This Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad is a sweet and refreshing salad loaded with fresh berries, juicy pineapple, mandarin oranges and toasted pecans topped with a lightly sweet and tangy poppy seed dressing. A quick and healthy choice for busy summer nights! {Gluten-free}
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Panera Poppyseed Salad
You can always tell summer is just around the corner when Panera releases its strawberry poppyseed salad! It’s the perfect summer salad, loaded with lots of fresh summer fruit, crunchy pecans, and tender chicken breast, all topped with a sweet poppyseed dressing.
Although Panera does its best to use wholesome ingredients whenever possible, I prefer to make my own version of this fan favorite salad to reduce the sugar content (and calories) so you can enjoy it all summer long. And believe me, you’ll want to eat this refreshing salad all the time!
If you love this salad, you’ll also want to try this Panera Chinese Citrus Cashew Salad or this Panera Bread Baja Bowl Recipe!
Why We Love This Panera Copycat Recipe
- Dietitian-formulated to be lower in sugar and high in fiber
- Naturally sweet flavor from 4 types of fruits
- Easy to meal prep for healthy lunches all week
- Cooling and refreshing during the warm summer months
- Family-friendly meal even the kids will love
- Eye-catching and colorful for Mother’s Day brunch or special gatherings
- Easy way to sneak some extra fruits and veggies into your diet
Ingredient Notes
For the salad:
- Cooked chicken breast: To keep this simple, you can use leftover rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken breast from another meal. Or see the ‘Recipe Tips’ for methods to prepare the chicken.
- Romaine lettuce: For a crunchy texture and mild flavor that lets the fruit flavors shine. Feel free to use spinach or your favorite mixed greens instead.
- Fresh fruits: This salad is loaded with fruit, including fresh strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, and canned mandarin oranges. These add lots of flavor, sweetness, and fiber to help balance your blood sugar and keep you full for longer.
- Toasted pecans: For a crunchy, nutty bite and some healthy fats.
- Poppy seeds: For a little extra crunch.
For the creamy poppyseed dressing:
- Light olive oil: This oil has all the same heart-healthy monounsaturated fats as extra virgin, but it has a milder flavor.
- Honey: For a light, floral sweetness and a lower GI rating compared to regular sugar.
- Apple cider vinegar: This adds a tangy flavor that brings out the flavor of the fresh fruits. You could use white wine or champagne vinegar in place of the apple cider vinegar, but may need a touch more honey to bring up the sweetness.
- Plain Greek yogurt: For a creamy texture without the extra fat in mayo.
- Orange juice: Fresh fruit juice is a great way to add flavor with extra added sugar.
- Grated sweet onion: For a little heat and a savory flavor to balance the sweetness. You can leave out the grated onion and substitute it with ¼ teaspoon onion powder if preferred.
- Salt & black pepper
- Poppyseeds: It isn’t a poppyseed salad dressing without poppyseeds! These are easy to find in the spice section at your local grocery store.
How to Make
Step 1: Prepare Dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until fully combined. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. Before serving, whisk the dressing to bring it all back together.
Step 2: Assemble the Salad
- Build the salad on a large platter or divide ingredients among 4 large salad bowls. Start with the lettuce on the bottom, then scatter on the fruit and pecans. Top with sliced chicken and garnish with poppyseeds. Serve with poppyseed dressing.
Keep scrolling to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe!
Recipe Tips:
- I only used half of the dressing for all 4 servings and found that to be plenty. You can use the remaining dressing for other salads too. The nutritional information is based on using only half of the dressing.
- To cook chicken breasts: Season chicken breasts with your favorite seasoning, lightly brush with olive oil and bake in the oven at 375℉ for 25-35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165℉. You can also pan sear the chicken breast in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, about 4 minutes per side or grill it at medium high heat for about 6-7 minutes per side.
- This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken.
- For a less creamy dressing, reduce the Greek yogurt to 2 tablespoons.
- If desired, toss the salad in a large bowl with tongs before serving to coat it evenly with the homemade poppyseed dressing.
Recipe FAQs
It depends. The salad is loaded with veggies and fresh fruits, which are obviously great for you. You can also get it with chicken for an extra dose of protein.
