Chicken Strawberry Delight Salad is absolutely delicious with mixed greens, candied pecans, feta, mandarin oranges and balsamic dressing!
One of my favorite salads is one I order at a local restaurant, and it is amazing! A few months ago, after having it there once again, I decided to make the salad at home so my husband and I could have it any time we want!
I did a quick check of the menu description from the restaurant, then set about to create this absolutely delicious salad on my own (without a recipe).
This delicious chicken strawberry delight salad is the result, and it is scrumptious (if I do say so myself). Today I want to share the “how-to’s” so you can make this great salad, too!
You can use either grilled chicken OR you can use a rotisserie chicken breast when you want to shave off a lot of prep time. The photos below show what it looks like using a rotisserie chicken breast.
Here’s how to make a chicken delight strawberry salad, which will yield enough for two large main dish servings.
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Make The Candied Pecans
For this salad I use a very quick skillet method to lightly “candy” the pecans. If you don’t have pecans, substitute walnuts!
Place butter, water, a pinch of salt and some granulated sugar in a large skillet on medium heat. Stir well to combine as the butter begins to melt.
Once the butter is almost melted and the sugar has dissolved, stir in the pecan halves. Cook the pecans for about 5 minutes, stirring often so they don’t stick and burn.
The pecans are done (and “candied”) when the liquid becomes syrupy, glossy and thickened. The pecans should be fully coated with the sweet buttery glaze.
Immediately remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the candied pecans to parchment paper. Spread them out in a single layer so they are not touching each other.
Let the pecans cool completely. The sweet glaze on them will harden in about 5-7 minutes. After they harden, separate them from the parchment paper and chop them into smaller pieces.
Set the candied chopped pecans aside until you are ready to make the salad later.
Build The Salad
Place cold mixed salad greens in a LARGE bowl. Top the salad greens with chopped red onions, roasted red peppers (from a jar) and fresh mandarin orange wedges.
Sprinkle the salad with the cooled, chopped candied pecan pieces. Now we’re ready to finish making this yummy salad!
Place strawberry slices all over the top of the salad. NOTE: Set aside 8-10 slices to use as garnish on the finished salads. Now doesn’t the salad look colorful and gorgeous?
Prepare Salad Dressing And Remaining Ingredients
Right before serving the salad, prepare a quick and easy balsamic dressing. Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, dried basil, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Whisk these dressing ingredients well using a small whisk or fork until they are fully combined. Set the dressing aside.
Cut pre-cooked chicken breast into small slices and crumble feta cheese (or bleu cheese) into small pieces. You will want them ready to go right after adding the salad dressing to the salad.
NOTE: Sometimes I pre-cook the chicken on a BBQ grill, but other times I simply use rotisserie chicken to make the prep much quicker! This time I am using rotisserie chicken.
Sprinkle the salad with about ½ of the feta (or bleu cheese) crumbles. NOTE: You will need to reserve the remaining half of the cheese crumbles to garnish each individual salad before serving!
Drizzle the salad with the balsamic dressing (use all of it). Gently toss the salad to coat everything with the dressing.
Serve The Chicken Strawberry Delight Salad
Divide the salad evenly between two serving bowls (shown below). Now it’s time to “garnish” each salad with the remaining cheese crumbles, sliced chicken breast and reserved sliced strawberries.
For a pretty presentation I place the chicken slices on one side of each salad and then place some of the sliced strawberries next to the chicken
Sprinkle the top of each Chicken Strawberry Delight Salad with the remaining feta (or bleu cheese) crumbles and then this delicious salad is ready to be enjoyed.
Doesn’t it look GOOD? I love this Chicken Strawberry Delight Salad because there are so many colors, flavor and textures! Every bite is amazing and I am confident you are going to love it, too!
I trust you will have an opportunity to make this salad for yourself and someone you love. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as we do (I’m confident you will).
Thank you for stopping by, and I invite you to come back again soon for more family friendly recipes. Take care, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.
Looking For More MAIN DISH SALAD Recipes?
You can find ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, which is located at the top of the page. I have a nice variety of main dish salad recipes to choose from, including:
- Cobb Salad
- Creole Salmon Caesar Salad
- Quick n’ Easy Chef’s Salad
- Grilled Ham Salad with Peaches and Goat Cheese
- Chicken Club Pasta Salad
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↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
Chicken Strawberry Delight Salad is absolutely delicious with mixed greens, candied pecans, feta, mandarin oranges and balsamic dressing!
- 2 teaspoons butter
- ⅓ cup pecan halves* *Can substitute walnuts
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons water
- 1 tiny pinch salt
- 5 cups mixed salad greens chilled
- 10 wedges mandarin oranges peeled, white pith removed
- 3 Tablespoons roasted red peppers (from jar) chopped
- 2 Tablespoons red onion (finely chopped)
- 10 large fresh strawberries* *DIVIDED USE, sliced thin
- ⅓ cup low-fat feta cheese (crumbled)* *DIVIDED USE
- 6 ounce pre-cooked chicken breast* * DIVIDED USE, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 pinch dried basil
Place butter, sugar, water, and salt in a large skillet on medium heat. Stir well to combine. Once butter is almost melted and sugar has dissolved, stir in pecans. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Pecans are "candied" when liquid is syrupy, glossy, thickened and pecans are coated with glaze. Immediately remove skillet from heat; transfer pecans to parchment paper. Spread in a single layer, not touching each other. Let pecans cool completely (glaze hardens in 5-7 minutes). Separate pecans from parchment paper; chop into smaller pieces. Set aside.
Place cold salad greens in a LARGE bowl. Add mandarin orange slices, roasted red peppers and red onions. Sprinkle with chopped candied pecans, then add strawberry slices (reserve 4-5 slices to garnish each finished salad). Set aside.
Cut pre-cooked chicken breast into small slices; crumble feta cheese into small pieces. Sprinkle salad with ½ of the feta (or bleu cheese) crumbles. Reserve the chicken and remaining cheese crumbles to garnish each salad before serving!
Whisk olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, dried basil, sugar, salt and pepper together until fully combined in a small bowl. Drizzle salad with dressing right before serving (use all of it). Gently toss salad to disperse the dressing.
Divide salad between two bowls. Garnish each salad with remaining feta cheese crumbles, sliced chicken breast and remaining strawberries. Serve and enjoy!
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards! 
