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Rainbow Chicken Salad with Almond Honey Mustard Dressing

59 reviews / 4.9 average

Tender chicken, plump grapes and berries, crisp lettuce, tangy feta cheese, crunchy almonds, and the real star – almond honey mustard dressing! Eat the rainbow and be glad, friends!

One thing I love: this honey mustard dressing, which I am still licking off my fingers as I type this. Rude. Sorry.

Quick question: how do we feel about fruit in salad?

Red grapes, blueberries, that kinda thing? I feel reeeeeal good about it. Like, a whole bunch of juicy fresh yum just landed right in the middle of my salad. Also noteworthy in this salad is the golden brown chicken. It was simple and delicious and you know I love a good meatless main, but this spice-loaded, juicy and golden brown chicken in little bite-sized salad pieces makes me happy (and full). Add in some crunchy almonds, creamy tangy feta, and the gang’s all there. Almost.

All Hail The Almond Honey Mustard Dressing

As if I need to even tell you, the crown jewel of this salad is the dressing. It’s like regular honey mustard but a little more rustic-feeling, if that can be a thing for honey mustard (lol), because of that almost-smooth texture that a quality almond butter adds to the whole thing. The thickness of the almond butter gives it an ultra creamy texture, plus it has the perfect sweetness of a homemade honey mustard. It was just superdelicious.

So, better question: how do we feel about lunches and it’s-still-light-out dinners that are easygoing and colorful and very delicious?

Ingredients for a rainbow chicken salad in bowls

Enjoy The Rainbow

For my big bowl here, I used grapes and blueberries, but you just go ahead and make use of whatever remnants of fruit are hanging out in your fruit bowl or the back of your refrigerator. Oranges? Strawberries? Pomegranate? No one is going to be mad about any of that.

There is a little bit of lettuce in the bowl to make it, well, you know, A SALAD, but it’s not a sad salad lettuce situation. It’s more for a little bite of tender-crisp greenery and dare I say I even found myself enjoying those bites of delicate crispness as much as the rest of it. Look at me go, mom.

The color, the crunch, the texture, the wholesomeness of all of it together is a straight drive into warmer weather, lighter days, and all-around nicer feelings.

Eat the rainbow and be glad.

Rainbow chicken salad in a bowl with a fork

More Hearty Salad Recipes

Watch How To Make This Recipe

Common Questions About Our Rainbow Chicken Salad

I have a nut allergy. What substitutions can I make?

First off, sad! We’re so sorry to hear this. But the good news is this salad is super delicious when substituting sunflower seeds for the almonds and using sunflower seed butter in place of the almond butter.

How can I make this vegetarian?

Some crispy pan-fried tofu would be great in this in place of the chicken.

Can I meal prep this salad for lunches?

Sure! We’d suggest just drizzling the dressing right before serving to keep things crisp and fresh. More meal-preppable faves can be found here.

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A picture of Rainbow Chicken Salad with Almond Honey Mustard Dressing

Rainbow Chicken Salad with Almond Honey Mustard Dressing


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4.9 from 59 reviews

Description

This Rainbow Chicken Salad is topped with tender chicken, plump grapes and berries, crisp lettuce, tangy feta cheese, crunchy almonds, and the real star – almond honey mustard dressing! Perfect for lunch or dinner!


Ingredients

Units Scale

For the Salad

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts (mine were cut into smaller, thinner pieces which made the sautéing a bit easier)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 cups grapes, halved
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 3 cups curly lettuce, chopped
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese
  • 1/2 cup almonds, chopped or crushed

For the Dressing

  • 3 tablespoons almond butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon stoneground mustard
  • 1/2 tablespoon raw honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
  • 1 clove garlic

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with the salt, pepper, and chili powder. Saute in the oil for a few minutes, flipping the chicken now and then to cook through and get a nice golden color on both sides. When the chicken is cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Cut and prep all the vegetables and fruits. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into bite sized pieces. Place the salad ingredients in a large bowl – you can either arrange the bowl by ingredient, like pictured, or toss everything together. Refrigerate to chill.
  3. For the dressing, puree all the dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust to your preferences. Pour dressing over salad and serve.

Equipment

Notes

After snapping these photos, I threw some crumbled crispy onions on top for a little extra crunch and flavor. Bjork just about died of happiness.

  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Saute
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: rainbow chicken salad, chicken salad, almond honey mustard dressing, honey mustard dressing

One More Thing!

This recipe is part of our collection of sweet honey recipes. Check it out!

