Harvest Salad Recipe

This Harvest Salad recipe is in constant rotation all Fall and Winter. It’s easy to make, perfect for meal prep, keeps me satisfied, and tastes so good!   

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Harvest Salad Recipe Ingredients

There are basically two main parts to this recipe. One is the grilled chicken breast, and the other is everything else.

First, the grilled chicken breast. I discovered the best chicken marinade from Our Salty Kitchen, which is used in their Balsamic Chicken Thighs recipe. In the photo below you can see it’s a marinade made of olive oil, coconut aminos (which keeps it gluten free), balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt. If you don’t have coconut aminos and don’t need it to be gluten free you can sub for soy sauce.

Next are the ‘and everything else’ ingredients. What’s great about this recipe is you can add whatever you have that evokes Autumn and Winter vibes. My favorite toppings (and the way the recipe is written) are dried sweetened cherries, fresh pear, and pecans. Feel free to use craisins if you have those, or maybe apple instead of pear, or walnuts instead of pecans. If you aren’t dairy free then adding a sprinkle of fresh parmesan is also a nice addition.

There isn’t a traditional dressing, but just a splash of balsamic vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil. Because of this, you want to you high quality in both because you will really taste it. I love Brightland olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I trust the quality, it’s made right in California, and it’s the best tasting affordable option I have found. My favorite olive oil is Lucid which is blended with lemon and adds a nice brightness to the salad. One word of note, I keep two separate kinds of balsamic vinegar. I have one from Whole Foods that I use in the marinade and then the Brightland Balsamic is reserved for finishing the salad.

How to Grill the Best Chicken Breasts on Gas Grill

A key ingredient of the Winter Harvest Salad with Chicken is chicken. Since I live in the city I haven’t always had the pleasure of having a gas grill. When we moved into our condo we invested in a Weber grill and have been very happy with the purchase and do use it all year long, even in the cold Chicago months. Here are my tips (along with what we learned from Weber):

• Marinade, at least 30 minutes, to keep from drying out and infuse flavor.
• Pound using a meat tenderizer so the entire breast is the same thickness.
• Use a meat thermometer so you can remove it from the grill when it reaches 165℉ to prevent overcooking.
• Weber Grills recommends 8 to 12 minutes on Direct Medium Heat (350-450℉), it will depend on the thickness of the meat and your grill.
• Only flip once halfway through cooking.

How to Meal Prep the Harvest Salad

The Fall Harvest Salad is a great meal prep lunch because you only need to grill the chicken once and you have lunch all week. I’m kind of weird about making sure my food is still good/expiration dates so you may be able to push it but I err on the side of caution.

Please do what works best for you, but here is what I’ve found to work best for me. Grill the chicken on day one and slice all the chicken. Keep out what I will use for the next day and freeze the rest. When I’m on day three I take only the chicken I will use for that day out of the freezer and air fry it for 2-3 minutes at 350℉.

I use half a piece of fruit for each salad so you can either cut that up all at once or keep the one half you didn’t use in the fridge. So that the fruit doesn’t yellow (I told you I’m weird like that) I cut the fruit when I intend to use it so I just wrap the second half in Press’n Seal (I’m well aware this isn’t great for the environment).

What Tools Do You Need to Make a Harvest Salad?

• Meat Tenderizer | The thinner the chicken the less time it will take on the grill, but you definitely want to use this to make them all the same thickness for even cooking.
• Meat Thermometer | When you don’t want the chicken to be dry, but you do want it done, this is the trick. If you like things like this check out my Top Amazon Kitchen Gadgets post too!
• Grill | I love grilled mean but don’t go out and buy a grill just for this recipe. You can use and indoor grill pan or prepare it however you generally like to make chicken. If you are in the market for a new grill though, we love our Weber!

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Harvest Salad Recipe

Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar for marinade
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp olive oil for marinade
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp italian seasoning
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups spinach
• ½ pear
• 1 tbsp pecans
• 1 tbsp dried sweetened cherries
• 1 tbsp olive oil for dressing
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar for dressing

Directions

1. Place chicken and next 6 ingredients in a plastic bag to marinate, removing as much air as possible (can also use glass container as shown in the picture)
2. Let marinate in the refrigerator a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 6 hours
3. Once chicken is done marinating, preheat grill to 450℉
4. Remove chicken from refrigerator and pound to an even thickness using the meat tenderizer (if using a glass container to marinate you can put the chicken between two pieces of Press’n Seal)
5. Place chicken on the grill for 8-12 minutes until the internal temperature is 165℉, flipping once halfway through
6. While chicken is cooking prepare the salad by placing spinach, diced pear, pecans and dried cherries in a bowl
7. Top with grilled chicken.
8. Drizzle oilive oil and balsamic vinegar on top

 Tips

• You won’t need the entire pound of chicken for one salad, I ususally eat ¼ of it for each serving.

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