Chicken Salad with Creamy Pesto Dressing

My creamy pesto chicken salad is layered with seasoned chicken, white beans, and salted almonds for a protein-packed dish. Feta, basil, and homemade pesto dressing top things off for a flavorful masterpiece!

Course dinner, lunch, meal-prep, Salad

Cuisine American

Keyword Chicken Salad with Creamy Pesto Dressing

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 837kcal

Author Erin Antoniak

Ingredients

Salad

2 lbs boneless chicken thighs
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon each garlic powder onion powder, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano
11 oz spring mix lettuce
1 can white cannellini beans drained and rinsed
2 avocados diced
1 cup diced cucumber
8 oz feta diced or crumbled
½ cup basil chopped
1 cup salted almonds chopped

Dressing

½ cup 2% plain greek yogurt
½ cup mayo
⅓ cup fresh pesto
⅓ cup avocado oil or olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine chicken thighs and oil, toss to coat.
In a small bowl, mix together paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Pour on top of chicken and toss until chicken is fully coated.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoon oil. Once hot, add chicken in, cooking 5 minutes per side or until internal temp reaches 165F. You may need to do this in two batches if your skillet isn't big enough. Set chicken aside on a plate.
Make dressing by whisking together all of the dressing ingredients.
Assemble salad by layering spring mix in a large bowl, then adding beans, avocados, cucumber, feta.
Slice chicken thighs into strips and layer on top of salad, then top with chopped basil and almonds.
Pour dressing over top of salad, and either toss to coat or serve as is! Enjoy!

Nutrition