Easy Chicken Chopped Salad

One bite of this savory chicken chopped salad and you will be hooked! Grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, beets, tomatoes, pomegranate, feta, and sprouts combine with a pomegranate vinaigrette to make the best lunch salad.

(*This post was sponsored by Foster Farms. All delicious opinions are my own.)

If you have been following my blog for a while, you already know my love affair with Foster Farms chicken. Their chicken is fresh, never frozen and you can taste the difference every time you cook with it! This is the chicken I feed my family every week.

Foster Farms Fresh & Natural Chicken is raised locally in California and the Pacific Northwest. For me, I love that their chicken is always fresh and never frozen. You can taste this difference in every bite. Foster Farms chickens are raised cage-free, which is very important to me. 

If you love quick and easy chicken recipes as much as we do, you will want to check out all of my mouthwatering Gluten Free Chicken recipes.

Why This Recipe Is Great:

1. If you are looking for a new salad recipe to try, this chopped salad with chicken is filled with all of the good stuff. It is one of my favorite recipes using chicken.
2. This salad is an easy meal the whole family will love. It is so easy to make with chicken you grill, or leftover chicken you already have in the refrigerator.
3. This chopped vegetable salad makes the perfect healthy salad recipe. It is made with simple easy-to-find ingredients.
4. My chopped salad recipe is different from a classic chopped salad because I include both fruits and vegetables.

Whether you need a salad for lunch, dinner, a cookout, or a picnic, this deliciously easy chopped salad recipe will be your new go-to salad recipe!

Serve my homemade Gluten Free Ranch Dressing with this salad.

Ingredient Notes:

• Feta Cheese- You can also use blue cheese or gorgonzola cheeses. They all add delicious flavor!
• Chicken - Breasts are leaner but you can use any cut.
• Lettuce - I used romaine, but you can use any lettuce like a spring mix or butter leaf.
• Beets - Any color of beets will taste delicious. Steam or roast them.
• A chopped salad tool helps cut your lettuce into the perfect chopped salad!

Recipe Step By Step Directions:

The first thing you need to do is determine how you want to cook the chicken for a salad:

• Roast your chicken in your oven
• Pan fry your chicken
• Sous-vide

I will share grilling directions but feel free to cook your chicken in any way you like. If you are short on time, you can also use leftover or pre-cooked chicken in this chopped salad recipe.

Step 1: For best results, season both sides of your chicken with salt, pepper, and olive oil. I don't use any other seasonings because I want the true flavors of the chicken to shine through in this salad recipe.

Step 2: Preheat your grill to 375º F. Be sure the grille slats are clean and debris free.

Step 3: Grill the chicken for 20 minutes flipping the chicken over with metal tongs so that both sides cook evenly. When the chicken looks fully cooked, use a digital thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken. You want it to read 165º F.

Step 4: Remove the chicken from the grill onto a plate when it is cooked. Cover the grilled chicken with foil, and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Step 5: Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and slice thinly. You can also use chicken thighs if you prefer.

Step 6: Wash and then thinly slice romaine lettuce and add it to a salad bowl. Add the chicken to the salad. Now you are ready to add in the rest of the ingredients!

Add your cooked beets to the salad. Make sure to dice the beets into bite-sized pieces.

You can buy pre-cooked beets, or you can roast fresh beets at home. I steamed my beets, but you can also roast them in the oven or air fryer. I will share some tips below.

How To Cook Beets:

• Add a steamer basket to a pot and fill with water to the base of the steam basket. Add washed beets to the basket. Leave the peels on as they will come off easily after the beets are cooked. Cover the pot and cook on medium heat for 25 minutes (more time if your beets are large) or until the beets are soft. Use a knife to scrape off the peels.
• Wash the beets and bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, or until your beets are soft. (Baking time will depend on the size of the beets you are cooking.

The next step is to make the homemade pomegranate vinaigrette dressing and pour it over the salad.

Pomegranate Vinaigrette

• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• dash salt/pepper to taste

Add all of the salad dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisk to blend. Pour over the salad and toss to mix. Top with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sprouts, or anything you like!

Mix-Ins:

Add in tomatoes, pomegranate seeds, feta, or anything you want to put in your chopped chicken salad.

I love how colorful this salad is. You will love how easy this chopped chicken salad recipe is to make!!

Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ:

This recipe was updated from an old May 2019 post with more information.

More Easy Chicken Recipes:

• Gluten Free Fried Chicken
• Grandma's Homemade Chicken Soup
• Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks
• Instant Pot Gluten Free Chicken Stew

Recipe

Easy Lunch Time Chicken Chopped Salad

Sandi Gaertner

A delicious chicken chopped salad with roasted beets, feta, tomato, and pomegranate

5 from 10 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save RecipeSaved!

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Gluten Free Salad Recipes

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Calories 230 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 pound Chicken Breasts
• ▢ 2 beets roasted
• ▢ ¼ cup feta cheese
• ▢ 2 heads romaine lettuce
• ▢ ⅓ cup chopped tomatoes
• ▢ ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
• ▢ 3 tablespoons sunflower seeds

Instructions

 

• Preheat the grill on medium heat.
• Remove the chicken from the packaging and put on a plate.
• Sprinkle olive oil over the chicken, then season with salt and pepper.
• Cook on the grill for 20 minutes until cooked thoroughly.
• Remove the chicken from the grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes on a plate.
• Place the chicken on a cutting board and slice thinly.
• Add lettuce and all of the salad ingredients to a large salad bowl and mix.
• Top with the homemade vinaigrette dressing.

Notes

1. Feel free to substitute any vegetables you have on-hand in this salad recipe.
2. You can use chicken breast or another part of the chicken including leftover rotisserie.
3. I do not recommend making this salad ahead unless you keep the prepped ingredients separate. Wet ingredients like the beets and tomatoes will turn the lettuce brown if it sits too long.

To Make the Pomegranate Vinaigrette Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• dash salt/pepper to taste

Add all of the salad dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisk to blend. Pour over the salad and toss to mix. Top with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sprouts, or anything you like!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 230kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 28gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 299mgPotassium: 698mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1330IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 2mg

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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