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Get ready to meet your new favorite salad – the strawberry fields salad! Juicy strawberries, tangy feta cheese, tender chicken, creamy avocado, crunchy nuts, and a sweet and tangy dressing all come together in a burst of fresh, summery flavors. The colors, balanced taste, and incredible textures make this chicken salad recipe a total showstopper. I love serving this recipe in the spring or summertime as a cookout side or a light lunch option. It’s also the perfect solution to leftover cooked chicken or a rotisserie chicken.
This salad is a celebration of seasonal flavors featuring ripe strawberries, chicken, avocado, feta, and a few other tasty ingredients. You’ll love this strawberry fields salad.
If you have a basket of juicy strawberries in the fridge and need more inspiration on how to use them, make these mascarpone-stuffed strawberry treats, some strawberry shortcakes, or these strawberry mousse tartlets. And if you’re perusing salad recipes, this chopped chicken blue cheese salad is really good too!
Why You’ll Love It
It’s utterly delicious: Think crunchy, sweet, and salty all blend together perfectly in this salad.
Easy and quick: Using a rotisserie chicken cuts down on time, so you can quickly make this salad for lunch or dinner.
A crowd-pleaser for gatherings: You can easily double the recipe and serve it to guests. It is a gorgeous-looking salad to add to your table.
Spring and Summer sensation: This salad screams sunshine – the vitamin-C-dense strawberries, tender chicken, salty feta, and creamy avocado are the perfect combo for warmer weather.
Ingredients For Strawberry Fields Salad
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
For the Salad
Baby spinach and arugula mix: This combination combines the peppery bite of arugula with the mild sweetness of baby spinach. It’s the base of the salad.
Sliced strawberries: Choose ripe, bright red strawberries for best results with this salad.
Chicken: Shredded, cooked chicken is so convenient. This is a good salad choice if you have leftover roasted, poached, or grilled chicken.
Avocado: Don’t skip the avo. It gives the salad a creaminess and balance.
Feta cheese: This adds a lovely salty taste to the salad in contrast with the sweet strawberries.
Walnuts and almonds: These add texture and crunch.
For the Salad Dressing
Mustard: The dressing calls for grainy and Dijon mustard. Use a high-quality mustard rather than your good old hotdog mustard.
Olive oil: Swap it for avocado oil if you need an alternative.
Honey: Use a runny honey for easy blending. Maple syrup will work, too.
How To Make This Strawberry Salad
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Build the salad base: On a large platter, layer the spinach, arugula, strawberries, chicken, red onions, walnuts, almonds, avocado slices, and feta cheese.
Make the dressing: Whisk together all ingredients for the honey mustard dressing. Spoon the dressing over the salad and serve immediately.
Substitutions and Variations
Lettuce swaps: Butter, romaine, and iceberg are all delicious options.
Nuts: Try pistachios and pecans in this salad. For a nut-free version, use pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
Chicken alternatives: As substitute proteins, try grilled tofu, chickpeas, or cooked quinoa.
Cheese: Goat cheese, blue cheese, and mozzarella balls are great instead of feta.
Fruit: Switch or mix the strawberries with blueberries, dried cranberries, sliced oranges, peaches, or cherries.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizer: Serve this strawberry field salad as an appetizer with a slice of bread or a mini bread bun.
Main: Serve cast-iron teriyaki steak and veggies, sheet pan blackened tilapia nachos, or garlic tomato scampi as a main to follow on from this strawberry fields salad with chicken. The salad also makes a lovely side to BBQ proteins like BBQ baby back ribs. Enjoy this salad with a bowl of ribollita soup.
Dessert: Finish off your meal with these berry-layered bars.
How To Store Strawberry Fields Salad
Store: This salad is best served immediately but can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days. I recommend storing the salad and dressing separately and spooning the dressing on right before serving. The dressing will stay fresh for up to 1 week in a sealed container in the fridge. It’s delicious on so many salads and recipes.
Freeze: This salad is not suitable for freezing.
Top Tips
Soften the onion flavor: Slice the onion thinly or place it in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes before adding it to the salad. This will remove the harsh flavor.
Toss salad gently: Use your hands or salad tongs to gently toss the salad ingredients together just before serving. Be careful not to crush the delicate strawberries or avocado slices while mixing.
Use ripe ingredients: The berries and avocado should be perfectly ripe. This will give your salad the most delicious taste and texture.
Strawberry Fields Salad FAQs
Absolutely! While baby spinach and arugula provide a great base, you can experiment with other greens like mixed salad greens, kale, or even butter lettuce. Just make sure they’re fresh and crisp for the best results.
To prevent the avocado from browning, slice it just before serving and gently toss it with lemon or lime juice. The acidity helps delay oxidation and keeps the avocado looking fresh.
While fresh strawberries are preferred for their flavor and texture, you can use thawed frozen strawberries if fresh ones aren’t available. Just be sure to drain any excess liquid before adding them to the salad.
If you’re looking to make the salad more filling, consider adding additional protein sources like grilled steak, shrimp, or hard-boiled eggs. You can add grains like quinoa or farro for extra fiber and substance.
Strawberry Fields Salad Recipe
Strawberry Fields Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 5 Ounces salad mix, baby spinach and arugula
- 1 Cup strawberries, sliced
- 2 Cups chicken, shredded
- 1 red onion, small, thinly sliced
- ¼ Cup walnuts, chopped
- ¼ Cup almonds, slivered
- 2 avocados, thinly sliced
- 3 Ounces feta cheese, crumbled
For the Honey Mustard Dressing:
- 3 Tablespoons grainy mustard
- 3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ Teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ Cup olive oil
- ½ Teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ Teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- On a large platter layer the spinach, arugula, strawberries, chicken, red onions, walnuts, almonds, avocado slices, and feta cheese.
- Whisk together all ingredients for the honey mustard dressing.
- Spoon the dressing over the salad and serve immediately.
Notes
Toss salad gently: Use your hands or salad tongs to gently toss the salad ingredients together just before serving. Be careful not to crush the delicate strawberries or avocado slices while mixing.
Use ripe ingredients: The berries and avocado should be perfectly ripe. This will give your salad the most delicious taste and texture.
Nutrition
This mouthwatering strawberry fields chicken salad with all the flavors of the springtime and summer has a short prep time and is so easy to prepare. It’s a gluten free option and you can add in other ingredients if you want, such as toasted pecans or you could add chicken or some kind of garnish. Everyone is going to enjoy this light and seasonal salad with strawberries.
Other Salad Recipes To Try
- Here is my Italian tuna white bean salad to whip up this summer.
- Try this Tex Mex zesty chicken pasta salad for a bright, tasty main course salad.
- This Panzanella salad is a bread and tomato salad, native to Italy.
- Sweet potato kale salad: A hearty choice and great vegetarian salad dish.
Try this bright and cheerful Italian rice salad.
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
The best summer salad. I love that strawberry and the avocadoes here!
This was a total hit with our guests! Excited to make this again. 🙂
Not only is this salad so pretty but it was so good, too! Thanks for the recipe.