Honey Mustard Chicken Salad. This easy to put together salad is bursting with flavor. Plus it’s hearty enough to be a complete meal for dinner and leave you fully satisfied. The honey mustard vinaigrette comes together with pantry items, and it doubles as the chicken marinade AND the salad dressing! Making this a quick and easy meal prep or weeknight dinner recipe!
Hey everyone! It’s Serene from House of Yumm! I’m back today to share this hearty and flavorful Honey Mustard Chicken Salad. There’s nothing I love more than sitting down to a fully loaded salad for dinner time. I like my salads to be filled with meats, cheese, and all the toppings so that I can consider it a full meal and feel satisfied. The best part about this recipe is that the honey mustard dressing comes together with items you most likely have on hand already, and it doubles as a chicken marinade and a salad dressing all in one!
How to Make a Honey Mustard Dressing:
This honey mustard dressing is one of my all time favorites. It’s basically a vinaigrette, it has an olive oil and vinegar base. Then it’s loaded up with some sweet honey, and two kinds of mustard. This is a personal preference. If you would rather just use one mustard or the other you can, you don’t need to use both. I just like the flavors of both a spicy brown mustard and a dijon.
I also recommend starting the dressing with 1 tablespoon of vinegar, then adding more as needed according to your personal preference. 2 tablespoons is a definite vinegar tang to the dressing. 1 gives a very subtle flavoring. Personally I use 1 and 1/2 tablespoons. But your personal preference might be more or less. So start small and add more once you’ve mixed up the dressing.
How to Make Honey Mustard Chicken:
As I mentioned, the dressing doubles as a marinade! Thank goodness for easy recipes. Take a small portion of the dressing that you made and drizzle it over the chicken. Make sure to add enough to coat the chicken. 1/4-1/2 cup of the dressing will get the job done. I always marinade my chicken at least 2 hours to let the flavorings meld together.
Then add a bit of olive oil to a skillet, heat over medium heat and cook the chicken to get it to an internal temperature of 165.
You can always prep this the day before and let the chicken marinade for longer overnight and cook for dinner the next day if needed as well.
To assemble the salad simply add all the ingredients together and drizzle with the remaining honey mustard vinaigrette. This recipe will create enough honey mustard dressing to marinade 2 chicken breasts and make 2 large salads. The salads will be hearty enough to feed two adults for dinner! You can always add more ingredients to create a larger salad if you are serving it at a gathering.
Make sure you check out my other fully loaded salads too!
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (start with 1 and add according to preference)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
- 3 tablespoons dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 chicken breasts
- 4 cups lettuce or spinach of choice
- sliced red onion
- sliced grape tomatoes
- ½ an avocado sliced
- ¼ cup feta cheese crumbles
- fresh rosemary to garnish
- In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the honey mustard vinaigrette. Whisk together until completely combined. (start with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, add more if desired..I prefer mine at 1 and ½ tablespoons. 2 tablespoons gives a strong flavor. Add to preference)
- Add the chicken breasts to a large resealable plastic bag or sealed container. Add ¼ cup of the honey mustard marinade to coat the chicken. Seal and refrigerate to marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours.
- Cover and refrigerate the remaining vinaigrette.
- When ready to prep the salad, heat a large skillet over medium heat, drizzle a small amount of extra virgin olive oil in the skillet. Add the chicken breasts. Cook on each side about 8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and shows 165 on a digital thermometer.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Prepare the remaining salad ingredients.
- Slice the chicken as desired for the salad.
- Add all ingredients to create a salad and drizzle with the remaining honey mustard vinaigrette. The ingredients and the vinaigrette makes enough for 2 large salads.
