Strawberry Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken

This strawberry spinach salad is a light, healthy and filling salad that’s packed with refreshing flavours and nutrients and gets a boost of protein from the grilled chicken! The strawberry salad dressing is super refreshing and the perfect way to make use of the seasonal produce this summer. {Gluten-free}

Do you ever have those moments where you’re seriously craving a big refreshing salad?

Now I’m not talking a flimsy salad with a couple of pieces of iceberg lettuce and some soggy tomatoes. No not that kind of salad.

I’m talkin’ a hearty, refreshing, meal-size salad, similar to the fancy salads you might get at a restaurant. Like this spinach strawberry salad recipe with grilled chicken!

Think vibrant and juicy fruit, crunchy nuts, creamy cheese, and a dressing that’s to die for.

These types salads ALWAYS hit the spot, and I swear the dressing in this salad is like the icing on the cake!

How to Make Strawberry Spinach Salad Dressing

The idea for this strawberry dressing actually stemmed from my blueberry broccoli salad recipe with the blueberry balsamic dressing. This is one of my favourite salad dressing of all times.

So creamy, sweet and delicious!

To make the strawberry balsamic dressing, add all ingredients for the dressing to a blender and blend until smooth.

I used a Ninja blender to make it nice and smooth. I love using this blender because it’s small and compact so it’s perfect for blending up a dressing. Plus, you can store the remaining dressing in the blender cup as well and it doesn’t take up too much space in the fridge!

How to Make Strawberry Spinach Salad

Preheat grill to medium high. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the grill and cook 6 minutes per side or until cooked through. Cut into thin slices.

Meanwhile, toss the spinach, chopped pecans, crumbled goats cheese, sliced strawberries, and avocado together in a large bowl.

Divide the salad among four bowls. Evenly distribute sliced chicken between bowls. Pour desired amount of dressing over the salad and toss to combine (the salad dressing recipe makes a full bottle’s worth so I used about a quarter of the dressing for this salad recipe).

Storage guidelines

This salad can be kept in the fridge for up to two days. I recommend only adding the dressing when ready to serve to prevent the salad from getting soggy.

Can this salad be made in advance?

If you wish to make this salad ahead of time, I suggest preparing the chicken and dressing in advance to save on time and assembling the rest of the salad ingredients right before serving to keep everything nice and fresh. The chicken and dressing should be good in the fridge for up to four days. 

Spinach and Strawberry Salad = Nutritional Powerhouse

I especially love this salad for summertime because it makes such a light and healthy dinner or lunch, perfect for those hot days. I love how it’s packed full of all the nutrients necessary for a balanced and healthy meal.

Here’s what you’ll find in this nutrient-packed salad:

• Protein and iron from the chicken
• Fibre and vitamin C from the strawberries
• Vitamin K, vitamin A and potassium from the spinach
• Healthy fats and vitamin E from the avocado, pecans and olive oil based dressing

You really can’t go wrong with this bright and vibrant nutrient-packed salad!

Recipe Tips

• To cut down on prep time, I recommend making up a batch of the dressing at the beginning of the week (love doing this in my Ninja blender) and storing it in the fridge. It makes a whole bottle’s worth, so it will definitely be enough for more than one salad. I used about a quarter of the dressing for this salad recipe.
• To save even more time, grill up the chicken breasts and slice them up in advance. Store in the fridge so that you can add it to the salad when ready to eat. The grilled chicken should be good in the fridge for up to four days.
• If you prefer to make this a side salad, skip the chicken and simply combine the spinach, strawberries, goat cheese, pecans, avocado and dressing.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken

This strawberry spinach salad is a light, healthy and filling salad that's packed with refreshing flavours and nutrients and gets a boost of protein from the grilled chicken! The strawberry salad dressing is super refreshing and the perfect way to make use of the seasonal produce this summer. {Gluten-free}

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Course: lunch, Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 8 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 374kcal

Author: Elysia

Ingredients

• 4 four oz chicken breasts grilled and sliced4 four oz chicken breasts grilled and sliced
• 8 cups baby spinach8 cups baby spinach
• 4 tbsp chopped pecans4 tbsp chopped pecans
• 8 tbsp crumbled goats cheese or feta cheese8 tbsp crumbled goats cheese or feta cheese
• 1 cup sliced strawberries1 cup sliced strawberries
• 1 avocado sliced1 avocado sliced

For the strawberry balsamic vinaigrette (makes a full bottle)

• 1 cup fresh sliced strawberries1 cup fresh sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup olive oil1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp honey2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• Preheat grill to medium high.
• Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the grill and cook 6 minutes per side or until cooked through. Cut into thin slices.
• Meanwhile, toss the spinach, chopped pecans, crumbled goats cheese, sliced strawberries, and avocado together in a large bowl.
• Add all ingredients for the dressing to a blender and blend until smooth (I used a Ninja blender to make it nice and smooth).
• Divide the salad among four bowls. Evenly distribute sliced chicken between bowls. Pour desired amount of dressing over the salad and toss to combine (the salad dressing recipe makes a full bottle's worth so I used about a quarter of the dressing for this salad recipe).

Notes

*The salad dressing recipe makes a full bottle's worth. I used about a quarter of the dressing for this salad recipe.

*Salad dressing can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.

Nutrition

Calories: 374kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 25g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 275mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g

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