This loaded Italian Chopped Salad is packed with grilled chicken, salami, avocado, chickpeas, mozzarella, and a creamy dressing. This flavorful salad is a great hearty salad recipe for lunch or dinner!
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: I grill chicken breasts to make this salad hearty! You can certainly leave out the chicken or substitute it for steak or salmon, if you prefer.
- Salami: Diced or sliced Italian salami adds a delicious peppery and salty flavor to the salad. Proscuitto would also be delicious.
- Chickpeas: drain and rinse the canned chickpeas before using.
- Avocado: The avocado adds a creaminess to the salad! Wait to add in the avocado until right before serving to prevent it from turning brown.
- Mozzarella: You can use mini mozzarella balls (ciliegine) or dice a larger mozzarella ball.
- Veggies: I love mixing in cherry tomatoes and cucumber!
- Creamy Crème Fraîche Dressing: The dressing is creamy, tangy, herby, and garlicky. If you can't find creme fraiche at your grocery store, you can use sour cream.
Prep ahead tips
The creamy lemon dressing can be prepped up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
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The salad can be assembled up to the day before and kept tightly covered in the refrigerator. Wait to toss it with the avocado and creamy dressing until right before serving.
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📖 Recipe
Italian Chopped Salad with Chicken
This loaded Italian Chopped Salad is packed with grilled chicken, salami, avocado, chickpeas, mozzarella, and a creamy dressing.
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Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 3 heads of romain lettuce chopped
- 1 pt cherry tomatoes chopped
- 1 avocado diced
- ½ cup garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
- 6 pieces of sliced salami julienned
- 1 cup cucumber chopped
- 1 cup fresh mozzarella chopped
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breast boneless, skinless
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon italian seasoning
Creamy Dressing
- ½ cup creme fraiche
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice about ½ a lemon
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest about ½ a lemon
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic about 2 cloves
- 1 tablespoon chives chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Creamy Dressing
- In a small bowl, mix creme fraiche, lemon juice, lemon zest, grated garlic, chives, salt, and pepper.
Grilled chicken
- Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil a large pan over medium high heat.
- Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Grill chicken on pan for about 10 minutes, flipping halfway, until thoroughly cooked. Slice chicken.
Chopped Salad
- In a large salad bowl, toss romaine, cherry tomatoes, avocado, garbanzo beans, salami, cucumber, mozzarella, cooked chicken, and dressing.
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Tried this recipe?Please consider leaving a review! It means the world to me!
Alison says
Best salad ever! The dressing is so friendly for non-salad lovers and the mix of ingredients keeps things interesting.
Caitlin from CC's Table says
Thank you so much, Alison! I'm so happy you liked the salad!