Description
A vibrant and flavorful Loaded Chicken Salad featuring tender pan-cooked chicken breasts, crisp fresh vegetables, and a zesty honey mustard vinaigrette. This wholesome salad combines juicy tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, hearts of palm, avocado, and savory bacon pieces atop a bed of mixed salad greens for a satisfying and healthy meal.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts (pounded out to 1/2 inch)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1–2 tbsp olive oil
- Bacon (cooked and cut into pieces)
Salad Vegetables & Toppings
- Lena’s Kitchen pickled onions
- Tomatoes (cut into wedges)
- Radishes (sliced)
- Cucumber (thinly sliced with a peeler or knife)
- Hearts of palm (sliced)
- Avocado (sliced)
- Salad greens (mixed variety)
Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp mustard
- 1 ½ lemon (juiced)
- ½ small shallot (finely chopped)
- ½ tbsp honey
Instructions
- Prepare Honey Mustard Vinaigrette: Finely chop the shallot and combine it with olive oil, mustard, fresh lemon juice, and honey in a bowl. Whisk thoroughly until all ingredients are well combined, then set aside.
- Prepare Chicken Breast: Remove chicken breasts from the refrigerator and allow them to reach room temperature, about 30 minutes. Place the breasts in a plastic bag and pound them with a meat mallet until they are an even 1/2 inch thickness.
- Cook Chicken: Preheat a pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil, and place the chicken breasts in the pan. Cook each side for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Remove the chicken and cover loosely with foil to rest for 10 minutes.
- Slice Chicken: After resting, slice the chicken breasts into thin pieces suitable for salad topping.
- Prepare Vegetables and Toppings: While the chicken cooks and rests, slice and prepare the tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, hearts of palm, avocado, and bacon pieces. Also have the Lena’s Kitchen pickled onions ready.
- Assemble Salad: In a large bowl, place the salad greens, then arrange the sliced chicken, prepared vegetables, pickled onions, and bacon on top.
- Dress and Serve: Drizzle the prepared honey mustard vinaigrette over the assembled salad. Toss gently if desired and enjoy immediately.
Notes
- Allowing chicken to come to room temperature before cooking ensures even cooking and better texture.
- Resting the chicken after cooking helps retain its juices making it tender and juicy.
- Pounding chicken to an even thickness ensures uniform cooking.
- Use fresh, high-quality mustard and lemon juice for the best vinaigrette flavor.
- The salad is versatile; feel free to add or substitute vegetables based on seasonality or preference.
- Bacon can be omitted or substituted with a vegetarian option to modify dietary preferences.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Loaded Chicken Salad, Honey Mustard Vinaigrette, Pan-Seared Chicken Salad, Healthy Chicken Salad, Fresh Vegetable Salad
