Honey mustard chicken salad with bacon, avocado and a crazy good 6 ingredient dressing that doubles as a marinade!

The times when I’m stoked about a salad are few and far between.

This is one of them!

Can I say stoked? I’ve probably used the word thrice in my life, the third being above. I’m trying it out for size. BLT chopped salad surely makes me stoked.

This salad… ugh. So good. I’ve rambled about my love for salads for years on this little page. I don’t know what it is.

The salad has so many of my favorite flavors going on – bacon, feta, avocado, corn – the dressing is full of freshness and zest-just pure flavor. Refreshing, sweet and savoury all at the same time.

The best honey mustard dressing is right here! Not only does it double as the dressing AND marinade, it creates the most deliciously crispy, golden edges on the chicken, giving us even more flavour! Having the dressing to use as a marinade, THEN using the remaining UNTOUCHED dressing to drizzle over the salad once it’s all done and ready to eat has got to be the best way to keep the incredible honey mustard flavours going. So creamy and sweet and tangy… the perfect balance all in one!

Ingredients:

Dressing / Marinade:

1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons smooth and mild Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons Apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar), ( to cut through the sweetness)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Salt to season
4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts

For Salad:

1/4 cup diced beef bacon
4 cups iceberg lettuce leaves, washed and chopped to dice size
1 cup sliced grape or cherry tomatoes, I used the yellow ones
2 avocados diced
1/2 cup sweet corn
1/2 cup diced cucembers
1 green apple diced

Instructions:

Whisk marinade / dressing ingredients together to combine. Pour half the marinade into a shallow dish to marinade the chicken fillets for two hours if time allows. Refrigerate the reserved untouched marinade to use as a dressing.
Heat a nonstick pan (or grill pan or skillet) over medium heat with about a teaspoon of oil and sear / grill chicken fillets on each side until golden, crispy and cooked through. (Grill in batches to prevent excess water being released.) Once chicken is cooked, set aside and allow to rest. I used only 2 breasts as I thought it would be enough.
Wipe pan over with paper towel; drizzle with another teaspoon of oil and fry the bacon until crispy.
Slice chicken into strips and prepare salad with chopped iceberg, tomatoes, diced avocado, corn, cucumber and green apple in a large bowl.
Whisk 2 tablespoons of water into the remaining untouched marinade / dressing and drizzle over the salad and mix well. Now place the mixed salad in the platter you wish to serve and lay the chicken on top, Sprinkle the bacon over the top and enjoy.
I also added some pumpkin and sunflower seeds last minute to give an added texture and crunch, this is completely optional. Also the 4 chicken breasts are way too much for this salad to you can always freeze it uncooked for future.

BLT CHOPPED SALAD WITH HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN AND AVOCADO