Start your grilling season off with this delicious and healthy Cherry BBQ Chicken salad! It is light and refreshing and makes for a perfect dinner salad. Everything about this dish celebrates the cherry. The chicken is grilled in a cherry BBQ sauce, fresh cherries top the salad and the dish comes together with cherry vinaigrette. So start off this cherry season with a bang and make this cherry packed salad!
This salad is fast and easy to prepare. I like to prep all my lettuce on Sundays when I have time to meal prep for the week. This way I have a quick and easy salad when time is limited when I get home from work. I wash and chop a bunch of lettuce and veggies like red cabbage, carrots, radish, celery and any other veggies I may have on hand. I make a few salad dressings like this cherry vinaigrette and simply add to the salad right before serving.
You can either grill the chicken on a barbecue or use an indoor grill pan on the stove. I love my stove-top grill pan and use it frequently. Make sure to buy thinly sliced chicken breasts to allow for a fast cook time. If you have regular chicken breasts you will need to pound them out to about 1/4th inch thickness.
One serving of this salad provides: 279 calories, only 1.8 grams of saturated fats, 25 grams of protein, 5 grams of dietary fiber, 212 mcg of folate, 2.3 mg of iron, only 195 mg of sodium and 15,209 IU of Vitamin A. A typical grilled chicken salad at a restaurant can provide around 600 to 1000+ calories and anywhere from 400 to 2,000+ mg of sodium!
The Cherry BBQ sauce recipe can be found here. This sauce is simple and easy to make and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Lower in sodium then the typical barbecue sauces that you find in the store and is sure to add a boost of flavor to your dish!
BBQ Cherry Chicken Salad with Cherry Vinaigrette
Author: Brittany Sparks
Makes: 4 Salads & 6 Tbsp Cherry Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
Salad
4 Thin Chicken Breasts, (Pounded ~1/4 inch thick)
¼ Tsp Salt
¼ Tsp Pepper
¼ Cup Cherry BBQ Sauce + 2 Tbsp for finishing (recipe here)
12 Cups Romaine Lettuce, Chopped (~1 large head)
½ Cup Carrots, Thinly Sliced
½ Cup Red Cabbage, Chopped
½ Cup Radish, Thinly Sliced
¾ Cup Cherries (~16 Cherries), Pitted and Halved
Cherry Vinaigrette
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tsp Cherry BBQ Sauce (recipe here)
1 Tbsp Honey
Directions
In a large bowl toss the lettuce with the carrots, red cabbage and radish and set aside.
If cooking on the stove, spray a large grill pan with cooking spray. Heat pan on high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with the salt and pepper and place on the preheated grill pan or barbecue. Cook for 4 minutes then flip and cook 3 more minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Brush the chicken with the BBQ sauce and cook for 1 more minute.
Remove from the grill and brush the chicken with the remaining 2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce.
To make the dressing place all ingredients in a jar, cover and shake to combine.
Arrange lettuce in bowls and add the fresh cherries, chicken and top with the cherry vinaigrette.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Salad with 1 tbsp of Cherry Vinaigrette
Calories 279 Total Fat 10 g, Monounsaturated Fat 6.7 g, Saturated Fat 1.8 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5 g, Sodium 195 mg, Total Carbohydrate 20 g, Dietary Fiber 5 g, Protein 25 g, Potassium 654 mg, Phosphorous 113 mg, Calcium 75 mg, Vitamin A 15209 IU, 2.3 mg Iron, 212 mcg Folate