Strawberry Chicken Salad With Champagne Vinaigrette Recipe

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 25 mins

Total: 40 mins

Servings: 8 servings

With fresh sweet strawberries, crisp candied walnuts, red onions, feta cheese, and sliced chicken breast served over a bed of greens, this salad is a perfect summertime (or anytime!) staple. It’s light, refreshing, and becoming an increasingly popular salad. However, what really sets this particular strawberry chicken salad apart from the crowd is its champagne vinaigrette dressing.

The dressing sounds fancy and tastes exquisite, but it's actually surprisingly simple to mix together and prepare. For best results, combine all ingredients in a Mason jar or other container with a resealable lid, close the lid tightly, and shake well until all ingredients are well-combined. Alternatively, you could whisk everything together in a small bowl, but I like this mason jar method best. It also serves as a simple way to store any leftover dressing you might have (and cuts down on dishes, which is always a win!).

This strawberry chicken salad is great with precooked or leftover chicken, or you can grill or bake chicken breasts specifically for this recipe. Instructions for doing so are included at the end of the recipe.

Ingredients

 For the Dressing:

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar

• 2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Salad:

• 9 ounces cooked chicken, about 3 cups chopped

• 5 ounces baby spinach and kale mix

• 8 ounces strawberries, tops removed and quartered

• 1 cup glazed walnuts

• 1 cup feta cheese

• 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

Steps to Make It

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. Prepare the champagne dressing first by combining extra-virgin olive oil, champagne vinegar, whole-grain Dijon mustard, lemon juice, honey, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a Mason jar with lid.

3. Secure the lid tightly and shake well until all ingredients are well-combined. Refrigerate while you prepare your salad.

4. If starting with uncooked chicken breast, prepare chicken by lightly brushing 3 chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper.

5. Place in a foil or parchment paper-lined pan and bake on 350 F for 25 minutes until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 F.

6. Slice chicken into pieces. Rather than baking, the chicken breast may alternatively be grilled, but substituting boneless chicken breast.

7. Combine chicken, quartered strawberries, walnuts, red onion, and feta cheese in a large bowl. Toss liberally. Top onto bed of mixed greens.

8. Serve alongside champagne dressing—be sure to shake or whisk dressing well before serving, as ingredients will settle.

Tip

• Make sure you prepare the salad dressing first, as that gives it extra time for the flavors to really meld together.

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	288
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g	28%
Saturated Fat 6g	28%
Cholesterol 47mg	16%
Sodium 477mg	21%
Total Carbohydrate 13g	5%
Dietary Fiber 2g	6%
Total Sugars 10g
Protein 12g
Vitamin C 23mg	113%
Calcium 131mg	10%
Iron 2mg	9%
Potassium 276mg	6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.