A salad that is worth being the main dish: Crisp apples, roasted chicken, candied pecans, shaved Brussels sprouts and a cranberry vinaigrette. Satisfyingly sweet and hearty while keeping it light enough for a weeknight dinner (or lunch), this harvest chicken salad is a great menu item for the Fall!
What you need to make this harvest chicken salad
- 2 sheet pans – One to roast the chicken and one to roast our shredded Brussels sprouts. Here are my favorite sheet pans from Williams Sonoma.
- Small saucepan – To make our candied pecans
Tips for roasting chicken
I like to use the oven for this, because then you are free to do other tasks. All you need to do is rub on a little olive oil and then sprinkle on salt and pepper. Easy enough.
Space out the chicken on a baking sheet lined with foil and it is ready to go into the oven. It will take about 40 minutes so it’s best to pop it in at the beginning of your cooking.
You should let the chicken cool a bit before slicing it into cubes – I usually will transfer the chicken over to a cutting board to slice it up which makes the process much easier.
How to make shaved Brussels sprouts
The sprouts are probably the best part of the salad. To make them, cut the stump off of the sprout with a knife. Then, thinly slice the sprout so that it looks like it’s unraveled everywhere. You may need to use your fingers to break up the slices a bit, but it’s fine to have some bigger chunks.
Once they are all sliced, spread them out onto a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. It goes into the oven and bakes for 20 minutes, until they start to look just a bit golden brown. They shouldn’t be super charred. They will add great texture to the dish!
Making candied pecans
This is the fun part! Candied pecans elevate any salad, and they taste great with goat cheese and apples. To start, add your brown sugar and some water to a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir it occasionally and wait for the sugar to bubble all over.
Then, it’s time to add those pecans! My pecans were chopped in half but feel free to leave them whole. Stir them into the sugar and keep the heat at the same level. The water will start to reduce, but continue to stir the pecans around until most of the sugar appears to be stuck to them.
Remove from the heat immediately and pour the pecans onto a sheet of parchment paper. Then leave them alone! They need to cool. They might be clumped together but that’s fine because they are easy to break apart. After about 10 minutes, they should be ready to go.
Don’t forget the cranberry dressing!
This cranberry vinaigrette is tangy and tart and works great with the sweet flavors in this dish. Note: I used cranberry juice, NOT cranberry cocktail, which is much sweeter. If you want to use cranberry cocktail juice instead, you can leave out the honey since it will be sweet enough.
Other salad recipes to try
If you liked this harvest chicken salad recipe, I have a few more you can try:
- Chicken Parmesan Salad with Balsamic Dressing
- Ahi Tuna Salad with Roasted Chickpeas and Dill Vinaigrette
- Red Wine Beef and Potato Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
I’d love to hear your review too! Feel free to leave a comment below!
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Harvest Chicken Salad
Equipment
- 2 medium sheet pans
- small saucepan
- cutting board
- knife
- small bowl
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 lb lean chicken breasts
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb brussels sprouts
- salt and pepper
- ⅓ cup pecans roughly chopped
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 6-8 cups arugula
- 1 honeycrisp apple sliced
- 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbled
Cranberry Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ⅛ cup cranberry juice unsweetened
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet lined with foil. Rub with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken in the oven for about 40 minutes, until the chicken is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Slice the chicken into thick cubes.1 lb lean chicken breasts, salt and pepper
- Increase the heat to 400°F. Chop the ends off of the Brussels sprouts. Then make thin slices throughout the sprouts to create a "shaved" look. Once complete, spread out the sprouts evenly on another baking dish. Drizzle with the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper. Use your hands to rub everything together. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until they are slightly crispy. Remove from the oven.1 lb brussels sprouts, salt and pepper, 4 tbsp olive oil
- Make the candied pecans. In a sauce pan, add the brown sugar and water and cook over high heat, until the sugar has started to bubble. Add in the pecans and stir frequently, cooking until the pecans look sticky and the sugary wetness has reduced down about 70%. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture onto parchment paper. Allow to cool fully. Break up the pecan chunks with your hands.⅓ cup pecans, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp water
- Make the vinaigrette. Combine all of the above ingredients in a small bowl and stir vigorously for 30 seconds.¼ cup olive oil, ⅛ cup cranberry juice, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp honey, pinch of salt, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- To assemble the salad, place arugula in the bowl and add in the Brussels sprouts. Add the chicken, sliced apples, pecans, and crumbled goat cheese. Serve with salad dressing and toss. Enjoy!6-8 cups arugula, 1 honeycrisp apple, 1/4 cup goat cheese
