This healthy, easy, filling, and super delicious Pesto Chicken Salad recipe is loaded with lettuces, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onions, and flavored with a light lemon dressing.
Today I’m sharing one of my favorite kinds of salad: pesto chicken salad recipe. It’s got everything you’re looking for and it’s crazy delicious. Promise. You’re going to bring sunshine to your kitchen with this pesto chicken salad recipe.
I made this recipe for lunch last Sunday while my two boys (husband and son) were taking a quick nap, expecting to have leftover for dinner. But it was honestly so good that it disappeared from the table in less than 10 minutes. I’m not even kidding 😉
This salad is full of so many flavors. The chicken is seasoned with homemade pesto. I LOVE this homemade pesto recipe and put it on everything like my Pesto Shrimp Tomato Salad Recipe, Sweet Potato Pesto Chicken Skillet, Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp, and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Shrimp Asparagus Skillet!
This salad is covered with a light and easy lemon dressing, which has only four ingredients: lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Although this is a very simple dressing, it goes really well with the avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and cucumber.
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The combo of the pesto chicken, avocado, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onions, feta cheese, and lemon vinaigrette is SO DELICIOUS. Trust me when I say, the pesto chicken is what makes this salad amazing and so filling.
Why are you going to love this Pesto Chicken Salad Recipe? Because it’s …
- Healthy
- Gluten-free and low-carb
- Easy and quick to make
- Summer in a bowl
- Full of nutritious ingredients
This pesto chicken salad is a great choice to keep eating healthy during summertime and I guarantee it is to die for. It’s also full of protein it doesn’t leave you hungry. Actually, you’ll feel very satisfied! So, let’s jump to the recipe and fuel our body with healthy good-for-you food! Enjoy!
More Chicken Salad Recipes to Try:
- This Quinoa Chicken Salad Recipe is great for meal-prep because it stays great in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe with Avocado and the lemon-olive oil dressing is so light and fresh.
- This fresh Chimichurri Chicken Salad Recipe is loaded with lettuces, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, red onions and grilled chicken.
- This easy Cajun Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe with Black Bean Mango Salsa is made with homemade Cajun seasoning and a little olive oil.
- Make this Chicken Salad Recipe with Mango and Couscous is delicious and you will have a healthy and flavourful meal for lunch or dinner.
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Pesto Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 medium free range organic chicken breast without skin
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp homemade pesto
For the salad
- 5 cups green leaves any kind lettuces, spinach …, washed and shredded
- ½ small red onion sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomato cut in half
- 1 cup cucumber diced
- ½ avocado sliced
- 1 tsp feta cheese
- 1 tsp fresh parsley chopped
For the dressing
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
For the chicken
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Place chicken breast on the baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 30 minutes. The chicken is cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool down. On a cutting board, dice the chicken breast and transfer to a small bowl.
- Add pesto and stir well. Set aside.
For the salad
- In a large salad bowl, add green leaves, red onions, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and chicken.
- Slice avocados and arrange on salad.
- In a mason jar, pour the freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper and whisk everything together. Continue to whisk while streaming in the olive oil*.
- Taste to check the seasoning and pour over the salad.
- Top with feta cheese and parsley. Enjoy!
Tips
- 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.
- You can soak the red onions in cold water to remove some of the bite from them.
- To store: If this salad will be your lunch at work, bring the dressing in a separate container to avoid the salad getting soggy. 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.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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Alene says
Yum! Didn’t have any lettuce, but I had everything else. Delicious idea to put all of this together. Thank you!
Olivia says
You’re very welcome! Thanks for you feedback!
Viola says
I wish you also stated quantities in grams, ‘cup of salad’ is so confusing, do Americans really stuff salad into a cup five times to measure this? LOL. I’d love to try it, but finding the conversions for the measures is too much hassle.
Olivia says
We are working on it and adding quantities in grams on the most popular recipes.