Ranch Chicken Broccoli Salad (keto)

This keto ranch chicken broccoli salad is a scrumptious low carb salad that is perfect for a quick lunch or to take to a picnic. Loaded with chicken, bacon, ranch, cheddar cheese and the crunch of chopped broccoli to make a filling low carb high protein salad. Each serving has 19.8g protein and only 3.7g net carbs per serving plus there are only 6 ingredients.

You might also like this keto loaded broccoli cauliflower salad.

Broccoli salad is one of my favorite foods in the summer time. Do you know the one that’s a bit sweet and has cheese and bacon? I made a low carb version with added cauliflower that was a big hit on the blog so today I changed it around a bit made this keto ranch chicken broccoli salad. It has a different dressing and added chicken for a protein boost and make it more of a meal.

Best of all you only need 6 ingredients and 10 minutes to make this tasty low carb side dish. And it has only 3.7g net carbs but 19.8 grams of protein. It’s a very tasty and filling dish that’s perfect for a low carb and protein packed lunch or picnic salad.

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

There are only six ingredients in this recipe and they are chopped broccoli florets, chopped cooked chicken breast, fresh bacon bits, shredded cheddar cheese, minced red onion and bottled or homemade ranch dressing.

• chicken – I use cooked chopped chicken breast that I always have on hand in the freezer. I buy a rotisserie chicken and chop up the meat. Then freeze in 1 cup portions for recipes like this. You can use leftover grilled chicken or even canned chicken if you want.
• fresh broccoli florets – You want to use fresh broccoli in this salad and while you can eat it raw, recently I’ve been blanching it to make it easier to digest. I just cook it for 1-2 minutes in the microwave then quickly drain the water out and add a few ice cubes to retain the color and keep it from cooking any more. You can eat it raw or blanched. I would not use frozen broccoli florets though.
• bacon crumbles and cheddar cheese – These both add flavor and some protein. You could use other cheeses but I like the flavor of cheddar. If you don’t eat bacon you can eliminate it.
• red onion and ranch dressing – I love the color of red onion but you can use yellow onion if you prefer or even green onions. I love homemade ranch dressing but you can use bottled if you want. I also have a homemade dairy free ranch recipe if you are interested.

How to make keto ranch chicken broccoli salad.

The rest of this recipe is straight forward. As I mentioned above often buy rotisserie chicken from Costco, chop up the meat and freeze portions for dishes like this, soups or casseroles. The bones I use to make a bone broth. They are both great staples to have on hand.

1. If you are making your bacon start there and when done, drain on paper towels or a paper plate and when cool, crumble into bits and set aside.
2. You can use raw broccoli or blanched. If you are blanching your broccoli, add it to a microwave safe bowl and cook for 1-2 minutes. Take it out and add a few ice cubes to the dish to stop the cooking process and to keep the green color. Drain the water and add the broccoli to a large bowl. (Note you can also blanch by getting a pot of water boiling, add the florets and cook for 1-2 minutes. Take them out and place in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.)
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix together well. Refrigerate for about an hour so that everything is cold and the flavors combine.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card. 

Recipe notes and tips.

• You can use raw or blanched broccoli in this salad. If broccoli is hard for you to digest, blanch it. Place it in the microwave for a few minutes and then douse it in a bowl of ice water to blanch it.
• If you use pre-cooked bacon and rotisserie chicken breast you can make this in 5 minutes. You can even use canned chicken if you want.
• I used ranch dressing but if you prefer the sweet, creamy dressing fror broccoli salad use it. I prefer homemade but I often use bottled Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. You could always use your favorite homemade creamy dressing too.
• This salad is more like a meal than a side dish so feel free to make it for a summer dinner or lunch.

This is a more of a meal than a side salad since it has the chicken in it. I think it would be great to take to a potluck or summer party but I ate it as a filling lunch. I hope you like this low carb high protein ranch chicken broccoli salad as much as I did.

And check out all of my low carb salad recipes here!

The nutritional information for 1 serving is: 254 calories / 16.5g fat / 4.9g carbs / 1.2g fiber / 19.8g protein = 3.7g net carbs