Whats In This Grilled Chicken Salad
- Salad greens: the great thing about most FFF salads, is that you can choose whatever greens you like best. We chose Spring lettuce, but field greens, spinach, or arugula are great options.
- Grilled chicken: youll need about 1 lb. of grilled chicken or 2 large chicken breasts.
- Gorgonzola cheese: gorgonzola adds such great flavor to this salad! Not a huge fan? Try blue, goat, or even white cheddar.
- Apples: apples add crunch and a sweet flavor this really compliments the rest of the savory flavors.
- Blueberries: I love adding blueberries to salads because theyre not too sweet, yet they add so much flavor.
- Slivered almonds: what is a salad without a nut? Option to use whole almonds and chop them into smaller pieces.
- Bacon: because why not add bacon? Follow our tutorial on how to cook bacon in the oven or microwave bacon for the easiest way to cook your bacon.
- Homemade honey mustard: once you make this dressing, youll never go back to store-bought!
Recipe Notes Tips And Substitutes
- Chicken: we prefer using chicken breast since they are leaner. But you can use boneless chicken thighs. If you dont like chicken, use shrimp.
- We used romaine lettuce to make this salad but any other lettuce will do.
- Greek yogurt: this can be replaced with plain whole milk yogurt.
- You can use Avocado oil in place of olive oil
- Make sure the avocado you use is firm and not overripe.
- Do allow the chicken to sit for 5 minutes before cutting them.
- Do not overcook the chicken, it will come out dry and rubbery.
Grilled Za’atar Chicken With Cucumber
Watermelon is the name of the game uring the summer and, if youre looking for new ways to mix up the staple, you’re going to love this recipe. Pulling Middle Eastern influence from zaatar as well as Mediterranean flavors from hummus, this dish is bright and flavorful the perfect weeknight summer dinner.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Za’atar Chicken with Cucumber-Watermelon Salad
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How To Stop The Salad Ingredients From Sinking To The Bottom
Making salads at home always seems like such a great idea it will be bright, fresh, and healthy, and you just need to mix everything in a bowl. Sounds simple, right?
Well, anyone familiar with preparing salads at home will also be familiar with the dreaded pain of seeing all of their toppings and dressing at the bottom of the bowl, with only a bunch of leaves along the top. This means that the first few servings of a salad are mostly leaves and no dressing unless you really dig around into the bottom of the bowl first.
This happens because the toppings and dressing are heavier than the leaves, so, over time, they fall to the very bottom.
However, there is an easy way to get around this you just need to change up when mixing your salad:
- Instead of haphazardly mixing all of your ingredients together, wait until you are literally just about to serve your salad before you mix anything.
- This allows for the dressing and toppings to become interspersed with all of your salad ingredients but does not give it enough time to fall to the bottom of the bowl accidentally.
- Just stir it all up and then serve, and everyone should get an equal amount of toppings and dressing.
Looking for more delicious Salad recipes? Try these out:
How To Make Grilled Chicken Salad
This salad is a great way to enjoy grilled chicken in a fresh and light dish. Simply slice or chop grilled chicken breast. Cut grilled corn kernels off the cob. Toss chopped Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes sliced in half, chopped red onion and avocado in a big bowl. In a small cup, whisk oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and Italian seasoning or dried oregano. Pour over salad, toss gently to coat and serve.
This salad can be made using any grilled meat: shrimp, pork or beef kabobs, salmon, etc. All of the salad ingredients are perfect to complement any choice of meat. If you don’t have fresh corn on the cob that can be grilled, use canned or frozen and stir in with the rest of the salad ingredients.
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The Best Grilled Chicken Salad
We all love this easy salad recipe. It is so delicious and simple to prepare.
The kitchen stays clean and cool since the chicken is cooked on the grill. The salad ingredients are simple as well. Just a little bit of prep work to chop and that is it.
If you meal prep, this is a great recipe for that. It is also healthy and an all around great meal.
Give it a try for an easy meal that everyone will enjoy. If you have hearty eaters that think salad isnt a meal, this recipe will change their mind. It is always a crowd pleaser even for the biggest eaters.
It is simply amazing and easy to adapt to everyones preference. You can even set out a topping bar and let everyone make their own salad. It is a winner every time!
How Long Will It Take To Make The Meal
It wont take very long to make the Grilled Chicken Salad. Itll take about 15 minutes to prepare the marinade. Youll need to let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least an hour. Once your chicken sits in the marinade long enough, its only going to take a maximum of 20 minutes to cook it on the grill before assembling your salad.
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Mexican Grilled Chicken Salad
Our Mexican Grilled Chicken Salad is truly a feast for all five senses. Its an aromatic, crunchy, and colorful dinner option that is perfect for spring and summer cooking.
