Protein Packed Salad Bowls

Today's Protein Salad Bowls combine the best salad and the best bowl recipe. These bowls have everything!

These healthy bowls start with a base of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and corn—the salad. Then, for lots of protein and fiber, there's chicken, bacon, quinoa, and the most delicious crunchy roasted chickpeas. Everything is finished with the most delicious creamy cilantro ranch dressing, made with protein-packed cottage cheese. Trust me, they are so good!

The other fantastic thing about this salad bowl recipe is how versatile they are. Follow the base recipe to ensure lots of protein, but swap in different proteins, beans or lentils, veggies, and salad dressing. It's a blueprint for the perfect protein power bowl.

Why You’ll Love These Protein-Packed Salad Bowls

• Great for meal prep: This salad is perfect for meal prep and will keep you full, satisfied, and energizing since it is packed with protein, fiber, and healthy fats.
• Healthy and nutritious: This salad bowl has it all with tons of veggies, whole grains, and protein. One serving of this salad has 42 grams of protein!
• Utilize leftovers: Use this recipe as a blueprint to make all kinds of protein salad bowls using whatever combination of leftover protein and veggies you have on hand.

Ingredients and Swaps

Here is everything you need for this salad. Feel free to swap in your favorite dressing.

• Chicken: You can make this salad with any type of cooked chicken you like, including rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, or even canned chicken. You could also swap in any other cooked protein you like.
• Chickpeas: With 15 grams of protein per cup, roasted chickpeas are a great way to add crunch, protein, and fiber to this salad bowl. You can swap in edamame, lentils, soybeans, green peas, or other beans.
• Turkey bacon: I love the salty crunch of bacon in a salad. You can swap in traditional bacon or deli meat, or simply skip it.
• Quinoa: Quinoa has more protein and fiber than rice or pasta. You can swap in another green or skip it for a lower-carb option.
• Greens and veggies: I usually make this salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, and green onions. You can use any combination of vegetables and fresh herbs you like.
• Goat cheese: I love the creaminess goat cheese adds to this salad. You can swap in any cheese you like. Or skip the cheese and add some crunch with almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or walnuts.
• Protein cottage cheese dressing: This salad dressing is a creamy cilantro ranch dressing made with cottage cheese for extra protein. Make a quick vinaigrette using olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper for a lighter dressing.

Instead of using…

These power salad bowls are versatile. You can make them with almost any combination of protein and veggies. Here are some of our favorite swaps.

• Chicken: Swap in another cooked protein like salmon, steak, tuna, tofu, chicken thighs, chicken sausage, hard-boiled eggs, or deli meat like turkey or ham.
• Chickpeas: You can also make this salad bowl with lentils, black beans, white beans, edamame, or hummus.
• Quinoa: You can substitute it for brown rice, white rice, farro, cauliflower rice, cooked sweet potatoes, or any other whole grain.
• Turkey bacon: Use center-cut bacon, salami, ham, or another salty deli meat.
• Goat cheese: Try this with feta, cheddar, fresh mozzarella, parmesan, or blue cheese.
• Greens: Use arugula, baby kale, spinach, shredded cabbage, broccoli slaw, or butter lettuce.
• Cottage cheese: You can make the dressing with Greek yogurt, plain yogurt, avocado, or a combination of yogurt with mayonnaise or sour cream.
• Cilantro: Swap in fresh herbs like basil, chives, mint, or parsley.
• Ranch seasoning mix: Combine garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs, salt, and pepper, or substitute your favorite seasoning mix.

Meal Prep: The Perfect Mason Jar Salad

This salad is perfect for meal prep, and we love making a layered salad in a mason jar. However, the order is critical so the salad doesn’t get soggy.

1. Dressing, hummus, spreads: Always start with your dressing, salsas, and sauces.
2. Hearty, crunchy vegetables: Things like red onion, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, beets, cabbage, carrots, and onions that won’t get soggy in the dressing.
3. Protein: This includes chicken, chickpeas, beans, lentils, tuna, tofu, eggs, etc.
4. Beans, grains, pasta, or corn: Add beans and grains like quinoa, farro, rice, or pasta on top of the protein. This layer could also include corn, roasted potatoes, or edamame.
5. Remaining veggies: These soften more quickly, like bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, sprouts, green onions, or cucumbers. If you aren’t sure where to add a vegetable, add it to this level.
6. Nuts, seeds, cheese, avocado: Add your cheese, nuts or seeds, avocado, and other crunchy add-ins like crispy bacon or roasted chickpeas.
7. Leafy greens and herbs: Finish with your greens, lettuce, and any fresh herbs or delicate ingredients.

Variations and Recipe Ideas

Here are some popular variations of this protein-packed salad bowl.

• Vegetarian: Swap tofu, tempeh, or vegetarian sausage for the chicken and bacon, or double the chickpeas.
• Low-carb/keto: Skip the quinoa and corn. Swap in lower-carb edamame for the chickpeas. Or double the chicken.
• No cook options: If you don’t feel like cooking any ingredients, swap in rotisserie chicken or deli turkey breast. Skip roasting the chickpeas or swap in bagged roasted chickpeas. Use precooked quinoa or brown rice.
• Dairy-free: In the salad dressing, swap in dairy-free cottage cheese, yogurt, or avocado. Skip the goat cheese and sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Or use your favorite vinaigrette or salad dressing.
• Italian-inspired: Make the dressing with basil pesto instead of ranch seasoning and cilantro. Use lemon juice instead of lime. Use white beans, pancetta or salami, and orzo instead of quinoa. Add roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, and olives to garnish.
• Mexican-inspired: To make the dressing slightly spicy, add a jalapeno. Then, use black beans, queso fresco, diced avocado, and pico de gallo.
• Greek-inspired: Make the dressing with fresh parsley, basil, and oregano. Use Greek dressing seasoning mix instead of ranch, and add lemon juice. Add feta cheese, pepperoncini, black olives, and bell peppers to the salad, and skip the corn.

More Salad Protein Options

Here’s a list of some of the best proteins to add to a salad, including their protein content per cup:

Animal-Based Proteins

1. Grilled Chicken Breast: 43 grams per cup
2. Tuna (canned in water): 39 grams per cup
3. Hard-Boiled Eggs: 12 grams per cup
4. Grilled Shrimp: 24 grams per cup
5. Turkey Breast (cooked, diced): 38 grams per cup
6. Cottage Cheese (low-fat): 28 grams per cup
7. Salmon (cooked, flaked): 39 grams per cup
8. Beef (cooked, diced, or sliced): 31 grams per cup

Vegetarian Proteins

1. Lentils (cooked): 18 grams per cup
2. Chickpeas (cooked): 15 grams per cup
3. Edamame (cooked): 17 grams per cup
4. Tofu (firm): 20 grams per cup
5. Quinoa (cooked): 8 grams per cup