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This Crispy Italian Chicken and Bacon Salad with Tahini Pesto Dressing and Sourdough Croutons is certainly not your ordinary salad. Crispy parmesan-crusted and Italian seasoned chicken tossed together with a creamy lemony basil tahini dressing, fresh romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, crispy bacon, and mozzarella cheese. Add sourdough croutons for some crunch and you have the perfect balanced salad. Simple to toss together, colorful, super flavorful, and filling. Great for a weeknight, but can easily double as lunch the following day!
Happy Monday everyone and welcome to the new HBH. I know it’s a bit different, but we’re all hoping you really love it and find it easy to use! As this design is new, it takes a while to work through all the kinks and get everything just right. So please bear with us as we adjust and try to make the new site a much better user experience
My mom, who is the other half behind HBH, has been working endlessly to get things in place for this new design. And while it’s not 100% just yet, she and our team member, Margaret, have done such an incredible job. Please let us know if you’re experiencing any issues or if you have feedback on the design. We are listening! It’s so important to us that you all find the site easy to use. Our hope is that this design is even better than the last!
But again, let us know if you have any issues and we’ll work to get things adjusted. With almost 9 years under her belt working the backend of HBH, my mom is becoming a pro!
Now, onto Monday salad things! With the weather getting nicer…at least for most of you (it was a gross weekend here and there’s a winter storm warning for today with 8-16 ” predicted). I’ve definitely been having a strong desire to create colorful spring and summer recipes.
When it comes to salad, I am very, very particular. I just can’t do boring salads. Look, I LOVE salads, but if I’m eating one for dinner it needs to be fit for dinner. No boring mostly lettuce salads!
Enter this salad. It began as a caesar salad but turned into so much more.
Let’s Talk Details
You’ll want to start with the croutons. I toast the sourdough in the oven with olive oil and Italian seasoning. The seasonings here are KEY. They add all the flavor to both the croutons and the crispy chicken.
While the croutons are cooking, make the chicken. Now most chicken salads are grilled, and that’s fine, but lately, I’ve really been into crispy chicken. Basically ever since I made this southern pasta. A little breading just makes chicken that much better, you know?
So I breaded the chicken in Panko, parmesan, and Italian seasonings. Again the seasonings are KEY, they give the chicken and the salad so much more flavor. Perfectly seasoned chicken that’s a little cheesy too…delicious.
Now the Dressing
At first, I was going to do my basic tahini dressing, but then the thought of a basil dressing came t0 mind so I switched it up.
It’s a simple mix of basil pesto, tahini, and lemon. I also added a splash of red wine vinegar. The tahini makes it extra creamy and the pesto adds that herby, garlicky flavor. And when you toss it all together with the crispy chicken?
So delish!
Assemble and Enjoy!
Toss the greens with the dressing, add the chicken and bacon, lots of croutons, and toss it all up.
It’s SO GOOD! Crunchy chicken, salty bacon, creamy avocado, and an herby dressing that really completes the salad. So fun and delicious.
So you see? Monday salads can be fun!
Looking for other weeknight salads? Here are my favorites:
Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken and Avocado Bacon Salad
Sweet Potato Fry Steak Salad with Blue Cheese Butter
Melon Basil Burrata Salad with Crispy Prosciutto
Lastly, if you make this Crispy Italian Chicken and Bacon Salad be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crispy Italian Chicken and Bacon Salad with Pesto Tahini Dressing and Sourdough Croutons
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 688 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups torn sourdough bread
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 pound chicken cutlets or tenders
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 6 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup mozzarella balls
- 1-2 avocados, diced
- 4 slices cooked thick-cut bacon, crumbled
Pesto Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto
- 1-2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- kosher salt and black pepper
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Toss together 2 tablespoons olive oil, the bread, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, and a pinch of salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until toasted. 2. Meanwhile, place the Panko, parmesan, and 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning in a shallow bowl. Dredge both sides of the chicken through the Panko, pressing to adhere by using your fist to really make the crumbs stick. Place the chicken on a plate. 3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until golden brown on the other side, 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and season with salt. Slice into thin strips. 4. To make the salad. Combine the greens, tomatoes, mozzarella, avocados, and bacon in a salad bowl.5. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and whisk until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.6. Toss the chicken in with the salad. Add a little of the dressing. Enjoy!