Finished with a simple 2-ingredient spicy tomato ranch dressing, this grilled chicken salad is at the very top of my shortlist right now.
Chicken With Red Pepper Sauce
This Red Pepper Sauce is one of a kind. A vodka-sauce-meets-roasted-red-pepper sort of creation, this creamy spread compliments the light flavor profile of grilled chicken with zest and tang. The sauce is also super easy to make, starting with a simple mix of ingredients like red peppers, garlic and onion.
Get the Recipe: Chicken with Red Pepper Sauce
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How To Make This Chicken Cobb Salad
- Cook the chicken Grill the seasoned chicken for 3-4 mins each side, then slice.
- Make the dressing In a small bowl add all dressing ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Assemble the salad In a bowl, add the lettuce first, then arrange chicken, eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and onions in a row.
- Garnish, serve, and enjoy!
- Boil your eggs in advance to speed things up.
- Leave out the chicken for a vegetarian option, its still really hearty and delicious!
- To make this recipe even quicker use rotisserie chicken.
- Try swapping hard-boiled eggs for poached eggs its delicious and gives the salad a brunch vibe!
- Chop your veggies into medium/small pieces. You want to be sure they arent so big that theyre difficult to fit in your mouth.
- You can swap in your favorite veggies and cheese, great for veggies languishing in the fridge.
- If you have a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, its the perfect container for making salad dressing. This is such a delicious dressing, you can make extra and store what you dont use in the jar in the fridge, making life even easier for the next salad!
- If you have any leftover chicken, serve it with some grilled veggies the next night.
- If you consume bacon, by all means, add some!
Why Make This Grilled Chicken Salad
If these photos dont immediately convince you that you need to make this grilled chicken salad recipe, here are a few more reasons why!
- High protein: 42g protein per serving makes this salad a great healthy lunch or dinner!
- Fresh: this salad packs in fresh fruits and veggies and there truly isnt anything better.
- Healthy Fats: our homemade honey mustard dressing is made with full-fat Greek yogurt and the slivered almonds add a nice touch, too.
- Balanced: youve got your protein, healthy fats, fruit, and veggies all in one meal! YES!
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Why This Recipe Works
- Packed with protein so it keeps you full longer! Makes a great healthy lunch or dinner.
- Easy meal prep! Double the recipe so you have lunches all week long.
- So easy to make it your own. Pick your favorite vegetables and pile them on. You could even serve it for company with a build your own salad bar!
How To Make This Salad Extra Saucy
One common complaint about most salad recipes is the fact that they can tend to be pretty dry and lacking when it comes to dressing.
While most people only think of salad dressing as a way to help lubricate all of the leaves and ingredients in the salad, it also serves a vital flavor function. Most salad dressings contain a good amount of fat, as well as plenty of other flavorings.
This fat and tasty seasonings and spices give the whole salad some much-needed flavor, allowing for a way better tasting salad experience.
While this dressing should be plenty tasty, some might find that it leaves everything a little bit too dry, especially if you have particularly dry feta or blue cheese.
But not to worry if you like your salad a little bit saucier, simply increase the amount of dressing you use! Other than the clove of garlic, all of the ingredients can be easily scaled up if you just double the whole thing, you wont even have to worry about trying to cut and prepare a clove and a half of garlic!
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More Ways To Season Grilled Chicken Breast
Use this recipe as a jumping-off point for any of your favorite rubs and seasonings. In addition to the go-to chicken marinade Ive suggested in the recipe below, here are a few more ideas to get you started.
- Lemon Grilled Chicken Breast. Zest 1 additional lemon into your marinade. Finish the grilled chicken with an extra squeeze of lemon juice.
- Italian Grilled Chicken Breast. Season the chicken with Italian seasoning. Serve topped with a handful of grated Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese.
- BBQ Grilled Chicken Breast. Instead of marinating, brine the chicken by sprinkling it with kosher salt. Let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Brush off the excess salt. Baste the chicken with Barbecue Sauce before and halfway through grilling. Serve with extra sauce for dipping.
- Buffalo Grilled Chicken Breast. Instead of brushing the chicken with BBQ sauce per the above, brush it with Buffalo sauce. Then use it to top this Buffalo Chicken Pizza.
- Teriyaki Chicken Breast. Create a marinade using 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade to brush over the finished grilled chicken.
Grilled Chicken With Avocado Pesto
This recipe is the perfect summertime dish for a couple of reasons. First, chicken skewers are portable, light and neat, so friends and family alike can move around your backyard BBQ, summer soiree or picnic party in an easy, mess-free fashion. Secondly, this Avocado Pesto is the best dairy-free alternative to the classic pesto out there. Creamy and a bit lighter than a parm-based sauce, this pesto is a great partner for classic grilled chicken.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Chicken with Avocado Pesto
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How To Cook Moist Chicken Breasts For Salads And Sandwiches
1. Start with completely defrosted chicken breasts. Never try to cook half-frozen breasts on the stove.
They wont cook evenly all the way through, and thats how you end up with raw insides and over-cooked outsides. Plus, if your meat is still frozen, its going to make the next step nearly impossible
2. Pound your chicken breasts to an even thickness. This is the secret to tender, moist chicken breasts! Meat that is all the same thickness is all going to cook at the same rate, so you arent going to get parts that are over-cooked and dried out.
