This chopped salad recipe is easy to make, fresh, healthy, and hearty enough for dinner. What started as a last minute meal, thrown together by chopping a bunch of stuff I foraged from the fridge, has turned out to be one of our favorite weeknight dinners!
I love dishes like this, where nutritious and delicious unite in one big bowl. This chopped salad is everything you want for lunch or dinner, in salad form! A smorgasbord of crunchy chopped veggies, creamy avocados, juicy sweet tomatoes, and tender tasty rotisserie chicken dressed in a luscious lemon dijon vinaigrette to tie it all together.
'Rotisserie chicken chopped salad' is what I've come to call this dish because I usually make it with a rotisserie chicken. I happen to LOVE a good rotisserie chicken and I also love the convenience of it. But you can, of course, make this salad with any cooked chicken.
Convenience is the name of the game here - a simple dish made with fresh, pure, easy-to-source ingredients. If it's 5pm and you decide you want this chopped salad for dinner, you can easily have dinner on the table by 6.
This easy, healthy, delicious chopped salad has won a place in our weekly repertoire, joining Quick Turkey Ragu, Apricot Glazed Salmon, and Roasted Fennel Tomatoes and White Beans, as the most cooked dishes in our house.
Chopped Salad Ingredients
These 7 ingredients are so simple and common that you may even have most of them in the house. But when you dice them up and put them together in a salad bowl, they become something special - a fantastic mix of contrasting tastes and textures that will make you want to put this chopped salad into your rotation!
- Arugula or a mix of your favorite salad greens
- Rotisserie chicken or any cooked chicken. Leftover grilled Aleppo Pepper Chicken is incredible in this salad!
- Cucumbers - look for firm crisp hot house or mini Persian cucumbers
- Carrots add great fiber and lots of crunch!
- Cherry tomatoes or grape or cocktail tomatoes. Whichever tomatoes are the ripest and sweetest.
- Red onion or white onion
- Avocados - these are rich, creamy and heavenly in this salad
Dressing Ingredients
- Fresh squeezed lemon juice or a good bottled juice such as Santa Cruz
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Dijon mustard
- Garlic
- Kosher salt or sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
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The lemon Dijon vinaigrette
This salad dressing is my favorite. It's bright, lemony, mustardy with a hint of garlic and just the right level of salt and pepper. I use this dressing on everything, including as a marinade for chicken, on hasselback potatoes, and on salad nicoise. And I'm using it here too because it's just the best.
Chopped Salad
Making a chopped salad is really just as simple as it sounds. In this case, chop fresh vegetables and chicken into bite-sized pieces, toss everything in a big bowl with a good dressing, and enjoy a healthy, satisfying salad meal.
Chopped salad variations
Although I adore this chopped salad exactly as it is, I also love changing it up from time to time. The goal is always to keep it simple and use what I have on hand. Below are some of my favorite add-ins.
- Canned artichoke hearts
- Jarred roasted red peppers
- Cubed roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash
- Leftover roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts
- Dried cranberries or cherries
- Diced fresh apples or pears
If you try this chopped salad recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintRecipe
Rotisserie Chicken Chopped Salad
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 minutes 1x
Description
Healthy and delicious is the theme of this easy chopped salad recipe made with rotisserie chicken and fresh veggies, hearty enough for dinner. This is a great salad for meal prep or for using up leftover roasted or steamed veggies or chicken.
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 large garlic clove, finely minced or squeezed through a garlic press
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt or sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
For the Salad
- 2 cups of ½-inch diced cooked chicken
- 5 ounces salad greens such as arugula or baby romaine, chopped or left whole, depending on their size
- 2 avocados, cut into ½-inch cubes
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
- 1 large hothouse cucumber or 3 small Persian cucumbers, diced or halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
- 1 pint ripe cherry or cocktail tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on their size
Optional Add-ins:
- Canned artichoke hearts
- Jarred roasted red peppers
- Cubed and roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash
- Dried cranberries or cherries
- Diced apples or pears
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Slowly add the olive oil, while whisking constantly. Dressing can be made several hours ahead.
- Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. If you want a festive presentation, put the salad greens in the bowl first and arrange all the other ingredients in rows on top. When you're ready to serve, pour the dressing on top and toss well.
Notes
Nutrition Information: The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for the advice of a professional nutritionist.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chop
- Cuisine: American
Jen
This is an exceptional salad. I could eat it everyday. I don't know what it is exactly that makes it just hit the spot, but it does.
Lisa Goldfinger
Thanks Jen - I'm so glad you like it.
Janet K
This salad looks delicious! Running to the store now to grab a rotisserie chicken and a few veggies. I'm going to make it tonight. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks Lisa!
Lisa Goldfinger
I hope you like it - can't wait to hear!