Looks amazing! I see that you have the calories listed, do you have other nutritional facts available (ie fat, carbs, protein, etc). Thanks!
Hey Jenna,
Thanks so much! Unfortunately at this time, I am only able to offer the calories. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
This is delicious…however, I feel there needs to be a few tweeks:
–Dip chicken in beaten eggyolk before dredging in panko
–add S & P to panko mixture and to croutons
–Cut panko mixture by at least 25% if not more. I had much leftover
The recipe omits saying to add mozarella and croutons, but easy to do!
Hey Renee,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xxTieghan
The website looks beautiful! The salad looks delicious!
Thank you so much Michele!! xTieghan
So excited about this new layout. I set up an account and now I can’t see all the recipes I had previously saved. Is there a way to get those to this new log in? I’ll be so sad to have lost all that I had saved.
Love all your recipes so much! I save a ton of them
Thank you so much Lea!! With the update to the Recipe Box, you can now access your saved recipes on all of your devices once you log in. While this update did wipe/delete the old recipes out, this new update ensures that your recipes are secure. Let us know if you have any trouble finding a specific recipe that you once had saved! xTieghan
OMG!!!! Another salad recipe!!! I am over the moon, seriously! I have very much missed your salads. You make the best salads and I’ve been longing for more since you last posted salad recipes last summer. I assumed they weren’t a big hit with your brothers living there? I’m so happy they’re back. The honey mustard pretzel chicken salad was divine. So excited to try this one! More salads please!!! Keep up the good work and big praise to all of you and the fresh new site, it’s gorgeous!
Lol thank you so much Amy! I am thrilled that you are so excited for this recipe, let me know when you give it a try! xTieghan
I love the new website layout! It’s absolutely beautiful and appreciate everyone’s hard work! I miss the old layout for printing a recipe, however. Previously, your blog was just about the only one out there that had optimized the layout for printing. I loved it! The recipe almost always printed on one page (paper-friendly and ink-friendly!) without condensed font that was difficult to read during cooking. On the new layout when printing recipe, the words “Half Baked Harvest” take up about 20% of the first page, which takes up quite a bit of paper and ink over time if you’re a die-hard fan and print off lots of recipe — like me! The font also appears condensed when printed out compared to the previous layout, which means almost every recipe requires two pages instead of one. All this to say, I REALLY REALLY REALLY miss the old print recipe layout. It was perfect and highly superior to all the other food blogs for printing recipes. Can you PLEASE bring it back?
Hey Nicole,
Thank you so much for your super kind message and bringing this to my attention! I appreciate the feedback:) xTieghan
I visit your website daily (cooking for a family every day is hard work and you keep me both sane and inspired) and I adore the new look! I’m so excited to give this salad a try!
Thank you so much Holls! I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
Looks lovely.
Only feedback I have, other than it’s good, is that I’d like the recipe title in a much bolder font please, so it jumps out iykwim. Xx
Thanks so much for your feedback Kelly-Jane!! xTieghan
Love the feature on your recipe that you can change the number of servings and it automatically re-calculates the amounts of the ingredients. FABULOUS!!!
Thanks so much for your feedback Nancy!! xTieghan
Recipe looks delicious, adding the ingredients to my grocery list right now.
Just wanted to say that the new look of your site is really nice.
Thank you so much Staci, I hope you love this recipe!! xTieghan
Just posting to say I love the new layout!! Great job 🙂
Thank you so much Alanna!! xTieghan
Your mom and Margaret did a great job on your new website. It seems to be a little harder for me to read. The letters seem lighter in the color. I am in the first stages of having cataracts but I did not have any problems reading your blog before.
Salad with fried chicken always better to me than grilled. HA!!
Hey Charlotte,
Thank you so much for your feedback, the font is definitely on our list of things to adjust. I hope you love this recipe! xTieghan
Hey! Love the new design! Love ALL your recipes! I noticed the icon to save the recipe to Pinterest at the top of the page is gone now. Any way to get that back? ?
Hey Ashley,
You should be able to save all recipes to Pinterest, this feature is working on our end:) xTieghan
Beautiful but font is difficult to read. Can enjoy the pictures but not able to enjoy the content.6
Thanks so much for your feedback Lou!! xTieghan
Will be making this soon can i use mushrooms and vegan cheese as am a vegan i never had salad before i love italian food sooooooooo much perfect for my after office meals pl i love your new website will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Thanks Ramya! I hope you love this salad, let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan