Honey Mustard Chicken Salad
This Honey Mustard Chicken Salad is made with the juiciest, tender honey mustard chicken, romaine lettuce, crispy bacon, feta, avocado and corn. And the dressing is creamy, sweet savoury and tangy - it doubles as the marinade for the chicken - two birds one stone - you are welcome! A fresh salad like this can easily be made ahead and enjoyed for lunch a light dinner and its perfect all year round whether you decide to grill on your outdoor grill, stove top grill pan or sear your chicken in a skillet.
Ingredients for This Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Recipe
- Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing: My homemade recipe is easy and has just the right amount of sweet and tang.
- Chicken Thighs: These will marinate in the dressing for 1-6 hours making them tender, juicy and full of flavor. I use boneless skinless thighs but feel free to use chicken breasts if you prefer.
- Romaine Lettuce: You can also use any other lettuce that you have on hand or greens that you like - spinach, kale, arugula etc
- Red Onion: Slice or chop these up, however you prefer to eat them. Feel free to use shallots or yellow onion if you prefer
- Cherry Tomatoes: Slice these in half or quarters and put them in the salad. You can use grape tomatoes too or any variety you like just make sure to chop them into bite size pieces
- Large Avocado: Sliced or chopped - adds the perfect craziness to the salad
- Corn: Adds delicious sweetness and extra texture to this salad - use either fresh, grilled, frozen and thawed or canned
- Bacon: this is optional but recommended - crispy bacon adds loads of flavour and some crunchy goodness
- Feta Cheese: crumbled or cubed feta adds the perfect salty briny flavour - feel free to use any cheese you like - blue cheese or Gorgonzola would work well too or even some shredded cheddar if you prefer something a little more mellow
- Pepitas: they adds some extra texture and crunch - or feel free to use any nut or seed you prefer
- Optional Add Ins: Diced apples, pears, pomegranate arils, chopped almonds or pecans, walnuts, dried cranberries, raisins, grapes, boiled eggs for extra protein, asparagus spears, arugula, croutons
For the Honey Mustard Sauce or Dressing:
- Honey
- Mustard - dijon is my fav
- Olive Oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Lemon Juice
- Salt & Pepper
- Garlic - I prefer fresh garlic but you can easily se garlic powder too
- Greek Yoghurt - optional for a creamier version
How to Make a Honey Mustard Chicken Salad
- Prepare the Salad Dressing: In a small bowl cor in a mason jar with lid combine the ingredients for the dressing. Whisk together until completely combined or seal jar and shake until well combined.
- Marinate the Chicken: Add the chicken breasts to a large resealable plastic bag or sealed container. season with a pinch of salt and pepper and Add ¼ cup of the honey mustard dressing /sauce to coat the chicken. Seal and refrigerate/marinate at least 1 hour. Refrigerate remaining UNTOUCHED honey mustard dressing until ready to serve salad.
- Cook Bacon: and allow to cool before crumbling. (this can easily be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve)
- Cook Chicken: grill chicken or sear in a skillet until fully cooked. allow to sit a few minutes off grill then slice.
- Prepare the Veggies: Wash, slice and chop all the veggies place in a large serving bowl along with the avocado slices.
- Serve: Top the veggies with the sliced chicken and then drizzle over dressing a couple of tablespoons at a time, tossing the salad gently adding more dressing to taste. Serve remaining dressing on the side.
Make Ahead and Storage:
- Dressing: This honey mustard dressing cane made ahead and leftovers in the refrigerator, covered, for 10 to 14 days.
- Chicken: chicken can be grilled or seared cooled and stored in an airtight container for up 2-3 days.
- Salad: Chopped undressed salad ingredients can last in the fridge for 1-2 days in a sealed container. I don’t recommend adding the avocado to the mix as it will oxidize and brown. +
If you’d like to meal prep this salad, I suggest either storing each component of the salad separately and then combine the ingredients the morning of packing your lunch. Alternatively, you can pack the ingredients together in meal prep containers but pack the salad dressing on the side. Also, if you are meal prepping this, add the avocado on the day of eating as your avocado can turn brown from oxidation.
What can I Use Honey Mustard Dressing On:
- Skip store-bought salad dressing and use it on any of your favorite homemade salads. It’s incredibly delicious with greens, asparagus, Brussel Sprouts, cabbage, carrots, sweet bell peppers, green beans and broccoli.
- Its great in coleslaw and even chicken or tuna salads - especially if you make it the creamier version with the yogurt.
- This honey mustard dressing is also great as a tasty dipping+ sauce for fresh sliced veggies, roasted veggies and even chicken fingers.
More Delicious Salads You Will Love:
Recipe
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Non Active Time: 1-6 hours for marinating chicken
Total Time: 40 min plus non active time
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 5 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 cup halved or quartered cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1 large avocado, thinly sliced or chopped
- 6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 cup corn kernels, (fresh, grilled, frozen and thawed or canned)
- 4 skinless and boneless chicken thighs or small chicken breasts
- ½ cup crumbled Feta cheese
- ¼ cup of toasted Pepitas
For the Honey Dijon Mustard Dressing/Marinade (1 CUP)
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup Honey
- ¼ cup Apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Lemon juice
- 1 Clove of Garlic peeled and minced
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
- ½ cup of Greek yoghurt for a creamy version (optional)
Directions
- Place all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well until you can’t see any honey on the base of the jar. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Reserve ¼ cup of the dressing and store the rest in the fridge until ready to dress salad.
- Season chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. In a large Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken with the reserved ¼ cup of the Dijon dressing; marinate for at least 1-6 hours in the fridge, turning the bag occasionally.
- Preheat grill (or grill pan or skillet) to medium heat and grease grates. Remove chicken from marinade. Add chicken to grill or grill pan, and cook, turning occasionally, until chicken is completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165°F, about 10 minutes. Set aside and allow to rest then slice into strips.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain excess fat; transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Once cool chop and set aside.
- Place all the salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss with honey dijon mustard dressing.
Recipe Notes:
Make Ahead and Storage:
- Dressing: This honey mustard dressing cane made ahead and leftovers in the refrigerator, covered, for 10 to 14 days.
- Chicken: chicken can be grilled or seared cooled and stored in an airtight container for up 2-3 days.
- Salad: Chopped undressed salad ingredients can last in the fridge for 1-2 days in a sealed container. I don’t recommend adding the avocado to the mix as it will oxidize and brown.
If you’d like to meal prep this salad, I suggest either storing each component of the salad separately and then combine the ingredients the morning of packing your lunch. Alternatively, you can pack the ingredients together in meal prep containers but pack the salad dressing on the side. Also, if you are meal prepping this, add the avocado on the day of eating as your avocado can turn brown from oxidation.
