Chicken Apple Winter Salad (Printable)

Vibrant mix of chicken, crisp apples, pecans, and tangy cider dressing, perfect for brightening winter meals.

# What You Need:

→ Salad

01 - 2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
02 - 2 crisp apples (e.g. Honeycrisp or Gala), cored and sliced
03 - 4 cups mixed salad greens (arugula, spinach, or romaine)
04 - 1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced
05 - 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
06 - 1/4 cup dried cranberries
07 - 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
08 - 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

→ Apple Cider Dressing

09 - 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
10 - 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
11 - 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
12 - 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
13 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
14 - 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

# Directions:

01 - Whisk together apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl until emulsified. Set aside.
02 - In a large bowl, mix salad greens, cooked chicken, apple slices, celery, pecans, dried cranberries, red onion, and optional feta cheese.
03 - Pour the prepared dressing over the salad mixture and toss gently to ensure even coating of all components.
04 - Serve immediately, garnished with extra pecans or additional feta cheese if desired.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It comes together in 15 minutes, which means lunch doesn't feel like a project on busy days.
  • The warm spices in the dressing somehow make you feel like you're being good to yourself while eating something genuinely delicious.
  • Leftover chicken finally has a place where it tastes intentional and fresh, not like you're just reheating yesterday.
02 -
  • Don't dress the salad until you're actually serving it, even though it feels efficient to do it all at once. The greens will wilt and the apples will brown if they sit with dressing for more than a few minutes.
  • Thinly slicing the red onion isn't just about presentation—thin pieces soften enough to add flavor without that raw bite that can overpower everything else.
03 -
  • Keep your apples in cold water with a squeeze of lemon juice while you prep everything else—they'll stay crisp and bright instead of browning.
  • Make extra dressing and keep it in a jar in the fridge. It works on other salads all week and tastes even better the next day when the flavors have had time to get to know each other.
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