Chicken chopped salad is a fresh and colorful salad made with an assortment of fresh ingredients tossed with a homemade lemon vinaigrette. It's perfect for lunch or a quick and healthy dinner.
What’s not to like about salad for dinner? Salads are filled with healthy ingredients, and there isn’t much cooking involved which is why this chicken chopped salad and Asian Pasta Salad with Chicken are in our easy dinner rotation lists.
Recipe Highlights
- It's a great way to use up left over food in your fridge.
- Chicken chopped salad is a healthy and easy dinner idea.
- It can be made ahead of time and is very customizable; use any combination of ingredients that you like.
Chicken Chopped Salad Ingredients
You can use as many different ingredients as you like to a chopped salad, the possibilities are endless. I start with a base and build my salad from there. Here is a list of base ingredients followed by the ingredients I used to make this chopped salad recipe.
Base Ingredients
Lettuce such as romaine, bibb lettuce, field greens
Cucumbers or zucchini
Purple cabbage
Chopped onions
Additional Ingredients used to make this salad
Hard-boiled egg
Grilled or shredded chicken breast
White Beans or Chickpeas
Olives
Crumbles of blue cheese, feta or shredded cheddar
Dressing
Fresh lemon Juice
Olive oil
Dijon mustard
Maple syrup
Crushed garlic
How to Make the Best Chicken Chopped Salad
Prepare the ingredients: chop up the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and add them to a large salad bowl. Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the bowl along with the olives.
Whisk the dressing ingredients in a bowl and pour ¼ of the dressing over the salad, toss and sprinkle with cheese. Serve the remainder of the dressing on the side.
Ingredient Notes and Substutions
Instead of chicken, try bite sized pieces of streak, shrimp or salmon.
Garlic can be substituted with ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder.
Make it vegetarian or vegan by adding grilled or roasted tofu in place of the meat, and leave out the cheese for a vegan version.
Add More Vegetables and use any combination of bell peppers, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, shaved brussels sprouts, shredded carrots, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, hot peppers slices.
Add more protein and crunch with a sprinkling of nuts and seeds such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds or walnuts.
Change up the beans with any combination of white beans, chickpeas, black beans or kidney beans.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Chicken chopped salad can be easily prepared ahead of time by chopping the ingredients and store them in the refrigerator in separate containers for up to three days.
To Serve the chopped salad, place the ingredients into a bowl and add a little bit of dressing just before serving, add the cheese, toss and enjoy.
How to store leftover chopped chicken salad
If there is any of this delicious chicken salad leftover, it can be stored in an airtight container for up to a day in the refrigerator with dressing on it. If it is not dressed, it will last for two to three days in the refrigerator.
You Might Also Like these Chopped Salad Recipes
- Arugula Salad with Pesto
- Spiralized Cucumber Salad with Tomatoes
- Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese
- Mexican Chopped Salad
📖 Recipe
Click on serving size to scale this recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 head of lettuce
- ½ head of purple cabbage chopped or shredded
- 1 cucumber chopped
- ¼ cup chopped olives
- 8 ounces grilled or shredded chicken breast
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- ½ cup white beans
- 4 ounces of crumbled or shredded cheese
- DRESSING:
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup [extra virgin olive oil]
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- a dash of sea salt
- ½ teaspoon [dijon mustard]
Instructions
- Chop all of the ingredients into uniform bite-sized pieces and place them in a large salad bowl
- Drain and rinse the beans, add them to the bowl with the salad ingredients and sprinkle on the cheese.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together or shake them in a jar and pour ¼ of the dressing over the salad and serve the remaining dressing on the side.
Notes
- Swap out the chicken for cooked shrimp or steak
- Make it vegetarian or vegan by adding grilled or roasted tofu in place of the meat, and omit the cheese for a vegan version.
- Add More Vegetables. You can use any of your favorite veggies for this salad, here are some suggestions: bell peppers, zucchini, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, shaved Brussels sprouts, shredded carrots, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, hot pepper slices.
- Add more protein with any combination of nuts and seeds such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, or walnuts.
- Change up the Beans. The white beans can be substituted with chickpeas, kidney beans or black beans.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used
Jeff the Chef says
This looks like a great salad. i love that it has beans in it.
Tara Teaspoon says
I love this salads that is easy to make from my leftovers in the fridge! The possibilities are endless and delicious!
Elaine Benoit says
Mmm-mmmm-mmm! There is nothing like a good chopped salad! Your chicken version looks so scrumptious and easy! Perfect for the nights I do not want to put the oven on!
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer says
I absolutely love chopped salads like this! They are perfect for a quick lunch or as part of a weekly meal prep! This a go-to meal when it's too hot to turn the oven on!
Eden says
Yum! Chopped salad is my favorite! This was delicious!
Jacquelyn Hastert says
I love the vinegarette and all the fresh summer flavors in this salad! Anytime I can add fresh summer ingredients into a salad I am going for it. I just loved this dressing as well. Thank you!
Kelly Anthony says
I love a yummy colorful salad in the summer. This salad is also loaded with healthy ingredients that will keep me full all afternoon.
Tammy says
I love chicken salad and this looks delicious! I've never put eggs in mine so that is something I will need to try sometime. Perfect meal for summer!
Danielle says
They say beauty in simplicity. I say health in this chicken chopped salad. Delicious, healthy and easy to make - just what you need nowadays! 🙂
Eileen Kelly says
The crunch factor in this delicious chicken salad is perfect. I love the combo of ingredients. we use to make the salad. The dressing is super flavorful. A salad everyone should make!