This is not your standard cold chicken salad recipe. Instead, I created the most delicious roasted flavor by cooking veggies on a sheet pan and roasting small pieces of chicken in a skillet. Then, I tossed it all together with a simple homemade creamy dressing and other harvest season favorites, including sliced apples, spinach, dried cranberries, and walnuts. Let’s just say that my family went nuts for it! I don’t know why it’s so much more satisfying than a cold chicken salad (which I also love) but it is. And I’ve been making it about once a week this fall for my four boys.
It’s so nice that I don’t have to have already cooked chicken on hand. Instead, for this recipe, I cook it quickly in a skillet and add to the salad warm, where it gets paired with rich sweet-and-savory fall flavors.
This post was created in partnership with Primal Kitchen.
Recipe Highlights
There’s a lot that I love about this super simple roasted chicken salad, especially that:
- I’m getting a whole healthy lunch or dinner out of one recipe. Other than serving it with a simple side of sourdough bread, I don’t add much else.
- The creamy maple dijon dressing is to die for. I’m telling you the truth when I say that it has a cult following. I’ve even caught my boys licking their plates so they can get every last drop of the delicious dressing.
- A single serving provides so much nutrition from high-quality, nutrient, dense ingredients. Everything from the sweet potato and walnuts or pecans to the boneless chicken and cranberries contributes nutrition. And don’t forget those good fats from the mayo and olive oil in the dressing.
- I’m getting 31 grams of protein, 45 grams of energy-supplying carbohydrates, and 9 grams of fiber, as well as a lot of monoun-saturated fat from the walnuts, mayo, and olive oil.
- From the crispy roasted sweet potato to the crunchy apple and tender chicken to the earthy fresh greens, this fall salad is absolutely loaded with textures and flavors.
- This harvest salad is naturally gluten free and dairy free, and it can be easily modified to fit other special diets, including nut free and egg free, as needed.
- It’s a perfect recipe for packing for meal prep lunches. Believe me, it’s a lunch that you’ll really look forward to eating every day of the week. It’s THAT good.
Ingredient Highlight: Primal Kitchen’s Organic Avocado Oil And Mayo
There are two ingredients that you will always find in my cupboards, as well as the cupboards of everyone on our team at The Real Food Dietitians. At that is Primal Kitchen Organic Avocado Oil and Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo. So it’s fitting that I reached for those two ingredients as I was creating the delicious maple-dijon dressing for this chicken harvest salad. I love cooking with avocado oil and using avocado oil-based mayo because I know I’m getting good fats, and I trust Primal Kitchen products to create high-quality products, which they’ve been doing for years.
Use This Recipe For Meal Prep
This salad is a wonderful choice for meal prep lunches. It stores best if you use a multi-layer salad container (this Bentgo salad container is a team favorite) so you can store the spinach in one compartment, other salad components in the other compartments, and the dressing gets its own little compartment with a lid. When it’s time to eat, just toss it all together.
How To Serve
I recommend serving this salad right after you toss it together in a large bowl. There’s nothing quite like enjoying just-roasted veggies and cooked chicken while they’re still warm. The warmth of those ingredients slightly wilt the fresh spinach. And it all tastes so good right after it’s tossed with the maple-dijon vinaigrette.
You can just eat this salad as is, as a main dish salad that includes a lot of food groups. Or you could add a simple side to round it out. I recommend pairing it with some whole grain crackers, sourdough bread, cheddar biscuits, or even a warm croissant.
How To Store
This recipe keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. If serving the salad later, I’ve found that it works best to store the cooked chicken and roasted veggies together in one container, the remaining salad ingredients (the spinach, crisp apple, walnuts, and cranberries) in another container. And then the dressing in another container.
Video: How to Make Harvest Chicken Salad
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Harvest Chicken Salad With Maple Dijon Dressing
A satisfying lunch or dinner salad that’s good served either warm or chilled. Featuring favorite fall flavors, including roasted sweet potatoes, dried cranberries, apples, and a quick maple-dijon dressing, this salad really captures the food essence of the season.
Ingredients
For The Salad:
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil, divided
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces (~2 cups)
- 1 small red onion, diced (~1 cup)
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lb raw chicken breast, cubed
- 4 large handfuls fresh spinach (5 ounces)
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 medium apple, diced (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
For The Creamy Maple Dijon Dressing:
- ¼ cup mayo
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- To a baking sheet add the diced sweet potato and red onion. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon avocado oil, salt and pepper. Toss to evenly coat, spread out evenly on pan and bake for 15-18 minutes.
- While sweet potatoes are baking, place a skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 teaspoon avocado oil, swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet, then add the cubed chicken. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a small jar or bowl add all dressing ingredients, whisking until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the fresh spinach, dried cranberries, diced apple and chopped walnuts.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Add the cooked chicken to the mixing bowl, add the roasted sweet potatoes and onions to the mixing bowl. Drizzle the dressing over top and toss gently to evenly coat all ingredients.
- Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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Notes
In a pinch for time? You can use shredded rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked or grilled chicken instead and skip the chicken cooking step.
Use any favorite apple. Some that I’ve tested with and love are Fuji, Red Delicious, and Honeycrisp.
Want to meal prep this salad for lunch? In an individual salad container (we love this one), store the roasted veggies and the cooked chicken in one compartment. Pack the spinach, apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries in a separate compartment. And store the dressing in a small container. When it’s time for lunch, toss it all together and enjoy.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 541
- Fat: 28 g
- (Sat Fat: 3 g)
- Sodium: 589 mg
- Carbohydrate: 46 g
- (Fiber: 9 g
- Sugar: 24 g)
- Protein: 31 g
- Cholesterol: 72 mg
Dietary
The photos in this blog post were taken by Casey Colodny of The Mindful Hapa.
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Yummy – great flavors – this salad is now on our weekly menu rotation.
We love to hear that Donna!