was three and would only eat raisins and her favorite book was The Little Red Hen and now she is winning The Blue Key Award and how did things go by so fast?
This interlude has been brought you by the Proud Mama Society.
let’s make shortcut fried chicken salad!
Anyway, back to dinnertime. This is my version of the fried chicken salad that the Southern husband always orders whenever he sees it on any menu at any time.
It’s basically a combo of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, ranch dressing (you can also use blue cheese) and the star of the show, little pieces of fried chicken, and the reason I have never made it is because the thought of frying chicken for a salad always made me immediately need to take a nap.
And then one day, lightening struck in my head.
There are all kinds of places that RIGHT THIS MINUTE are making some pretty dang good fried chicken, some in the perfect shape for a shortcut fried chicken salad. Sometimes I use the KFC popcorn nuggets for this one, but my current favorite chicken nuggets come from always scrumptious Shake Shack.
Yep, they are better known for their burgers and their shakes (which I also love) but they make a pretty dang good chicken nugget. I get a box per person (which also allows for the pilfering that goes on during the 15 minutes it takes to make this salad.
And the rest is history.
We may be having shortcut fried chicken salad on a weekly basis now that I have finally figured this out.
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Shortcut Fried Chicken Salad
Prep Time: 15 minutes- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
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Pin RecipeDescription
Your favorite already cooked chicken nuggets makes this shortcut fried chicken salad recipe both super easy and super delicious!
Ingredients
- 18 – 24 of your favorite already cooked chicken nuggets, either warm or a room temperature
- 1 head romaine lettuce, rinsed and chopped into large pieces
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1/4 cup Ranch or blue cheese dressing
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into a large bowl. Drizzle about 1/4 cup ranch dressing over the top and toss gently with clean hands (yes hands – they are the best salad tossers you have) until everything has a light coating of dressing.
- Place salad on plates, drizzle a little more dressing on top for garnish if you like and serve.
- Wasn’t that the easiest salad recipe EVER?
Notes
Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying!
I totally buy frozen breaded chicken for this exact reason. Yes, the list of ingredients is long, and most of them are impossible to pronounce, but crispy chicken salads are delicious. I bake it, so it’s kinda healthy, right. ;) I love the idea of having everything ready to go, then having The Dad pickup the chicken on his way home from work. Win win! Congratulations on raising a “winner.” I can only hope we do as well with our own three.
Every once in a while I think we are totally allowed to take fried chicken shortcuts! And thanks for your sweet words – I have no doubt that you have three winners around your supper table! xo
Kate..
Recipe tip=good
Southern Daughter and her award=PRICELESS!!
Isn’t it nice to see our daughters becoming wonderful young women? You and her Dadook so proud as you should be and she
Looks over the moon, as she should be!
Congrats to you all!❤️
It IS priceless! Thanks for your sweet words, as ever. You always make me smile!
Or Dad look!(not Dadook!)
And see…STILL making me smile! :) :)
Kate, Who doesn’t love a fried chicken salad, right? After decades of making dinner from scratch almost every night, I now look for shortcuts and easy dinners too. In fact tonight it’s leftovers from a steak dinner being turned into an omelet dinner. What I really wanted to say though was congratulations to your daughter and your family on her recognition. I am also a member of the “Proud Mama Society” with an only daughter in a Southern football school as well and she gives me much to be proud about :) Keep cooking Kate.
Laurie, thanks so much for this! Congrats to you too on your wonderful bunny – they are the best things we have ever cooked up, right! xx
Easy and delicious recipes are always welcome, right this amazing salad. Thank you for this idea. I love yummy and how much is can possible to be healthy meals. Again thank you for this recipe and continue with this your creative ideas.
Thanks Darija! So glad you like it!
Magnificent idea! I can’t wait till next week so I can put this on the menu (already made and shopped for this week’s)! And I love reading your introductory remarks leading up to the recipe–they always entertain me. I’m so glad Southern people know how to enjoy food, and not have to be health food Nazis. Eating fried chicken and frito pie makes however long we’re going to live more fun than if we had only eaten what is the current superfood. Also, I like puffy Cheetos, but I don’t always have a bag for Cheeto emergencies because when the bag comes into the house, I eat them in like 2 days, then I’m out of Cheetos again. Your daughter is wonderful.
Thanks Trudy – and sounds like we are sisters in menu planning. I do mine on Saturday, shop on Sunday and then don’t have to spend one second thinking about what’s for dinner! And YES! Food needs to be fun – it’s one of the great joys of life. Long live Cheetos! :)