Grilled chicken avocado salad is perfect for spring and summer. It’s made with chopped lettuce, crunchy cucumber, spicy red onion, creamy avocado slices and perfectly juicy grilled chicken! Toss everything in a simple, homemade lemon and olive oil dressing for the best, fresh flavor. This delicious, healthy, grilled chicken salad is a great option for lunch or a light dinner.
A gorgeous grilled chicken salad full of seasonal produce just can’t be beat. If you’ve got some other veggies on hand, feel free to use up what you’ve got!
I love BBQ season so much! There’s something about the warm weather that just makes you want to fire up the grill. If you’re looking for a few more grilled recipes, be sure to check out my Easy Grilled Fish Tacos, Grilled Corn on the cob or Grilled Pineapple Chicken Skewers.
How To Make How to Make Chicken Avocado Salad
Ingredients:
- Skinless chicken breast — I generally use two small chicken breasts and I like to buy organic chicken because I find the texture is juicier and less woody.
- Hot sauce — You can also use barbeque sauce if you’d like a less spicy version!
- Seasonings — kosher salt, black pepper and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. You can also add some dried oregano for extra flavor.
- Veggies — Romaine lettuce or baby spinach or spring mix, cucumber, avocado and red onion. You can also add cherry tomatoes.
- Lemon juice — Add some bright, citrusy flavor to your dressing!
- Olive oil — Extra virgin.
Instructions:
Season chicken breasts:
- Place chicken in a large bowl and season it with salt, pepper and hot sauce.
Grill and rest chicken:
- Grill your boneless skinless chicken breast over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes per side, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Remove chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes, this step is important because it will make the chicken juicier.
Begin assembling salad:
- Meanwhile, add chopped greens, cucumber, red onion and avocado slices to a large salad bowl. I like using the largest bowl I have so there’s plenty of room to toss everything together.
Make dressing:
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- Add lemon juice, olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper to a small mason jar or bowl and whisk until emulsified. You can also add a teaspoon of dijon mustard if you prefer.
Serve:
- Drizzle dressing over everything and toss until produce is well coated, then slice chicken and place atop salad. Serve this grilled chicken salad immediately and enjoy!
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Recipe Tips
- A meat thermometer is helpful when grilling chicken! It helps ensure that you don’t under or overcook your meat, making it perfectly delicious and juicy.
- If you don’t have a grill, you can still make this grilled chicken salad recipe! Simply use a grill pan instead. You can also use a simple cast iron pan.
- Do not slice your chicken right after grilling. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes, this will help the meat to retain moisture and will make it infinitely juicier.
- If you have leftover grilled chicken, you can definitely use it up in this salad and save yourself some time!
- If your red onion is too spicy, you can soak slices in some cool water to help mellow them out.
- If you’re making this grilled chicken salad recipe ahead of time, leave the dressing and avocado separate! Add both right before serving.
Recipe Variations
- Baked chicken thighs or Grilled Chicken Thighs also work wonderfully if this salad if you prefer them over breast meat.
- Turn up the heat: You can use my spicy Cajun grilled chicken in this recipe if you want an extra kick.
- Make my flavor-packed grilled chimichurri chicken and whip up a chimichurri chicken chopped salad instead!
- Use another protein: Sub chicken for grilled shrimp or cedar plank salmon!
- Swap out your veggies: Create other delicious salad combos like this grilled chicken cabbage salad with zucchini. You can really use any vegetables you want, the possibilities are endless.
- Add nuts: you can use almonds, walnuts and so on.
- For so much flavor add feta cheese and some strawberries too.
More Chicken Salad Recipes
How To Store Leftovers
- To Store: Transfer leftover grilled chicken salad to an airtight container. Refrigerate for 1-2 days. If you plan ahead and store dressing separately, this salad will last a lot longer, more like 3-4 days! I also recommend slicing the avocado right before serving if you’re making this recipe ahead of time.
- To Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing this grilled chicken salad, though you can freeze the chicken separately, if desired. Simply place it in some plastic wrap or a Ziploc bag and store frozen for up to 3 months.
