This grilled chicken salad with strawberries, avocado, and crispy toasted almonds is a taste of sunshine in a bowl. Perfect for summer, great for meal prep, and easy to prepare using the fresh citrus dressing as a flavorful chicken marinade.
Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad
This easy grilled chicken salad with strawberries and avocado is a big bowl (or plate) of sunshine! I love it because it has so many different textures and fresh, summery flavors. It’s also super filling, with 30 grams of protein per serving and all the good fats from olive oil and avocado. I hope you love it as much as I do! Have this low-carb summer salad for lunch or a light dinner, or meal prep it for a busy workday. If you like this chicken breast recipe, you might also enjoy my grilled chicken avocado and mango salad or a classic BBQ chicken salad.
Why Make This Grilled Chicken Salad With Strawberries
Juicy chicken breast is marinated in half of the citrus salad dressing before it’s grilled and served over butter lettuce with strawberries and avocado. Here’s why this salad is about to become your new favorite summer side dish:
- Flavor and texture galore. The combination of smoky grilled chicken, ripe summer strawberries, creamy avocado, and crunchy almonds is perfection.
- Summer in salad form! The zesty lemon-orange vinaigrette is bright, refreshing, and ties the salad together beautifully. It also doubles as a marinade for grilled chicken in this recipe, cutting down on prep time.
- Make ahead-friendly. This is a wonderful meal prep recipe since you can prepare the salad or individual ingredients, like the chicken and toasted almonds, ahead of a busy week.
Ingredients Needed
This is what you’ll need to make the salad and homemade dressing. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
For the Dressing and Marinade
- Orange juice: Freshly squeezed or store-bought, but not from concentrate for the best flavor. I like to juice a navel orange since it’s sweeter.
- Lemon juice: Also freshly squeezed. You’ll need the juice from about two medium-sized lemons or 1 large lemon. Swapping the lemon juice with lime juice will give the marinade/dressing a slightly different flavor profile.
- Garlic: I prefer minced garlic cloves. If you’re using jarred garlic, substitute 1 tablespoon per clove.
- Fresh basil: You could use another herb that you like, here, such as fresh parsley or mint.
- Olive oil: Choose a good quality extra virgin olive oil for the dressing. You’ll taste the difference!
For the Salad
- Chicken breasts: I like to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts as they’re easy to slice into cutlets and they grill quickly. Chicken thighs also work well in this recipe, though they’re a bit fattier.
- Slivered almonds: You can also buy whole almonds and crush them. Other nuts and seeds also work in this salad, as you’ll see in the Variations section below.
- Lettuce: I use butter lettuce, but you can make this chicken salad with any salad greens you prefer. Good options are iceberg lettuce, romaine, or you can make a strawberry spinach salad with grilled chicken.
- Avocado: Hass avocado or whatever type is available in your local grocery store. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and then slice or dice it.
- Strawberries: Washed and hulled.
- Red onion: Or another mild salad onion, thinly sliced. I also love to make this salad with pickled red onions for another layer of flavor.
How to Make Grilled Chicken Salad With Strawberries
- Make the dressing. Whisk all the salad dressing ingredients and pour half of it over the chicken to marinate.
- Toast the almonds. Sprinkle the almonds with fresh pepper and a pinch of salt, then toast them in a skillet lightly sprayed with olive oil. Remove them from the pan when they start to turn golden and smell fragrant, so they don’t burn.
- Cook the chicken. Now, remove the chicken from the marinade. Cook the chicken in a grill pan on medium-high heat for three minutes. Let rest and then thinly slice. Alternatively, you can grill the chicken breast on the outdoor grill.
- Assemble the salad. Divide the lettuce, avocado, strawberries, red onions, and grilled chicken into bowls, or serve your salad on one big sharing-style platter. Drizzle the salad with the citrus vinaigrette and top with almonds.
Meal Prep This Salad Recipe
This grilled chicken salad with strawberries is perfect for meal prep. Add all the salad ingredients (apart from the avocado) to two meal-prep containers. Store the dressing and nuts separately in smaller containers. When you’re ready to eat the salad, slice the avocado, top it with the almonds and dressing, and enjoy.
Serving Suggestions
This salad recipe comes loaded with protein, veggies, and fresh strawberries, making it a meal in itself. I love it as a filling lunch, and it’s perfect for a light dinner when the temperatures outside are soaring.
Make it a side salad
Turn this grilled chicken and strawberry salad into a side dish served with burgers, casseroles, or any of these easy summer meals.
Easy Variations
- Protein: Swap chicken breast for chicken thighs, grilled shrimp, or salmon.
- Fruit: Switch out the strawberries for raspberries, apples, or dried cranberries.
- Lettuce: Use romaine or mixed baby greens instead of butter lettuce.
- Onion: Use shallot instead of red onion.
- Nuts: Substitute pecans or pistachios for almonds. Or, use pepitas or sunflower seeds for a nut-free version.
- Cheese: Add feta, goat, or blue cheese.
Storage
Try to leave this grilled chicken salad undressed if you plan to store it. The avocado starts to brown with time, so eat any leftovers sooner rather than later. Keep the salad covered airtight in the fridge.
More Summer Salad Recipes
Grilled Chicken Salad with Strawberries
Ingredients
For the dressing and marinade:
- Juice from 1 medium navel orange
- Juice from 2 medium lemons
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
For the salad:
- 1 8-ounce boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced lengthwise into 2 thin cutlets
- Olive oil spray
- 2 tablespoons raw slivered almonds
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 head butter lettuce, chopped (about 4 cups)
- 2 ounces Hass avocado, from ½ a small, sliced
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- ¼ cup sliced red onion
Instructions
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the dressing ingredients together.
- Place chicken in a shallow bowl or Ziploc bag, add ½ the dressing and marinate chicken for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, spray a medium skillet lightly with olive oil. Place skillet over medium low heat, add the almonds, a pinch of salt and a generous amount of fresh pepper. Toast almonds until they just start to brown and become fragrant, 4-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, transfer almonds to a plate or your cutting board to cool.
- Spray the skillet with olive oil, remove chicken from marinade (discarding excess) and cook chicken over medium high heat for 3 minutes.
- Flip and cook an additional 2 minutes, or until chicken is browned and cooked through. Set aside on a cutting board to rest while you assemble the salad.
- In 2 bowls or meal prep containers, divide the lettuce then top each with ½ the avocado, strawberries, and red onion.
- Thinly slice the chicken breast and add to the salad.
To eat immediately:
- Drizzle each with ½ the reserved dressing and top with ½ the slivered almonds.
For meal prep:
- Store reserved dressing and almonds separately and top with both when ready to eat.