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This Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing is the perfect quick and easy dinner salad for any night of the week. Grilled chicken tossed with a tangy bacon-herb dressing, greens, grilled chicken, peppers, corn, tomatoes, creamy avocado, and crumbled cheese! It’s colorful and so delicious. Enjoy this for dinner and save the leftovers for lunch – it’s always good. Or serve this up at your next backyard dinner with friends.
With the start of summer 2022 just days away I’m in full-on summer cooking mode and really loving the recipes I’m working on! And this salad is a real highlight. So many yummy flavors, textures, and colors in this quick-to-make dinner salad.
My motto this summer is super flavorful dinners that have a lot happening, but don’t require too much time in the kitchen or too much cooking. It’s kind of a tricky recipe formula to figure out. But for the recipes where I’m able to get it right, it’s perfection!
I’m excited to share that I hit my mark.
Growing up, summertime dinner salads were on a weekly rotation at our house. My dad would do big pasta salads or salads filled with the leftovers in the fridge.
This salad is loosely inspired by dad’s summer salads – just taken up a notch!
Here are the details
To start, this recipe requires pre-cooked chicken, peppers, and corn. The idea is that you already have the leftovers in the fridge. If you’re like my family, we always have some grilled or roasted chicken on hand. And I have roasted peppers in the pantry!
Of course, if you need to grill up chicken the day of, I’m giving you my recipe for herb grilled chicken in the notes. It’s my go-to grilled chicken. Simple, but great tossed up in salads. Just a mix of olive oil, grainy dijon, balsamic vinegar, herbs, and garlic.
When you have all the salad ingredients together, make the dressing. The dressing really is the heart of this salad. Crisp up some bacon, then toss it with olive oil, vinegar, shallots, garlic, thyme, and the secret – a small number of fig preserves. The preserves add a touch of sweetness that compliments the salty bacon.
Next, the croutons. A last-minute addition on my end, but one that’s so delicious! The torn ciabatta bread gets crisped up in the bacon grease, then tossed with garlic and sea salt. They add a crunch to every bite and are totally addicting.
Now, assemble everything. The salad base is mixed greens and or romaine. Whatever you prefer. I use mixed greens – spinach, arugula, spring mix, and romaine are all good for a balance of flavor and crunch. Then, grilled chicken, peppers, corn, sweet cherry tomatoes, and creamy avocado.
The final layer is the cheese. I LOVE to use crumbled blue cheese, but I know this isn’t for everyone. You can certainly use feta, goat cheese, or cubes of cheddar, all would be delicious.
Everything together is SO GOOD! Grilled chicken, crunchy garlic croutons, salty bacon, creamy avocado, and a savory, tangy dressing that really completes the salad and makes every bite special.
Looking for other summer salad recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Pasta Salad
Pesto Chicken Caesar Salad with Tomatoes and Burrata
Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken and Avocado Bacon Salad
Marinated Tomato Feta Orzo Salad Jars
Pesto Chicken and Avocado Bacon Salad Wraps
Lastly, if you make this Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing, 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!
Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 550 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 6 thick-cut slices of bacon, chopped
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1-2 cloves garlic, grated
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fig preserves
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- chili flakes
- kosher salt and pepper
Salad
- 1 cup torn ciabatta bread
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 6 cups mixed salad greens
- 2 cups grilled chicken, cubed or shredded
- 1-2 roasted/grilled bell peppers, sliced
- 3 ears grilled corn, kernels removed from the cob
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or feta cheese
Instructions
- 1. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients except the bacon in a glass jar and whisk until smooth. 2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain onto a paper towel. Stir the bacon into the dressing. 3. To make the croutons. Heat the same skillet used to cook the bacon over medium heat. Add the bread and toss in the bacon grease. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook until toasted, 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, then remove from the heat and season with salt. 4. To assemble the salad. In a large salad bowl, combine the greens, chicken, peppers, corn, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, and croutons. Toss well with the dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Herb Grilled Chicken: In a large bowl, toss 1 pound of chicken tenders with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons grainy dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs, kosher salt and black pepper. Set your grill, grill pan, or skillet to medium-high heat. Grill the chicken until lightly charred and cooked through, turning halfway through cooking, about 10 to 12 minutes.
I do have a question for Teighan though. Whenever I put this dressing in the fridge, it gets all hard/separated. Since it has bacon in it though, how would you store it to make ahead?
Hi Jocelyn,
I would just let it sit out at room temp before serving so everything loosens up or just run it under some warm water. I hope this helps! xx
I make this on repeat during the summer and bring it along to every gathering I’m invited to or host. It’s always a huge hit! Love, love this salad!! It’s a bit time consuming compared to an ordinary but if you make it enough, you shave down the prep time a bit eventually and this is definitely no ordinary salad!
Hey Jocelyn,
Happy Sunday!! So glad to hear you have been enjoying this recipe, thanks a lot for making it so often and your review! xT
Yum. This dressing smells and tastes incredible. I could drink it.
However my salad didn’t look as pretty as the pics, as I chopped the bell peppers in halves, and the corn fell to bits. Any tips on getting the corn to stick together in chunks when chopping?
Hey Georgy,
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! The corn just slices off in any way when I slice it, I don’t intentionally keep it in chunks, there’s really no secret to that:) Sorry!! Let me know if you have any other questions! xx
LOVE – this was on repeat all summer!
Hi Sven,
Happy Sunday! I am so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for making it:)
Making this tonight! Can the dressing be made ahead or is it best to make it right before?
Hey Madolyn,
Totally fine to make the dressing ahead:) I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This took me quite a bit of time to prepare but it was SO WORTH IT! Amazing salad we were so pleased!
Hey Kelsey,
Perfect!! I appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
I made the dressing but it’s very thick. With 6 pieces of bacon, the dressing is really just cut up bacon with herbs on it. Is it supposed to be like that? There’s really no liquid leftover.
Hi Heather,
Yes, this is a thick dressing. You can always add more oil and vinegar to thin it out. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
How do you cut the corn into chunks?! Thank you!
Hi Deirdre,
I just slice the corn off the cob, sometimes they stick together, completely not intentional:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
This salad was great. I made it without the chicken or croutons (I just needed a fun side dish and I have gluten issues) and it was fabulous. The dressing is delicious and the corn, blue cheese, and grilled peppers make it something special. Will definitely be making this again with the chicken for a full meal.
Hi Lindsay,
Perfect! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I love to hear that it was a hit! xxT
For got to add my question to my review. In the video it looks like a vinegar was used in the dressing. Do you add white wine vinegar to the dressing?
Hi Cynthia,
The recipe calls for apple cider vinegar:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx