Chopped Mexican Salad with Spiced Pepitas

Chopped Mexican Salad with Spiced Pepitas has a Honey-Lime Chipotle Dressing and a hearty festival of fresh Mexican flavors. It's fantastic on its own or with almost any main course.

This Mexican Chopped Salad with Spiced Pepitas is fun and festive, full of sweet and spicy flavors, and soft and crunchy textures.

It's hearty enough to be a main course salad, and also works as an excellent side dish.

Always a crowd favorite, much of the prep can be done ahead of time, so it's perfect for a party -- big or small -- and it'll make your family happy any time!

Jump to:

• Key Ingredients
• How to Make Chopped Mexican Salad
• Variations
• Serving Suggestions
• Can you make it ahead?
• More Scrumptious Salads
• Mexican Chopped Salad Recipe

Key Ingredients

• pepitas - Pepitas are pumpkin seeds -- the edible tasty seed beneath the white husk. They have a subtly nutty flavor and add the perfect crunch to salads. In this recipe, they're briefly roasted with honey and spices, which makes them extra delicious.
• poblano chiles - Poblano chile peppers add a smoky, earthy and warm flavor to recipes -- especially when roasted. Their heat level varies, but they're typically mild to medium. To save time (if need be): you can buy already roasted red peppers. They'll be sweeter and less smoky, but will still be a nice addition to the salad.
• avocado - Ripe avocados should yield to firm gentle pressure. They should feel only slightly soft for use in a salad, so they'll hold their shape when they're cut.
• tomato - There's nothing like a sweet summer tomato for any salad, but off season, you'll likely be happiest with cherry tomatoes. They will be the sweetest choice.
• jicama - Jicama, also called a Mexican potato or Mexican turnip, is a super crisp root vegetable with a very mild flavor that's ever so subtly sweet and reminiscent of water chestnuts. You can find them in any grocery store. If you need to substitute them, you can use apples.
• cilantro - This recipe uses a generous amount of cilantro. Since it's a love it or hate it ingredient (I love it!), you can replace it with fresh oregano, but use half as much. Or you can skip it all together. Choose bunches that are bright green and perky.
• chipotles in adobo sauce - Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce are jalapeño chiles that have been dried, smoked and packed in a sauce made of tomatoes and spices. They have a delicious smoky and spicy flavor. They come in a can and you should be able to find it in any major grocery store. A good substitution is a mixture of chili paste and smoked paprika.
• Manchego or Iberico cheese - Manchego and Iberico are both hard Spanish cheeses with a with nut-like flavor and a buttery texture that is just a bit crumbly. (Manchego also has a tangy flavor.) You should be able to find them in many large grocery stores, and definitely in upscale markets. Pecorino Romano, Parmesan and Asiago are all good substitutes.

Pro tip: Always taste your chile peppers before using them so you know what their heat level is. It can vary from pepper to pepper, and you might want to make a measurement adjustment if they're especially hot, unless that's what you want.

How to Make Chopped Mexican Salad

(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)

- First, roast and peel the poblano chile peppers. Place the peppers, one at a time, directly on top of a high flame on the stove. Use kitchen tongs to turn them as each side chars. Place them in a brown bag, fold over the top and let them steam for 10 minutes and when they're cool enough to touch, use your hands to peel off the skin.

Tip: If your stove is electric, roast the peppers in the oven under the broiler. Place them on a baking sheet directly under the broiler until the skin is charred and blistered, about 2 minutes. Flip them over and char the other side.

This salad has three components: Spiced Pepitas, Honey-Lime Chipotle Dressing and the mixture of produce and cheese.

- The Spiced Pepitas (pumpkin seeds). Mix the pepitas with honey, a little oil and spices, and then roast for just a few minutes.

Tip: When it's time to assemble the salad to serve, it's nice to save a small handful of the spiced pepitas to sprinkle on top.

- The Honey-Chipotle Dressing. Blend the lime juice, chipotles in adobo sauce, honey, spices and oil together. The dressing recipe may make a bit more than you'll need so you can use as much or as little as you'd like.

Tip: The easiest way to make salad dressing is in a jar. Add all of the ingredients at once, put the lid on tightly, and shake!

- The produce and cheese. Chop all of the produce, grate the cheese, and toss everything together with the pepitas and dressing.

Variations

• Add a protein. This chopped Mexican salad would great with the addition of chicken or shrimp. Especially Tequila Lime Chicken or Spicy Cilantro Shrimp. The addition makes it a really hearty main course salad. (The chicken should be cut into bite-sized pieces before you add it, but the shrimp can be added as is.)
• Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) would also be delicious in the salad.
• Mild version. The heat in the dressing is balanced and mellowed by the honey so it has a fantastic kick, but isn't overly spicy. If however, you don't want any heat, just skip the chipotles in adobo and use about ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika in the dressing. Also, sure to taste the poblanos to see how mild or hot they are -- skip them if they're too hot for you and use bell peppers instead.
• Vegan version. Just omit the cheese.

Serving Suggestions

The salad is excellent alongside so many main courses. It's particularly good with chicken, fish and steak. To keep the meal vegetarian, it's fun to serve it with Potato Soft Tacos. Below are a few more delicious ideas to serve with it . . .

Can you make it ahead?

Yes! Well, most of it.

• I make the pepitas a day or two ahead of time. They should be stored in a tightly sealed container, at room temperature.
• You can make the dressing up to 4 days in advance. It should be stored in a tightly sealed jar in refrigerator. Take it out the night before you want to use it and keep it at room temperature.
• Except for the avocados, you can chop all of the produce the day before. It should be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
• The cheese can also be prepped a day ahead. Grate or chop it and keep it stored in tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
• About 15 minutes before you'd like to serve the salad, cut the avocados and mix everything together.

Mexican Chopped Salad with Spiced Pepitas is a salad you'll devour like it's your favorite flavor of ice cream. (And by the way, my Cinnamon Ice Cream would be amazing to top off a meal with these flavors.)

More Scrumptious Salads

• Parmesan Asparagus Salad
• Tomato Basil Salad with Goat Cheese
• Mango Manchego Salad with Basil
• Cucumber Avocado Salad with Grapefruit

I hope you enjoy every last bite!

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