However, the poppyseed dressing packs quite a lot of sugar, given one serving of the Panera salad has 25 grams of sugar. This isn’t terrible compared to many other fast food options, but considering that the American Heart Association recommends women limit their daily added sugar intake to 25g (100 calories from sugar), that means that the added sugar from this dressing will bring you close to that number.
One option is to ask for the dressing on the side so that you can control how much dressing you’re adding, or better yet, make your own!
They can be! I always recommend looking for the oranges packed in water or fruit juice, not the ones packed in syrup, as they have much more sugar. You can always rinse them under some water as well to wash away any excess sugary syrup or juice. If you have fresh mandarin oranges around, you can also use those instead.
Although you probably can’t make the Panera poppyseed dressing exactly the same at home, you can get a very similar texture and flavor with a few simple ingredients. I make my own with light olive oil, honey, orange juice, sweet onion, poppyseeds, apple cider vinegar, and a little Greek yogurt. It really tastes just like the restaurant salad, if not better, thanks to all those fresh ingredients!
Storage Guidelines
This salad is best when eaten fresh, but leftover, undressed salad can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. The fruit tends to weep moisture making the lettuce become soggy, so if you can store the lettuce separate from the fruit, that would be even better.
Leftover dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Serving Suggestions
This copycat Panera strawberry poppyseed salad recipe is intended to be a complete meal on its own. It has plenty of protein to keep you satisfied and lots of fiber from the fruits and veggies. To replicate the restaurant meal, you can serve it with a crusty piece of French baguette for a more hearty meal.
You can also make your own You Pick Two meal by serving a smaller portion of this fruity salad with half a sandwich or a cup of soup. These are some of my favorite options!
Recipe Variations
- Tweak the dressing: There are a few small tweaks you can make to change the homemade dressing. For example, you can replace the grated onion with 1/4 tsp onion powder or try lemon juice instead of orange juice for a tangier flavor. You can also replace the apple cider vinegar with another mild-tasting vinegar, like champagne or rice vinegar.
- Switch up the protein: Grilled chicken tastes great, but you can also serve grilled salmon or shrimp or some chickpeas for plant-based protein.
- Add more toppings: At Panera, you can order the strawberry poppy seed salad with feta on top, which is really tasty. You can also try adding blue cheese or goat cheese, sliced red onion, cooked quinoa, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, fresh cucumbers, or anything else that you’d like to add. Don’t be afraid to experiment and make it your own!
More Delicious Salads
- Chicken Spinach Strawberry Salad
- Healthy Chicken Caesar Salad
- Arugula Nectarine Salad
- Blueberry Walnut Salad
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a star rating and review!
Copycat Panera Bread Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 4 (4 ounce) chicken breasts, cooked and sliced
- 6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced
- 1 cup blueberries, washed
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, diced into bite sized pieces
- 1 can (15 ounces) mandarin oranges packed in water or juice, drained
- 1/2 cup roasted pecans, roughly chopped
Poppyseed Dressing
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon grated sweet onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until fully combined. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. Before serving, whisk the dressing to bring it all back together.
- Build the salad on a large platter or divide ingredients amongst 4 large salad bowls. Start with the lettuce on the bottom, then scatter on the fruit and pecans. Top with sliced chicken and garnish with poppyseeds. Serve with poppyseed dressing.
Notes
- I only used half of the dressing for all 4 servings and found that to be plenty. You can use the remaining dressing for other salads too. The nutritional information is based on using only half of the dressing.
- To cook chicken breasts: Season chicken breasts with your favorite seasoning, lightly brush with olive oil and bake in the oven at 375℉ for 25-35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165℉. You can also pan sear the chicken breast in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, about 4 minutes per side or grill it at medium high heat for about 6-7 minutes per side.
- This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken.
- For a less creamy dressing, reduce the Greek yogurt to 2 tablespoons.
- If desired, toss the salad in a large bowl with tongs before serving to coat it evenly with the homemade poppyseed dressing.
Hi There,
Is the nutrition per portion or for the full dish made?
The nutritional information is per serving. The salad makes 4 servings :)