This mouthwatering Lemon Chicken Salad makes a substantial meal or terrific for sharing at gatherings! A bright lemon dressing with a touch of honey does double duty as a quick marinade for the chicken. Nutritious, filling and fabulous!
The very first feature I did for Super Food Ideas magazine was called “Double Duty” where I shared recipes where one base mixture was used for two purposes.
So for example, I did a Garlic Lime Marinated Prawns (Shrimp) with Green Rice where one lime and garlic mixture was used to marinate the prawns and as the flavour base for a green spinach rice.
Using a salad dressing as a marinade for chicken is Double Duty in its simplest form and this Lemon Chicken Salad is a terrific example where the Lemon Dressing works as a fantastic marinade to infuse chicken with flavour – quickly!
THE LEMON DRESSING
The Lemon Dressing is made with both lemon zest and lemon juice. That way, it actually tastes of lemon. Which might sound strange I know. But actually, lemon juice is just sour. All the lemon flavour is in the skin.
So if you want lemon flavoured anything, you need to use the zest!
CHICKEN BREAST OR THIGH!
If I post a chicken thigh recipe, I absolutely guarantee someone will ask if it can be made with breast. If I post a chicken breast recipe, someone always asks if it can be made with thigh.
So nowadays, I just make sure I cover that off in every single chicken recipe I do.
YES you can make this with chicken breast. YES you can make it with chicken thighs!
I had a bit of a shocker filming and photographing this recipe. I kept forgetting a key ingredient and had to make it over and over again. Which, actually, is not the worst thing in the world because I would scoff it down for lunch within seconds of the last click of the camera.
The last time I filmed it, I was patting myself on the back for remembering everything for the salad – then wailed in frustration when I realised I forgot the bacon.
Hence why some photos have bacon – and some do not.
The video does not. 😤
But in all honesty, it’s an optional extra. Bacon makes everything better. But this Lemon Chicken Salad is terrific even without it! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Lemon Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Dressing/Marinade:
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove , minced
- 1/2 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp black pepper
Chicken:
- 1 large chicken breast , halved horizontally* OR 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp lemon juice , extra
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Salad:
- 2 tbsp finely chopped dill
- 8 cups cos/romaine lettuce , chopped (or other lettuce of choice, Note 2)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes , halved
- 1 medium avocado , quartered and sliced thickly
- 1/2 red onion , small, finely sliced
- 3/4 cup corn kernels , fresh or canned drained
- 120g/ 4 oz bacon , cooked then chopped (optional)
Instructions
Dressing:
- Place Dressing ingredients in a jar. Shake well.
Chicken:
- Place chicken in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp Dressing, 1 tbsp extra lemon juice, plus a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well. Marinate minimum 20 minutes up to 24 hours.
- Heat oil in a non stick skillet over medium high heat (or use bacon fat if you use bacon in this!). Add chicken and cook. Halved breasts: 2 minutes each side. Thigh: 4 minutes each side.
- Transfer to plate, cover loosely with foil for 3 minutes. Slice.
Salad:
- Add dill into remaining dressing. Shake.
- Place remaining salad ingredients in a bowl. Top with chicken.
- Drizzle dressing all over. Crumble over bacon if using. Serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
MORE CHICKEN SALADS YOU’LL LOVE
More giant Salads for Meals
Life of Dozer
If he gets any closer to the heater, we might be having roasted Dozer for dinner tonight….
BRAVO, WONDERFUL AS ALWAYS AND HERE IS SOMETHING FOR YOU TO REMEMBER
THE DOG IS A GENTLEMAN. I HOPE TO GO TO HIS HEAVEN AND
NOT MAN,S
MARK TWAIN
CHEERS
Ba ha ha! YES me too!
Why would you put a space heater on a rug. Poor incinerated Dozer.
Aww no! He loves it! The heater warms that shaggy rug and he adores it!
You missed the point. Every fire department in the developed world cautions about space heaters placed too
close to combustibles —most often throw rugs; hundreds of fires every year. Once again, poor incinerated Dozer.
Even wool ones??? I just googled and couldn’t get a definitive answer on whether wool is considered combustible or not. I am worried now. I’m going to get a new heater!
Nagi, this recipe comes at a perfect time as sweet corn and tomatoes are just coming into season in South Western Ontario. I’ve been getting lettuce each week in my CSA share and I’m getting bored with regular salads.
I’ll be making this for sure! It’s so beautiful too.
Do you ever make it with skin on chicken?
Thanks!
Marci
HI Marci! It would be absolutely fabulous with skin on chicken 🙂 Imagine the extra flavour! N x
Well I made this tonight and it’s a big hit! I ended up using boneless skinless chicken just cause I had some. Not a single frond of dill in my little town or anyone’s garden so I used some cilantro from my garden. It was great! Even my cilantro and avocado hating hubby liked it. I’ll make it again as soon as I find some dill.
WHOOT WHOOT!!! PS Highest praise ever from cilantro-avo-hating-husband!! N xx