Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing
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Chicken bacon avocado salad with maple dijon dressing is loaded with delicious ingredients including marinated baked chicken, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, corn, and avocado. It’s topped with a homemade maple dijon salad dressing. This recipe is a feast for the eyes – serve it on special days when you want a healthy filling salad at the table.
Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing
Maple dijon chicken avocado salad is loaded with beautiful ingredients. This salad is full of flavors that you’re going to love.
This salad is like a meal in one. There’s protein from the chicken, healthy fats from the avocado and salad dressing, and loads of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the vegetables.
The maple dijon salad dressing is sweet and tangy. It pairs wonderfully with this salad. To save time, you’ll be using half of the dressing as a chicken marinade, and reserving the other half for the dressing.
I like to serve this salad for dinner while the chicken is still warm. But this salad also works perfectly as a mason jar salad.
Key Ingredients For Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad
- Chicken Breasts – This recipe uses 2-3 cooked chicken breasts. First, they’re marinaded with half of the dressing sauce.
- Bacon – 5 strips of bacon are cooked and chopped into bite-sized pieces.
- Avocado – half or a ripe avocado is sliced into strips and placed in the salad.
- Lettuce – You’ll need 1 small head of green leaf lettuce, washed and chopped into small pieces.
- Cherry Tomatoes – You can use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes.
- Corn – I used canned corn. You can also use frozen corn that’s microwaved and warmed through (not hot).
- Dressing/Marinade – You’ll need olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, maple syrup (or honey), garlic cloves, salt and pepper.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad Directions
Here’s an overview of how to make this salad:
- Make The Dressing/Marinade: Combine the salad dressing ingredients in a bowl. Pour half into the bag with raw chicken for the marinade. Reserve the rest in the fridge for the salad.
- Marinate Chicken: Marinate the chicken using half of the dressing for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
- Bake Chicken: Bake the chicken at 400°F for 35-40 minutes. Once cooled, slice into strips.
- Cook Bacon: While chicken is baking, cook the bacon in a frying pan. Once cool, use kitchen scissors to cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Prep Veggies: Wash and chop the veggies for the salad including lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and avocado. Drain the canned corn.
- Assemble: Add the lettuce to a large bowl. Add the other veggies, sliced chicken and bacon. Pour the rest of the dressing overtop and toss everything together. Serve, and enjoy!
Cooking Chicken Breast Tips:
The chicken breasts for this salad are marinated and then baked. Here are few common questions about the process.
According to the USDA recommended cooking temperatures, the safest internal temperature for cooking all types of poultry products to is 165°F. This is the internal temperature that the meat will read at once removed from the heat source. You can use a food thermometer, which will be poked into the thickest part of the meat to read the temperature.
Yes! The USDA food safety information suggests that you can keep raw marinating chicken in the fridge for up to 2 days. Any longer and it should be frozen instead (visit this link for more food safety information regarding chicken).
More Healthy Salads To Try
Salads are a wonderful way to load up on veggies. Here are some other delicious salads to inspire you!
- Burger Salad Bowl – This delicious recipe takes all the best parts of a traditional burger and turns it into a salad.
- Six Healthy Mason Jar Salad Recipes – These six flavors can be batch prepped in advance and then stored in the fridge for easy meals.
- Ranch Chicken Taco Salad – Loaded with delicious vegetables, cooked chicken, black beans, cheddar cheese and crunchy tortilla chips.
- Sweet Potato Kale Salad – A simple, yet flavorful with roasted sweet potatoes, tangy parmesan cheese and a creamy dressing.
- How To Make a Cobb Salad – Cobb Salad is a combination of chicken, cheese, tomatoes, eggs, avocado, bacon, romaine lettuce, and homemade salad dressing. This is my favorite salad to order at restaurants and now you can make it at home!
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Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 5 bacon slices
- 1 head of green lettuce - chopped into bite-size pieces
- ½ ripe avocado - sliced
- ½ cup canned corn - drained
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes - sliced in half
Dressing and Marinade Ingredients:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup dijon mustard
- ¼ cup whole grain mustard
- ¼ cup maple syrup - or honey
- 2 garlic cloves - minced
- salt and pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the Dressing/Marinade: Add olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, maple syrup (or honey), minced garlic, salt and pepper to a bowl. Mix together.
- Add the raw chicken breasts to a bag. Pour in half of the dressing to marinate the chicken and reserve the rest for later. Seal the bag tightly and shake liquid around chicken so that it's evenly coated. Place in the fridge for minimum 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Bake the chicken breasts at 400°F for 35-40 minutes, or until cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Once cooled, slice the chicken breasts into thin strips.
- Cook the bacon in a frying pan on the stove. Once cooked, remove excess grease with paper towel. Slice into bite size pieces using kitchen scissors.
- Prep salad ingredients: Wash and chop the lettuce into bite size pieces, slice cherry tomatoes in half, slice the avocado, drain the canned corn.
- Assemble the salad by adding all ingredients to a large bowl. Drizzle the leftover salad dressing overtop. Toss together, serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
- Chicken Breast Cooking Tips: The chicken will be cooked if the inside is no longer pink, juices run clear, and the internal temperature reads 165°F when using a meat thermometer. (Note: if you have a large chicken breast it will take longer, this is why I like to use the meat thermometer). No need to flip or cover the chicken when baking.
Nutrition
