Liven up your summer meals with this fresh, sweet salad topped with grilled chicken, cherries, almonds, goat cheese and a creamy poppy seed dressing! It's light and flavorful, and perfect for an easy outdoor summer dinner or filling lunch.

overhead view of salad with grilled chicken, cherries, almonds and poppy seed dressing on a white plate.

If you feel bored with plain old grilled chicken salads, it's time to try a little harder. There are infinite ways to make a grilled chicken breast and fresh produce taste amazing! One of my favorite ways to jazz up greens and grilled chicken is to use in-season fruit, crunchy nuts, and cheese. Fresh herbs and a delicious but easy homemade dressing doesn't hurt, either. Come, let me show you the way to better salads.

Why You'll Love This Grilled Chicken Salad

Beautiful, sweet summer cherries are the star of this healthy and delicious salad, but it doesn't end there. Marcona almonds (my favorite), creamy goat cheese, and a fresh pop of basil all add interest to spring mix lettuce. Flavorful, juicy grilled chicken adds protein and heft, while still keeping things light. It all gets drizzled with a creamy poppy seed dressing made with just a few simple pantry ingredients. This salad is easy to put together, even while you grill the chicken, so that dinner gets on the table quick - just what you need for glorious summer nights!

overhead view of ingredients needed for cherry almond grilled chicken salad.

The Ingredients

Chicken breast - I use boneless, skinless breast meat. You can also use thighs if you'd rather.
Balsamic vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
Oil, salt and pepper
Spring mix lettuce - You can also use romaine or baby spinach if that's what you have.
Fresh sweet cherries
Goat cheese
Marcona almonds - If you can't find them, you can use blanched slivered almonds.
Basil
Poppy seed dressing - it's made with just yogurt, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt and poppy seeds!

How To Make The Most Delicious Cherry Almond Grilled Chicken Salad

two image collage showing ingredients for easy poppy seed dressing and the finished dressing in a small bowl being drizzled with a black spoon.

Make The Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

Whisk or shake all of the dressing ingredients. Refrigerate until you're ready to use it!

three image collage of marinated chicken breast on a white plate, grilled chicken breast on a white plate, and sliced grilled chicken on a white plate.

Grill The Chicken

Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken breast with salt and pepper. Drizzle with balsamic, Worcestershire sauce and oil. Rub all over to coat both side.
Grill chicken over direct heat for about 5 minutes per side. Then move the chicken to indirect heat and continue cooking, covered, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. The time will vary based on the thickness of your chicken breast.
Remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest a few minutes before slicing.

Tip: Time is never a good indicator for doneness of meat and poultry. I suggest using a meat thermometer to get juicy, perfectly cooked chicken every time!

two image collage of grilled chicken cherry salad with no dressing and thedressing being drizzled on the salad with a black spoon.

Assemble The Salad

Arrange lettuce on a serving platter or in a bowl. Top with roughly torn fresh basil, halved cherries, roughly chopped almonds, and goat cheese crumbles.
Add the sliced chicken and drizzle with poppy seed dressing.

Recipe Variations and Substitutions

For gluten-free, make sure your Worcestershire sauce is gluten-free, as not all brands are. If yours is not, you can simply leave it out.
If it's not cherry season (sigh), you can use dried cherries.
For a quick fix, you can use store-bought poppy seed dressing in place of homemade. I like Brianna's or Tessemae's.
For vegetarian (or a quick no-cook side salad), leave out the chicken.

Can It Be Made In Advance?

You can absolutely make the dressing up to a few days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and give it a shake or stir before using it.

You can make the salad a day or two in advance if you like to meal prep lunches. Just store the dressing separately and add it just before you eat!

closeup of cherry almond grilled chicken salad drizzled with creamy poppy seed dressing.

What To Serve with This Cherry Almond Grilled Chicken Salad

While this salad is delicious as-is, you can serve it with some good quality sourdough bread (I highly suggest drizzling slices with olive oil and grilling them!) For wine pairing, there are several options - a dry, fruit rosé; a light, fruity red like Pinot Noir; or any white on the drier side are all great.

More Not-Boring Grilled Chicken Salad Recipes

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Cherry Almond Grilled Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Print Recipe

Author: Kaleigh
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 2 servings 1x
Category: salad
Method: grilled
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

For the chicken:

1 (6-8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breast
Coarse sea salt
Freshly cracked pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
Avocado oil or olive oil

For the salad:

3 oz spring mix lettuce or baby spinach
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
⅓ cup Marcona almonds or blanched slivered almonds, roughly chopped
1 oz goat cheese, crumbled
¼ cup basil leaves, torn

For the dressing:

3 tbsp plain greek yogurt
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp poppy seeds
Pinch salt

Instructions

To make the dressing, add all ingredients to a mason jar or other container with a lid and whisk or shake to combine.
Heat grill to medium high heat. Sprinkle chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides. Drizzle with balsamic, Worcestershire sauce and oil. Rub all over to coat both sides.
Once grill is hot, grill chicken over direct heat for about 5 minutes on each side before moving to indirect heat until internal temperature reaches 165° F. Remove from grill and rest a few minutes before slicing.
While chicken is cooking, place spinach or spring mix in a bowl. Top with pitted and sliced cherries, almonds, goat cheese and basil.
Add sliced chicken and dressing to taste and serve.

Notes

Time is never a good indicator for doneness of meat and poultry. I suggest using a meat thermometer to get juicy, perfectly cooked chicken every time!
You can make the dressing up to a few days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and give it a shake or stir before using it.
You can make the salad a day or two in advance if you like to meal prep lunches. Just store the dressing separately and add it just before you eat!

Keywords: cherry almond grilled chicken salad, grilled chicken salad with cherries and goat cheese, cherry almond chicken salad

This post was originally published July 2017 and has been updated.