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207 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Made the dressing and my family loved it!

    If I were to make extra and refrigerate the dressing, do you know how long it will last? Will it separate in the fridge?

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    So glad I found this recipe 10+ years later! I had to adjust the dressing to what I had on hand, that means subbing chunky peanut butter for almond butter and regular mustard for stone ground. Everything was the same. I could probably drink the dressing it’s so yummy! I would love to try it with almond butter, but it is amazing with my substitutions. Thank you so much for this recipe! Also, fruit ALWAYS goes on salad!!

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I use a lot of your recipes, and they are always delicious. This, however, is one of my all time favorites! We are vegetarian, so I use chickpeas instead of chicken, seasoned up just the same but also add a little cayenne, and add shredded carrot to the salad. Amazing! I can’t get enough of the dressing!!!

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I frequently use your recipes. Always a hit! This one did not disappoint! Thank you for always winning me the BEST food compliments…our pastor and his driver said it was the best meal they have had all year.

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    We looove this recipe. I made way too much dressing this time though! Any ideas of how else to use it? Do you think it would freeze okay?

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I love this salad. Especially in the middle of winter when you need some lighter flavors. I made some minor subs in the dressing (sunflower butter, Cara Cara oranges, and Dijon mustard) and is still turned out great. Great combo of flavors!

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    You do realize after cooking honey it does lose all it’s nutritional value making it no different than white sugar. my grandmother uses Ethiopian Honey as specially made organic honey, so I must suggest you all to eat lalhoney, and its good for everyone to live healthy life….

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      True, like most things that are cooked, the nutrition in honey is compromised when cooked. In this recipe you don’t cook the honey. It is in the dressing.

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This was delicious. I added strawberries and subbed tahini for almond butter because it’s what I had and it came out great. Thank you for the recipe!

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    The Rainbow Honey Mustard salad is INCREDIBLE! Made it tonight and it was a huge hit. That dressing is incredible and it was the perfect meal for our 100 plus degree day! Love everything I’ve tried, but this is my absolute new favorite! Thank you!

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This is such an amazing salad. I feel like I’m eating a wonderful salad from a restaurant. Plus it is incredibly healthy! I also added strawberries which rounds out the flavors for me. Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!

  11. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This salad was super delicious. For the kids I served it deconstructed and everyone could put on what they wanted. My husband and I made it as written, WITH the crunchy onions, and it was so good. Served with a home made dinner roll.

  12. Pinch of Yum Logo

    The dressing on this salad is delicious! I really love the combo of almond butter and honey mustard – just yum! I used shredded rotisserie chicken and subbed cheddar cheese for feta since that’s what I had on hand – very simple to put together, delicious and filling!

  13. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This salad is so delicious! I followed the recipe for the dressing exactly and it was amazing. I will definitely be making this salad often!!

  14. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Just made it tonight for husband and 2 teen boys. Added more chicken than 8oz but other than that kept it the same. They loved it!

  15. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This is seriously the best salad my 8 year old requested it as her back to school dinner. The child could pick anything and she picked this. We were all thrilled.

  16. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Looking forward to making this this week. Is there another alternative for a dressing? My husband can’t have too many nuts. Preferably something in a bottle lol

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Hi Katie! Any vinaigrette (like balsamic vinaigrette) would be great with this salad!

  17. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Thanks for this wonderful recipe! We grilled instead of cooked chicken on stovetop (as I do not trust myself cooking chicken on stovetop – I either over/undercook). Also, I used 3T OJ, 1T water and 2T oil in the dressing to increase orange flavor. We only used grapes, as we did not have available blueberries. Still, a nice complement of flavors/textures.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      So delicious! Definitely an improvement on my usual bland chicken on a bed of greens!!

  18. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This was delightful! Thank you for another beautiful and satisfying salad recipe that both my husband and I found really filling and delicious. I love the variety of textures and flavors and it’s very fresh-tasting.

  19. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I made this for lunch today and it was delicious! I love the nutty flavour, the sweetness from the fruits, the creaminess from the dressing and the crunch for the almonds. Mounds of flavour and textures, I didn’t want it to end! Can’t wait to have more tomorrow (might have it for dinner tonight too).

  20. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I’ve been looking forward to this recipe since you emailed it out and I finally made it today and prepped enough for lunches all week. It’s so good! I love the blend of textures. Thank you!!

  21. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This salad is SO great! It is like one of those salads you order at a restaurant and say, “I wish I could make this at home.” It is such a great summer salad with all of the fresh fruit. I also added strawberries.