Chopped Chicken Salad with Fresh Peaches
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Chopped Chicken Salad with Fresh Peaches pairs grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, fresh peaches, Feta cheese, smoked almonds, and a sweet citrusy honey vinaigrette for a fresh and healthy meal that’s prepared in just minutes! This chicken salad recipe is the perfect light and healthy Summer salad.
I’ve been going crazy with peaches this year – in cobblers, with pork chops on the grill, in breakfast parfaits with blueberries, Greek yogurt, and granola. Yet, this Chopped Chicken Salad with Fresh Peaches has to be one of the best uses for fresh peaches I’ve discovered so far!
Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring, and because it has fresh peaches in it.
—Alice Walker
Chopped Chicken Salad with Fresh Peaches
Do you have a favorite peach recipe or memory? I can’t help but think riding in the front seat of my Dad’s pickup truck to go to “market” to buy peaches when I was a little girl.
The market was a dark, drive-thru warehouse on Forest Avenue in downtown Knoxville where farmers gathered their flatbed trucks loaded with Georgia and South Carolina peaches, melons, beans, corn, and other fresh summer produce.
We’d bring home a bushel or two of peaches and spend the afternoon under a shade tree peeling and slicing so my Mamaw B. could do some canning. Of course, there would be good ‘ole peach cobbler for dessert that night. Kind of sounds like a scene out of The Waltons, huh?
Today’s peach chicken salad finds a fresh new way to enjoy this delectable Summer fruit.
Ingredients
- Cooked chicken — use either a chopped rotisserie chicken or chop up a couple of grilled or baked chicken breasts
- Fresh peaches — I like South Carolina or Georgia freestone peaches the best
- Chopped romaine lettuce
- Smoked almonds — you could use lightly salted almonds, but the smoked almonds add a wonderful flavor dimension
- Crumbled blue cheese or Feta cheese
- Fresh orange juice
- White wine vinegar
- Extra-virgin olive oil
Clingstone vs. Freestone
Peaches are categorized based on whether they cling to the pit or if the flesh removes easily from the pit. Being in the South, my preferred stone fruit are freestone peaches grown in Georgia or South Carolina.
Where are peaches grown domestically?
According to the US Department of Agriculture, California produced the most peaches in the United States in 2018 with more than 500,000 tons. South Carolina ranked second with about 55,000 tons and Georgia, the self-proclaimed peach capitol, produced around 25,000 tons.
Peaches are also grown in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Washington, Michigan, New York, and West Virginia.
To make this recipe, you may need…
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This compact Black & Decker electric citrus juicer is my go-to kitchen tool when I need to juice an orange. It has a handy strainer that catches the seeds and the juice is collected in a container with a spout for easy pouring. It also makes the job of squeezing a bag of lemons for a pitcher of lemonade a breeze!
More chopped salad recipes
The first chopped salad I ever remember eating was the chopped salad with bleu cheese at Outback Steakhouse. Since then, chopped salads have popped up on restaurant menus everywhere. For chopped salads at home, here are my favorites:
- Mango Chicken Chopped Salad
- Chopped Chicken Kale Salad with Thai Peanut Vinaigrette
- Chopped Mediterranean Salad with Arugula
- Insalata Della Casa (chopped Italian salad)
- Vegetarian Italian Chopped Salad
- More salad recipes!
Let’s cook!
For this salad you can use a chopped rotisserie chicken or chop up a couple of baked or grilled chicken breasts. Either works just fine. As for the cheese, choose either crumbled blue cheese or Feta, whichever you like best.
The hardest part of making this salad is not eating all the peaches as you’re peeling and chopping them up! I hope you enjoy this fresh salad as much as we did.
This recipe was originally posted on July 10, 2014 and was most recently updated on August 23, 2019.
Chopped Chicken Salad with Fresh Peaches
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chicken breast coarsely chopped
- 6 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- 2 cups peaches about 2 medium, peeled and chopped
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese or Feta cheese
- ¼ cup smoked almonds coarsely chopped
Citrus Vinaigrette
- 1 medium navel orange
- ½ medium shallot minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
To make the vinaigrette:
- Juice and zest one of the oranges and place in a small bowl.
- Add minced shallot, white wine vinegar, and oregano and stir to combine.
- Slowly pour in olive oil and whisk until dressing is emulsified.
Toss the salad:
- Add lettuce, chicken, chopped peaches, almonds, and cheese in a large bowl.
- Drizzle with the vinaigrette a little at a time and toss gently to coat all ingredients. Refrigerate any leftover vinaigrette for later use.
Video
Nutrition
Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Beautiful salad with tons of great flavor. Thanks for sharing!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow