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★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
You'll love this refreshing salad loaded with healthy fruits and veggies as well as protein! The strawberry salad can be made with a simple homemade poppy seed dressing or save time and use a store-bought dressing.
No cooking required.
This strawberry salad is made with rotisserie chicken, so no cooking required, making this a perfect lunch or dinner for warm weather days.
Packed with Vitamins
You'll love that this is packed with a variety of ingredients offering lots of vitamins and nutrients while still being incredibly delicious. This is not your typical strawberry salad!
A few unique ingredients include cucumbers, mandarin oranges, pecans and bacon for a kick of salt to balance out the sweetness.
Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing
The homemade poppy seed dressing is simple to whip up and is yogurt-based making it a healthy option that bring pro-biotics and packs additional protein.
This is an awesome salad to serve as dinner, no main dish required! This salad also works great for meal prep, just be sure to store your dressing on the side and drizzle it on top right before you're ready to dig in.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
This recipe is very versatile so feel free to swap in or out with your favorite salad combination.
Here's a look at everything you'll need, including ingredients to make your own dressing.
You can simplify and save time by grabbing bottled poppy seed dressing at the store, if you prefer.
For the Salad
- Chicken. I use traditional or lemon pepper rotisserie chicken. It works great and saves a bunch of time. You can cook your own chicken if you prefer. Any cooked chicken with neutral seasoning works.
- Bacon. You can cook your own or shortcut and use real bacon bits.
- Tomatoes. Either grape or cherry tomatoes work best.
- Strawberries. You want these fresh and ripe. If you can score some from a farmers market, your salad will taste that much better.
- Mandarin oranges. These can be found in a can or you can use fresh clementines if you prefer.
- Red onion. You can sub with yellow or white onion if you prefer.
- Cucumber. English cucumber works best, they are much less watery.
- Mixed greens. I like to use a spring mix that includes spinach for variety in color, flavor and vitamins.
- Pecans. These taste best lightly toasted but you can skip that step if you want to save time.
For the Dressing
- Poppy seeds
- Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper
- Avocado mayonnaise. This is a healthy alternative to regular mayo that still tastes great.
- Plain Greek yogurt
- White wine vinegar
- Honey. You can also use maple syrup if you prefer.
- Shallot
★ How to Make this Recipe ★
The strawberry salad and poppy seed dressing are easy to prepare in just a few steps.
Here's a look and what you'll need to do:
- Prepare fruits, veggies and chicken and place in a large bowl.
- Add dressing ingredients to a mason jar.
- Shake to combine.
- Spoon dressing into salad.
- Add mixed greens.
- Toss before serving.
Simple as that!
★ Tips & FAQs ★
Strawberry chicken spinach salad is a meal in a bowl, however, if you want to layer it with some carbs, you certainly can.
This salad pairs well with:
Crusty bread or rolls
Quinoa, couscous or orzo pasta
A light soup such as tomato-basil or red pepper gouda
Toasting pecans is optional but adds extra flavor. You can toast pecans three different ways. In the oven set to 350ºF and spread on a baking sheet for 5 minutes or until fragrant. You can also heat them in a skillet oven medium heat for about 5 minutes or until fragrant, or you can wrap pecans in a paper towel and microwave them for 30 seconds or just until fragrant.
Store any leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Keep the dressing separate if possible.
If you are feeding a crowd and aren't sure if you'll have leftovers, offer the dressing on the side for each person to add to their bowl of salad. That way if you do have leftovers, you can store the dressing separate from the salad. And then each person can add the quantity of dressing they prefer.
The salad will store well without the dressing for 1-3 days depending on freshness of the ingredients you started with. I like to shop ingredients the same day or the day before I prepare this salad for the best flavor and crisp textures.
★ More Salad Recipes ★
Want even more delicious, easy and healthy salad ideas?
Browse all my easy salad recipes and Pin your favorites for later!
This Strawberry Chicken Spinach Salad recipe was featured on South Your Mouth!
Strawberry Chicken Spinach Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 lb cooked chicken breast cut into ½ inch pieces
- ½ cup crumbled bacon (8 slices)
- 16 oz grape or cherry tomatoes halved
- 16 oz strawberries thinly sliced
- 15 oz mandarin oranges drained
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- ½ English cucumber diced (peel if desired)
- 11 oz spring mix with spinach
- ½ cup pecans lightly toasted (optional)
Poppy Seed Dressing
- 2 tablespoon poppy seeds more or less to taste
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper each
- ⅓ cup avocado mayo
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 4 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoon honey
- 1 shallot minced
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Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a jar or small bowl combine all of the dressing ingredients except poppy seeds. Mix together and then add poppy seeds and shake or stir to combine fully. Place in the fridge while you prep the salad.
- Prepare salad. Wash, slice, peel, and chop all of your salad ingredients accordingly. You can do this the day before if desired.
- Serve. In a large salad bowl, combine all of your salad ingredients. If serving immediately add dressing and toss or offer it on the side.
Notes
- Panera make a yummy poppy seed dressing you can buy bottled at grocery stores if you want to save time vs. making your own dressing.
- Use real bacon bits vs. imitation bacon bits for best flavor.
- You can use rotisserie chicken for this recipe, or you can tenderize (pound flat), season, and grill or bake your own chicken at 375ºF for about 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes, then slice before adding to your salad.
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