Mango Chicken Chopped Salad with a homemade Mango Vinaigrette is almost too pretty to eat and special enough for any Summer dinner party!
This fresh and healthy chopped salad that I shared first over at The Weary Chef should definitely be on your dinner table this summer! Once the summer heat and humidity settle in here in the South, I’m all about planning meals that don’t require heating up the kitchen. When it’s 95 degrees outdoors, who wants to stand over a hot stove?! So if we’re not grilling out on the back patio, our dinner usually consists of a cool summer entrée salad. Mango Chicken Chopped Salad may sound exotic, but it’s really simple to prepare, especially if you start with fresh greens that have been pre-washed and fresh mango slices from the grocery produce department (no peeling or seeding required that way!).
This colorful salad of fresh greens, grilled chicken, diced mango, red bell peppers, red onions, and English cucumbers, is topped with a homemade Mango Vinaigrette and is special enough for a Summer dinner party.
The homemade mango vinaigrette is definitely worth the little bit of effort for topping this salad. Start by tossing about a cup of mango slices (which have been diced) into the blender and pulsing until the fruit is smooth, or puréed. Add the remaining vinaigrette ingredients, except for the olive oil, and blend for just a few seconds. At this point, I like to taste the mixture to make sure it is salted to my taste and adjust before adding the olive oil. My blender lid has a removable section so that I can pour in the olive oil while the blender is running which helps the vinaigrette to emulsify quickly. If your blender doesn’t have this feature, just add the oil with the blender off and then pulse a few times to combine. I like to make my vinaigrette ahead of time so that it can be well chilled before tossing the salad.
We love to grill, so I just naturally prefer to grill the chicken for this salad, but if that’s not an option for you, baked or sautéed chicken breasts would work as well. And, if you’re not in the mood for a main-dish salad, try this delicious Mango Vinaigrette drizzled on grilled chicken and served over rice.
Mango Chicken Chopped Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, grilled and chopped
- 4 cups fresh greens (or 5 oz. pkg. baby lettuce blend with spinach & arugula)
- 1/2 English cucumber, seeded and sliced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup diced mango
Mango Vinaigrette
- 1 cup diced mango, puréed
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 3 tablespoons honey or sugar
- 1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup cliantro leaves
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
Vinaigrette
- Place 1 cup diced mango in blender and process until puréed.
- Add remaining ingredients except for olive oil and blend until smooth. With the blender running on low speed, slowly pour in olive oil and blend until emulsified. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Salad
- 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.
- In a large salad bowl toss salad greens with English cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion slices, and diced mango. Add chicken and toss. Serve with mango vinaigrette.
Notes
Nutrition
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