Serve Your Salad With
This versatile grilled chicken salad works as both a main course or a side dish! It’s nice as for lunch or as a light dinner. Here are some yummy serving suggestions for this tasty meal:
- Serve as a main course alongside these fluffy, low-carb dinner rolls and garlic butter spread or include a loaf of crunchy garlic bread on the side. Grilled corn is also very tasty with this salad, eat it on the cob or cut it off and mix it in!
- Serve as a side dish. This chicken salad goes nicely on the side of a cheesy zucchini casserole, asparagus casserole or creamy potatoes au gratin.
- Pack it for lunch! When I take this yummy salad to the office for lunch, I like to pair it with some quick, simple fruit salad and a healthy chocolate chip cookie bar for dessert.
Recommended Tools For This Recipe
- Meat Thermometer: Avoid over/undercooking chicken.
- Large Glass Bowl: For marinating chicken.
- Mason Jar: To make and store salad dressing!
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! You can use baked chicken for this salad, rather than grilled. This chicken avocado salad will be just as scrumptious with a baked chicken.
Most definitely. Use shrimp, salmon, steak, pulled pork, or anything else your heart desires! This recipe is very flexible.
You’ll need to grill your chicken for 3-4 minutes per side. Of course, the total time may need to be adjusted based on thickness. I always use a meat thermometer so I can tell when my chicken reaches an internal temp of 165°F.
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Grilled Chicken Avocado Salad
Ingredients
For the Chicken Breast
- 2 small free range organic chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
- Salt and black pepper
For the Salad Dressing
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- A pinch of red crushed pepper
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Season chicken with hot sauce, salt and pepper.
- Place chicken on a greased grill or grill pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the chicken is cooked though.
- Leave the breast chicken to cool down, slice it and set aside.
For the Salad
- In a large salad bowl, add first the lettuce, and then top it with cucumber, red onions and avocado.
- In a mason jar, pour the freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper and red crushed pepper. Whisk everything together. Continue to whisk while streaming in the olive oil. Taste to check the seasoning and pour over the salad.
- Add the sliced breast chicken. Enjoy!
Tips
- Watch the Web Story HERE.
- A meat thermometer is helpful when grilling chicken!
- If you don’t have a grill, you can use a grill pan instead.
- Let chicken rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.
- If your red onion is too spicy, soak slices in cool water.
- You can use chicken leftovers in this recipe if you already have cooked chicken in the fridge.
- If you prefer chicken thighs, feel free to swap them.
- If you want to make this ahead of time, hold off cutting the avocados as they’ll brown.
- To store: If this salad is your lunch at work, bring the dressing in a separate container to avoid the salad getting soggy. Also, skip slicing the avocado until the morning and squeeze lemon juice over it to keep it from browning by lunch. Everything will keep well when separate from the dressing for up to 4 days.
- To freeze: I don’t recommend freezing the salad, but you can freeze the chicken for up to 3 months.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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Watch the Web Story HERE!
Frieda Grischkowsky says
Made this salad for lunch today for my daughter and me. We both liked it a lot. I added a spiralized small red beet to the salad just because I had one on hand and it added some color. I also used a whole avocado. Otherwise, prepared exactly according to recipe. Very tasty and refreshing for a hot summer lunch!
Olivia says
So happy to hear that and red beet sounds amazing 😉
Delilah says
I made this for my family and I and we absolutely loved it! Very easy to make (I am 11 and made it all by myself)! The only problem is our red onion was completely rancid. This recipe is definitely a keeper, and the dressing is one of my all time faves now!
Delilah says
Also we are vegetarians so we used the Quorn chicken instead and it worked great.
Olivia says
That’s absolutely amazing. So happy to know you all enjoyed it 😉
Ogechi Uwaoma says
What can I use to substitute lemon in the dressing. As I can’t take lemon or lime
Olivia says
You can use balsamic vinegar.
Susan Pedersen says
In place of the lettuce, could spinach be used?
Olivia says
Absolutely!