Simple Grilled Chicken Salad
Simple Grilled Chicken Salad with Creamy Citrus Dressing is a healthy and delicious dinner idea for any night of the week. Prep this easy dinner ahead of time and you can serve dinner in no time at all.
Simple Grilled Chicken Salad
I can’t get enough salads lately, I think maybe it’s because I’m ready to get my garden going and most of all spring! I have been making my Greek Salad with Roasted Garlic Salad Dressing on repeat.
The weather has been topsy turvy, cold one day and warm the next. We took advantage of a warm day and threw some chicken on the grill. A Simple Grilled Chicken Salad was just what I was craving.
We are not the big on veggies at our house and a salad is a surefire way to get a few extra veggies on our dinner plates. Add in some tasty grilled chicken and even my picky eaters are standing in line for dinner.
Of course you can’t go wrong adding a batch of homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dinner Rolls to complete this simple dinner. If you are going low- carb, this Low Carb Cloud Bread from A Spicy Perspective is amazing!
Grilling chicken can be a little tricky for me, so I asked my husband if he was up to help me out. He built the fire and I got the salad fixings and the homemade Creamy Citrus Dressing together.
The dressing turned out so good that I decided to use it to baste the chicken as it grilled. It was a brilliant idea. The chicken turned out super moist and so flavorful.
To make the Creamy Citrus Dressing you will need these ingredients:
- Fresh Garlic
- White Wine Vinegar
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Orange Juice
- Honey
- Dijon Mustard
- Kosher salt
- Fresh Ground Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Yogurt (or Sour Cream)
I have come to absolutely love homemade salad dressing. I prefer creamy salad dressings and the store bought versions just don’t suit my taste buds these days.
My mom got me started making my own homemade dressing and her homemade ranch dressing is unbeatable.
Homemade dressing will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks in an airtight container like my favorite Weck Jars. However, it doesn’t usually last that long.
Chicken can be difficult to grill and I tend to cut it into small pieces and have too hot of a fire and end up with tough and dry chicken. Thank goodness my husband is always willing to help me out with the grill.
Tips for Grilling Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts:
- Grill the chicken over medium heat. Lower and slower will produce a juicier chicken breast.
- Pound your whole chicken breasts to an even thickness with a meat mallet so that it will cook evenly.
- Brush with sauce as you cook, turning the meat about 3 times during the cooking process.
- Use a meat thermometer to test doneness of the chicken so that you don’t over cook it.
- Allow the chicken to rest 5 minutes before serving.
Salads are a great way to please picky eaters, everyone can make their own and pick their favorites. I made these salads with the classic, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados and a mix of spring greens.
Apples, strawberries, red onion, radishes, carrots and sweet peppers would also be great. Just pick your favorites or use what you have on hand.
Add a little more crunch with croutons or toasted pecans, almonds, or walnuts. Another one of my favorite salads is this Asian Chicken Cranberry Salad and we’ve been making this Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad for lunch.
We have already started planning our garden for this year. I always get so busy in the summer and dealing with all of the fresh produce can be overwhelming. The garden fresh tomatoes are so worth it every bit of effort that we put into it.
Last year we grew a lot of varieties of tomatoes and the heirlooms were my favorite. They grow a little slower and do not produce as many tomatoes so I want to do a few more of those plants this year.
My husband tilled the garden a few weeks ago and we are ready to go. We will probably get potatoes and onions planted soon. I really want to do some pots of herbs on my porch this year.
This Simple Grilled Chicken Salad is perfect any time of year but especially when the weather heats up and you don’t want to heat up the entire house. We also love this BBQ Chicken Salad for an easy summer meal.
Simple Grilled Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
For the Cream Citrus Dressing
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic
- 1/4 cup lemon juice I used Meyer lemons
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
For the Salad
- 8 cups spring mix greens
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1/2 large cucumber sliced
- 2 avocados sliced
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Prepare grill for medium heat.
- Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness.
- Brush both sides of chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- While the grill is heating, prepare the Creamy Citrus Dressing.
- Place garlic, lemon juice, orange juice, white wine vinegar, honey, dijon, salt and pepper into a blender. Blend until smooth. With the blender running, slowly stream in olive oil. Add yogurt or sour cream and blend until smooth.
- Reserve 1 cup of Creamy Citrus Dressing for salad.
- Place chicken on grill, cook for 3 minutes and turn. Start basting the chicken with Creamy Citrus Dressing. Cook for 4 minutes and turn again. Continue to baste chicken as it cooks. Turning one additional time. About 15 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees.
- Remove from grill and allow to rest while you prepare the salad plates.
- Place spring greens over each plate and top with tomatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes.
- Slice Chicken breasts thinly and place over vegetables. Top with Creamy Citrus Dressing.
Nutrition
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this dressing is not any good…wasted money and time