This simple grilled chicken salad is packed with creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber, and sweet dried cranberries all tossed in a homemade honey mustard dressing. It's quick, simple, and delicious!
Grilled Chicken and Avocado Salad
With a little preplanning and a scratch made dressing, you can't outdo a homemade salad.
This hearty salad recipe is a family fave! You might find dried cranberries an unusual addition to this otherwise savory grilled chicken salad, but trust me on this one - add them!
The sweetness of the dried cranberries with the sweet and tangy honey mustard make all the other ingredients taste even better!
Key Ingredients
- Grilled chicken - We grill up chicken often and keep it sliced in the fridge. If you don't want to do this, you can pick up a rotisserie chicken instead. Pull the meat and save the leftovers for another meal.
- Avocado - Make sure you buy a ripe, hass avocado. It should give a little when you press into it. It shouldn't be rock hard OR mushy.
- Tomato - I prefer firm tomatoes so i bought a vine ripened tomato.
- Cucumber - I recommend English cucumbers! They're naturally sweet and firm with thin skin - perfect for salad.
- Dried cranberries - These get expensive so I buy a huge bag at Costco. Don't skip them! The sweet-savory combo is top notch!
- Sliced almonds - or slivered almonds!
- Honey mustard - I highly recommend making it! It's so much better than store-bought and you only need pantry staples - mayo, mustard, honey, lemon juice, and salt.
How to Make it
The great part about salad is how quickly it comes together! With a little chopping and slicing, it's ready in about 10 minutes.
- Make the dressing: Homemade honey mustard is SO much better than store-bought! Just combine mayo, mustard, lemon juice, honey, and salt, then give it a good stir.
- Assemble the salad: Divide all the ingredients between two salad bowls. Drizzle each salad with honey mustard and toss to combine. You don't have to use all the dressing!
Expert Tips:
- Grill the chicken breasts ahead of time! I use this simple grilled chicken marinade, then slice them up, and store them in the fridge for easy dinners like this salad!
- You can swap the grilled chicken with white meat from a rotisserie chicken. This requires ZERO cooking which can be very helpful on a busy weeknight.
- For a classic honey mustard flavor, use yellow mustard. For something a bit different, try dijon mustard.
Storage & Make-Ahead Tips:
- I don't recommend storing this salad after it's dressed and tossed. Mixed greens wilt quickly!
- You can meal prep this salad though! If you prep everything, you can assemble it in 2 minutes. Make the honey mustard ahead of time, grill the chicken, and chop the tomato/cucumber. Store everything in the fridge and toss together right before eating.
Salad Recipes:
- Dawn's Vegetarian Pasta Salad
- Seared Shrimp and Avocado Salad
- Easy Canned Chicken Salad
- Kale Crunch Salad (Chick-Fil-A)
- Green Goddess Dressing Recipe
Well let's get to it. Happy eating!
Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe
This simple grilled chicken salad is packed with creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber, and sweet dried cranberries all tossed in a homemade honey mustard dressing. It's quick, simple, and delicious!
Equipment
- salad bowls
Ingredients
- 5 ounces mixed greens
- 2 grilled chicken breasts thinly sliced, see note
- 1 ripe avocado sliced
- ¾ cup freshly diced tomatoes
- ¾ cup diced english cucumber
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds
- ⅓ cup scratch made honey mustard see recipe
For the honey mustard:
- ¼ cup + 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- ¼ cup yellow mustard or mustard of choice
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- ½ tablespoon lemon Juice
- pinch kosher Salt
Instructions
For the honey mustard dressing:
- Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk to incorporate. Set aside.
For the Salad:
- Divide the ingredients for the salad between two large salad bowls. You can adjust the amounts as you see fit!
- Drizzle some honey mustard on each salad and toss to combine. You don't have to use all of it. Transfer leftover salad dressing to a jar with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
Note: If you don't want to grill up chicken breasts, you can use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store! Just pull the white meat from it and add it to the salads.
Nutrition
Calories: 595kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 65gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 152mgSodium: 531mgPotassium: 906mgFiber: 4gSugar: 26gVitamin A: 1402IUVitamin C: 26mgCalcium: 208mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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