Place your chicken breast smooth-side up between two layers of plastic wrap or in a large disposable plastic bag and go to town. Start with the thickest part of the meat and strike it, working outward until the breast is the same thickness all over.
3. Marinate or season your chicken breast before it goes on the heat. If youre marinating, nows the time for it. If the chicken is not being marinated, at the very least, salt and pepper that thing before putting it on the heat.
Even better, get creative and sprinkle on some of your favorite spices. Is it going in a Mexican salad? Use some taco seasoning. An Italian sandwich? A little basil and oregano would be perfection.
If at any time your chicken starts to brown too much, turn down the heat a bit and let it cook at a lower temperature.
How Long To Grill Chicken Breast
The amount of time you need to grill juicy chicken breasts will vary based on the size of the breast and how thinly you pound it.
- Small Chicken Breasts : 7 to 8 minutes
- Medium Chicken Breasts : 8 to 12 minutes
- Large Chicken Breasts : 14 minutes or longer
In a hurry? Try making Grilled Chicken Tenders, which cook in about 6 minutes.
- Chicken Marinade. No matter which marinade you choose , its critical to create the juiciest and most flavorful chicken breast. You can also simply combine olive oil, lemon juice, kosher salt, and any of your favorite spices and herbs: paprika, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, and rosemary are all excellent choices.
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How To Grill Chicken Breast Without Drying It Out
As with any method of chicken breast preparation , a few simple but critical steps will ensure your grilled chicken breast turns out juicy, moist, and well-seasoned all the way through.
To grill chicken breast without drying it out, be sure to follow these essential tips.
- . Marinades tenderize meat by changing its protein structure which helps it stay juicier for longer. Even 15 minutes can make a major difference in results.
- Pound. Pounding the chicken to an even thickness helps it cook more evenly on the grill so that the ends dont dry out before the center cooks through.
- Poke. While not strictly required, I like to poke holes all over my chicken breast with a fork to help the marinade absorb more quickly.
- Temp It. No matter what other careful steps you take to keep your chicken from becoming dry, NOTHING saves you if you overcook it. For best results, remove the chicken when it reaches the 155 to 160-degree F mark.
- Rest. No matter what kind of meat you are grilling , allowing it to rest is mandatory. Resting allows the juices to reincorporate into the protein. If you cut it right away, those yummy juices will escape onto the plate.
Chicken Salad To Get Excited About
Doesnt it look glorious?
I mean, really. Have you ever seen a more satisfying looking salad?
Weve been taking measures lately, to make sure we include more and more fresh raw produce into our diet. I would guess we enjoy a dinner salad at least twice a week, if not more.
I also try to eat at least one raw vegetable dish a day, so often I enjoy a salad at lunch. Yet to keep this up, my salads need to be exciting.
Theres something marvelous about cool crisp veggies topped with hot protein, dont you think? If I could demonstrate how I want to eat on one platter, it would be this Mexican Grilled Chicken Salad.
Veggies, veggies, and more veggies, topped with juicy seasoned grilled chicken, bacon, and crumbly cheese. Then smothered in a creamy spicy tomato ranch dressing.
That pretty much covers it.
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How To Grill Chicken For Salad:
- Preheat your grill. It needs to be over medium high heat .
- Mix together the seasonings. Combine the chicken seasonings together in a small bowl. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle the seasonings on each chicken breast.
- Grill the chicken. Place the chicken directly on the grill grates and grill the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. You do not have to use a grill pan unless you want to. The chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Allow the chicken to rest. Move the chicken to a separate plate to rest for at least 5 minutes.
How To Make Chicken Satay
- Prepare the satay marinade. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients to marinate the chicken olive oil, soy sauce, shallots, brown sugar, fish sauce, curry powder, garlic, ginger, cumin, salt, turmeric, and black pepper.
- . Pour the marinade over the chicken pieces and coat them well. Allow the chicken pieces to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Thread the skewers. Thread the chicken soaked in peanut chicken marinade onto a wooden or metal skewer until the end of the skewers.
- Grill the chicken. Place the chicken skewers on the griddle or grill pan and cook for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, turning the skewers often.
- Brush with peanut sauce. Once done, brush the prepared peanut sauce over the chicken skewers and garnish with red chili flakes, peanuts, cilantro, and lime wedges, and serve.
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