Juicy balsamic chicken, strawberry, and apple salad topped with creamy balsamic dressing, feta cheese, and chopped pecans.
You guys, I have a serious salad addiction. Every single time we have Sunday dinner with my in-laws I ask what to bring, my MIL says I can bring anything I want, and then I bring a salad. Every. single. time. But that’s not even the half of it because that’s just a Sunday dinner thing – we have a salad with or for dinner every weeknight too. It’s my go-to for an easy main dish or side.
And I’m being one hundred percent honest when I tell you that we are having salad for dinner tonight.
The addiction is real.
I would say that I make my own salad dressing about 2/3 of the time. The truth is that there are a few store-bought salad dressings that make their way into my basket on a regular basis because I just love them so darn much and ninety percent of the time, those salad dressings are from the cold section. I always feel a little better about using cold salad dressings because they don’t have all of those extra preservatives to keep them shelf-stable and in reality, I just think they taste better so when The Marzetti® Brand asked if I would be interested in collaborating on a salad using one of their new Simply Dressed dressings, I was like YESSSSSSS – I have a bottle of your dressing in my fridge right this second.
Do I want to blabber on about a salad dressing I already purchase and use on a regular basis? Uh, YEAH. No brainer.
So here’s the fun thing about this salad – you cook the chicken in the dressing AND top the salad with it. GENIUS RIGHT?!? Okay got a little excited there. But really, there’s so much flavor going on in this salad with the balsamic chicken + apples + strawberries + nuts + crumbled cheese + mooorrrrre creamy balsamic on top that I can’t help but get a little over the top about this one.
And we’ve already established that I’m a crazy salad-obsessed cuckoo person so over the top was to be expected.
Balsamic Chicken, Strawberry, and Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts - pounded to even thickness
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup balsamic salad dressing - divided
- 6-8 cups baby spinach
- 1 thinly sliced - (any yellow-red apple will do great, I used fuji)
- 1 ½ cups sliced strawberries
- ⅓ cup feta cheese crumbles
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Brush chicken on both sides with some of the balsamic dressing.
- Cook chicken on the stove in a greased skillet or on the grill over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side until cooked through. Brush again with balsamic dressing on both sides and cook another 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate or cutting board and slice into strips.
- Assemble salads with spinach leaves on the bottom. Top with strawberries, apples, chicken, feta cheese, and pecans.
- Serve salad immediately with remaining balsamic dressing.
Notes
Nutrition
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The Marzetti® Brand. The opinions and text are all mine.
I love using Simply Dressed dressings, my favorite salad is as follows: mixed greens dressed ( I add chopped dill to the greens), with the Caesar dressing, I add black olives sliced or whole, beets ( you may roast your own, then julienne or cube them) I often used canned julienned beets, chick peas, crumbled feta cheese. I bake pieces of salmon seasoned with a spice rub, garlic butter, lemon juice and dill then top the salad with the fish.
hey girl this looks so yummy! I need to eat more salads! I love Braum’s salad mixture you get in their market sunflower crisp! It is so good, chopped up kale, cabbage, lettuce,things like sunflower seeds, quinoa, edamame ! Then it comes with a vinaigrette with a small packet of cheese! Yummy!!
My salads have to have cabbage, shredded carrots, mushrooms, sunflower seeds and balsamic. Additions are welcome!
Yum! Thank you for the recipe- I can’t wait to try it out!
My favorite salad combination is spinach, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, and homemade ranch dressing.
I love salad with grilled chicken, cheddar, bacon, and BBQ sauce!