Strawberry Chicken Salad with Bacon and Avocado has everything you want in a great salad recipe!
When the summer holidays are over, it’s time to get on the salad bandwagon. Vacation for me means eating.. a lot… like whatever I want whenever I want. We’ve had our fun, and now it’s time to lighten thing up a bit. My newest salad is this Strawberry Chicken Salad that we love to eat for dinner.
It’s not like eating this salad for dinner is torture or anything. There’s a good amount of roasted chicken in there, sugared almonds, avocado and BACON.
I also sneak in some cucumber, yellow bell pepper, blue cheese and plenty of fresh strawberries.
The dressing is my GO-TO homemade vinaigrette: Strawberry Balsamic. Simple.
This Strawberry Chicken Salad recipe serves up 4 to 6 side dish salads, but if you’re eating it as a main dish salad and you’re really hungry, you may wish to just split the big bowl with someone else in your family (or halve the recipe). As for my husband- the guy who is never, ever excited about eating salad for dinner- he is delighted with this one, and I hear zero griping when I serve it. Praise, in fact, all-around. We both love it, and can eat the entire bowl between the two of us!
Here are a few more salads featuring strawberries that you might like to try:
- Strawberry Caesar Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Salad
- Triple Berry Salad with Sugared Almonds
- Strawberry- Avocado Salad with Balsamic Chicken
- Strawberry- Cucumber Salad
- Kiwi- Berry Salad with Raspberry Poppy Seed Dressing
- Strawberry- Melon Salad with Watermelon Vinaigrette
- Strawberry, Pistachio, Feta Cheese and Basil Salad
Strawberry Chicken Salad with Bacon and Avocado
Ingredients
SUGARED ALMONDS:
- ⅓ cup slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- dash cayenne pepper, if desired
VINAIGRETTE:
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon seedless strawberry jam (use less if you don't like it so sweet)
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
SALAD:
- 4 to 5 cups mixed greens (just measure by the handful)
- 1½ cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1½ cups chopped fresh strawberries
- ¾ cup chopped cucumber
- ½ cup chopped yellow bell pepper
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 5 slices bacon, cooked until crisp (then crumbled)
- ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese, feta cheese or goat cheese
Instructions
MAKE THE SUGARED ALMONDS:
- In a skillet, heat to medium and add the sugar. Let it start to melt, and then add the almonds. Stir until toasted and coated with the melted sugar. Add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, if desired. Remove almonds to a cutting board or plate and let them cool. Then break the almonds apart.
MAKE THE VINAIGRETTE:
- Add all vinaigrette ingredients to a shaker jar. Shake to combine and set aside while you prepare the salad.
ASSEMBLE THE SALAD:
- In a large bowl, add the greens. Top with the rest of the ingredients, and toss with the vinaigrette. Top with the sugared almonds. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is such an awesome looking salad, Lori! All my favorite flavors!
Salad doesn’t get any better than this 🙂
I try to serve salads for dinner but my husband always says that there is no way he would ever be full…I think this salad could change his mind.
that’s my husband!
Oh I am so going to have this really soon! I could dive in face first!!!
What a lovely Summer salad! Love everything in it.
LOVE this salad!!
All of my favorite ingredients in one salad! I LOVE the new little tag on your photo with the name of the recipe!
Loving this salad. Will make my mission to eat more salads much easier.
I seriously need 12 bowls of this salad after what I ate over the 4th! Love the flavor combo!
This salad looks amazing! I’ve been eating better after the holiday as well. This salad looks so good it won’t be depravation at all. The strawberry balsamic dressing sounds perfect.