This summery chicken and strawberry salad is perfect with juicy grilled chicken, ripe strawberries, spinach, cucumber, feta, and an easy, homemade dressing.
This delicious chicken and strawberry salad post is sponsored by ALDI USA. As always, all thoughts and opinions remain my own and I’m proud to partner with brands I love. Thanks for supporting the growth of Miss AK!
Confession – I could eat a salad every single day of my life and not grow tired of it. Honestly, it kind of feels like I do!
The best part is, my meat and potato loving husband feels the exact same way. I think the reason we love salad so much is because the options are ENDLESS. Whatever you’re craving – Mexican, Italian, Burgers, Greek food – you can put your favorite ingredients on a bed of greens and you’ve got a bowl full of texture and flavor. And, you don’t feel sluggish later.
This chicken and strawberry salad is absolutely no exception; it’s like a party in your mouth. It’s a combination of sweet, savory, and tangy and I get all of the organic ingredients from my favorite grocery store on the planet, ALDI.
There’s something to be said about salad, though. It can get really boring if you don’t make it right. So, let me tell you my secrets.
How do you make crave-worthy salads?
The first thing to remember is that you need to have a lot of texture going on. Here we have crunchy cucumbers and pecans, buttery chickpeas, crispy grilled chicken, juicy strawberries and creamy feta cheese. I mean, no one wants to eat a bowlful of soggy spinach, right?
The second thing to note is that salads (like most good dishes) need to have an acidic component. Here, the easy homemade dressing/marinade is packed with balsamic vinegar, which wakes up those taste buds. The strawberries are slightly acidic and majorly sweet so they round out everything perfectly.
Lastly, you have to use quality ingredients. That’s why I shop at ALDI. I can get everything I need and buy top quality, organic produce…which always fits into my budget at ALDI.
What makes this chicken and strawberry salad SO easy?
This salad isn’t just delicious and healthy…it’s also crazy easy to throw together. It’s perfect for a meal prep lunch for the week or light dinner.
The marinade doubles as a dressing
I love making my own salad dressing and it really isn’t hard. Here, we’re going to mix together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper and use some of it to marinate the chicken.
Save the rest for later and add honey to it when you’re ready to serve. It needs a touch of sweetness for serving as a dressing. I make and store it in a glass jar, so it’s really simple.
You only need a few, simple ingredients for chicken and strawberry salad
When the weather gets warm, I like to spend as little time prepping meals as I can. This chicken and strawberry salad doesn’t have a laundry list of ingredients. It’s just chicken, strawberries, spinach or lettuce, cucumbers, chickpeas, feta, pecans and some of that dressing we talked about earlier!
If you want, you can grill the chicken ahead of time for a meal prep friendly lunch or light dinner
I love recipes that you can start to prep ahead of time and assemble later. In the summer, we do a lot of grilling. Sometimes, I like to marinate a few types of proteins, like this chicken, and grill them to be eaten later.
Once your chicken is cooked, all you do is a bit of chopping and you’re ready to dig in!
Craving summer food? Check out my Summer Pasta with Rose and Tomatoes!
PrintGrilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad
This summery chicken and strawberry salad is perfect with juicy grilled chicken, ripe strawberries, spinach, cucumber, feta and an easy, homemade dressing.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes + 1+ hour marinade time
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For the marinade/dressing:
- 3 oz. Priano Balsamic Vinegar
- 3 oz. Simply Nature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tsp. Burman’s Dijon Mustard
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- * 2 Tbsp. Simply Nature Organic Wildflower Honey – but only add this to the remaining dressing, not the marinade. See the recipe below.*
For the salad:
- 1 lb. Simply Nature Organic Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
- about 8 cups Simply Nature Organic Mixed Greens
- 1-pint strawberries, de-stemmed and sliced
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup Southern Grove Chopped Pecans
- 1/2 cup Emporium Selection Crumbled Feta Cheese
Instructions
- In a glass jar with a lid, combine the balsamic, olive oil, Dijon, sea salt, and pepper for the marinade. Shake everything together well.
- Place the chicken in a zip-top bag or bowl with a lid. Pour 3 tablespoons of the marinade over the chicken and allow it to marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
- Add the honey to the remaining marinade and set it in the fridge and save for later, this will be the dressing.
- When you’re ready to grill the chicken, preheat your grill to medium-high heat, about 450-500F.
- Grill the chicken for about 12 minutes per side. The edges should be crispy and the internal temperature of the chicken should be 165F. Remove the cooked chicken from the grill.
- Let the chicken rest while you prepare the salad. You can either make one big salad or 4 individual salads.
- Add the lettuce to the bowl or bowls. Layer on the strawberries, cucumber, chickpeas, pecans, and feta. Then, slice the chicken against the grain and lay it on top of the salad or salads.
- Shake the dressing well again before adding it. Enjoy!
Christine says
Excellent recipe and excellent website !! The recipe is delicious and nutritious. Looks so yummy!! I also always try to cook this kind of healthy and nutritious food to keep fit. By the way, if anyone want to know about “Health and Lean and nourish body” this article will be useful as much as this service. https://www.christinebailey.co.uk/ Thanks for this nice recipe!!
Miss AK says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!