Grilled Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing
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Fresh ingredients like mango, garden veggies, chicken and an exceptional homemade dressing, make this a salad you and your crew will adore.
Healthy, easy and perfect for a summertime supper, this Grilled Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing is so flavorful and pretty to look at, it’s destined to be repeated often.
Summer is the season for fresh-from-the-garden vegetables. It’s also the season when no one wants to heat up their late afternoon kitchen by turning on the stove.
When the sun is busy scorching things, everyone looks for ways to keep life cool and simple. There’s no better time to enjoy some vibrant, crunchy veggies and protein-rich, grilled chicken drizzled with a spectacular mango dressing.
You can put this Mango Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing together quickly. It may look and taste fancy, but it’s an easy, healthy meal for any day of the week. You’ll also find it ideal for bringing to social events.
Craving more delicious Summer salads? You may enjoy this Chopped Chicken Salad with Fresh Peaches or my super easy and popular Catalina Salad made with Fritos!
Why you’re going to love it!
- Easy to shop for
- Fresh, real food ingredients
- Bursting with flavor and quick to prepare
Grilled Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing: behind the recipe
Like a lot of people, I’m trying to focus on adding more fresh, health- building vegetables to my life. Gone are the days of pale, over-cooked corn, peas or green beans.
I want garden fresh food and I’m sure you do too. Mango chicken salad is a dish you can feel good about serving and eating. It makes a great entree and is also excellent alongside other healthy food options.
Key ingredients and substitutions
- Grilled Chicken Breasts — For best flavor, buy fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You can grill them the day you plan to serve or grill a day ahead and refrigerate your cooked chicken to make things faster. You could even sub in a plant-based grilled chicken alternative.
- Fresh Greens — This will be the base for your amazing salad. Choose a very fresh blend that includes baby lettuce, with spinach and arugula. If you want, add a little romaine for additional variety.
- English Cucumber — Because English Cucumber is so delicious, it’s suggested here. If your garden is producing loads of regular cucumbers, by all means, go ahead and use them. Those cute little cocktail cucumbers would be perfect too.
- Mango — Fresh, ripe mango is the ingredient that really makes this dish special. For all of that juicy sweetness to be present, your mango must be completely ripe. You can save lots of prep time if you buy mango that some awesome soul has already peeled, seeded and cut up for you.
How do I make it?
STEP 1 | Grill the chicken
Brush each side of chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill chicken over medium high heat until done and juices run clear. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then cut into bite size pieces.
STEP 2 | Cut the veggies
Slice the cucumber and red onion, and dice the red bell pepper.
STEP 3 | Dice the mango
Whether you are starting with a whole mango or pre prepped pieces, you’ll want to dice it into smallish bite-sized cubes.
tip
- If you’ve never prepared a fresh mango before or if you feel like you need some guidance, YouTube is an excellent resource. Or, check out my easy instructions for how to dice a mango in my pico de gallo recipe.
STEP 4 | Bring it all together
In a large salad bowl toss salad greens with English cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion slices, and diced mango. Add chicken and toss again. Serve with Mango Dressing.
Serving suggestions
This entree salad pairs well with sides like corn on the cob, cilantro rice, black beans, whole grain rolls or sliced tomatoes.
Frequently asked questions
The best and safest way to judge doneness is by inserting a meat thermometer. Chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees in order to be considered safe.
Yes. Frozen mango is pretty great. If you let it partially thaw before cutting it up, you’ll get a nice result. The texture may be a little softer than fresh mango, but it will do nicely.
If you don’t pour dressing over the entire salad you can save it in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days. If you suspect you might end up with leftover salad, then dress only what you’re sure will be eaten right away, otherwise you’ll have a lot of unappetizing, wilted greens.
Grilled Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups fresh greens or 5 oz. pkg. baby lettuce blend with spinach & arugula
- ½ large English cucumber seeded and sliced
- ½ large red bell pepper diced
- ¼ medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup mango diced and puréed
- Mango Dressing
Instructions
- Heat a gas grill to high heat, approximately 450 degrees.
- Remove the chicken from the packaging and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to gently pound the chicken to an even 1/2-inch thickness.
- Brush the breasts on both sides with the olive oil and season with the salt and black pepper.
- Cook the chicken on grill for 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, until golden brown and slightly charred. Flip and continue grilling until just cooked through, 3 to 4 more minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted in the center reads 155 degrees.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and tent with aluminum foil for 5-10 minutes, then cut into bite size pieces.
- Meanwhile, in a large salad bowl gently toss the salad greens with English cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion slices, and diced mango.
- Add the chopped chicken and toss again. Serve drizzled with mango dressing.
Notes
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.
About Sheila Thigpen
Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer
Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food — a Southern food blog — and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have a precious little granddaughter who has stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.
This salad looks so tempting…but that mango dressing…well, there’s just no way that I can resist it. It sounds amazing!!!
This salad looks so flavorful and colorful and I love mango!
So many good things happening in this recipe– LOVE IT.
What a wonderful salad and that dressing sounds amazing.
MANGO DRESSING!! Are you kidding me? That sounds amazing. I can’t wait to enjoy this one.
That salad is such a beautiful presentation! So fresh looking.
I love salads like this in the summer! The mango dressing sounds divine!