Strawberry Chicken Salad with Bacon and Avocado has everything you want in a great salad recipe!
The 4th of July summer holiday is over and now it’s time to get back on the eating-healthy bandwagon. Are you with me?!! I don’t know about you, but it’s felt like vacation every day for the last several weeks. And 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. I announced this to my husband last night and then made him eat this Strawberry Chicken Salad 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:
- 1/3 cup slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- dash of cayenne pepper, if desired
VINAIGRETTE:
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon strawberry jam (use less if you don't like it so sweet)
- 1/2 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
- 3/4 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 5 slices bacon, cooked until crisp (then crumbled)
- 1/3 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.
I can’t wait to try this….no nuts for us because of allergies but I will try it with roasted pine nuts or sunflowers seeds….looks very yummy
Oh my gosh, Lori.. I want to stick my head into that big bowl of salad goodness and never come out! All those flavors sound so tasty and harmonious together. Plus, hello, anything with bacon and avo is good in my book 🙂
Strawberries are one of my favorite additions to my salads! And then you went and added bacon and avocado which makes it even better!
This salad just screams summer to me!
Lori, thank you!
Did it; with all organic ingredients. Avocado gives texture. I used baby spinach leaves instead of mixed greens; for the vinaigrette: used raspberry vinegar; left out the strawberry jam (as the strawberries are so ripe and sweet) and the italian seasoning (as did not know which one to use; here – I’m very close to Italy and any supermarket offers not one but many types of italian seasoning, all with specific flavors; so, extremely hard to choose).
Was a great eat for a hot weather.
That looks like the Worlds Most Perfect Salad.
Beautiful!
I especially love salads in the summer with all the fresh produce available. This one looks not only colorful but yummy!
I was surfing your site looking for your recipe for your asian salmon (which I love), and came across this recipe. I made it for dinner and my husband and 2 boys loved it. This was a perfect dinner for a hot summer night.
Will definitely try this. Looks so refreshing but filling too. The balsamic, strawberry dressing will be something new for me but sounds really good.
Lori, thank you so much! I like simple, yet flavor-rich and delicious dishes. Will try this one out, however before going any further I have a question that you could possibly help with:
I’m in the South of France right now, local strawberries have a very strong flavor, are dark red inside and are so sweet; if I’d add the sugared almonds to them, I would get two dominant flavors in a single recipe, therefore not sure if both would work well together. Was wondering if some freshly ground almonds would do a better job (as ground almonds will bring neutral flavor)?
Now, regarding the cheese, I’d go for a mature goat cheese that is mature and firm in texture.
Thank you. I’m so enthusiastic, can hardly wait to hit the farmers’ market tomorrow.
All the best!!
Sure, or even just sliced, plain almonds would be perfect.