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Chicken avocado caprese salad is a quick, easy salad with plenty of freshness and flavor. The addition of chicken and avocado to the traditional Caprese salad is truly inspired! Grilled chicken, juicy tomato halves, fresh mozzarella, and the creamy, nutty avocado slices, all drizzled with an amazing balsamic dressing!
Caprese Salad
There are plenty of Caprese-inspired recipes out there, but this one is really great. It has plenty of fresh greens in, and the addition of a clean, healthy protein in the chicken and some healthy fats from the avocado makes this a really balanced meal. It’s not often that a salad is a fully balanced meal instead of just a side dish, but that’s exactly what you’re getting here.
You’ll Need
Chicken Marinade
The first thing to do is make a balsamic marinade for the chicken.
- Use four tablespoons of balsamic marinade for this step. More than that can have a cloying, overly acidic taste.
- Use the remaining dressing later! Keep it in the fridge. The fresh, untouched marinade makes an awesome dressing for your chicken and avocado Caprese salad.
- Grill your chicken until both sides are crispy and golden. We recommend using boneless, skinless chicken fillets as they have less fat.
The salad, like all great salads, comes together real fast after your chicken is grilled.
You pretty much just throw all the ingredients in a bowl and toss!
Substitutions
- Tomatoes: You can, if you want, use grape tomatoes rather than cherry tomatoes. Either variety of small, sweet tomato is perfect for this salad. You could also try using chopped Roma tomatoes, which is closer to what the locals on Capra have to work with anyway.
- Mozzarella cheese: Fresh mozzarella balls are best for this recipe. Although we call for mini mozzarella balls, you can use any size and just cut it into smaller chunks.
- Herbs: Although basil is traditional, and has the best flavor and aroma for a Caprese salad, you can use other herbs.
How to Make Balsamic Dressing
Critical to the success of this recipe is getting the dressing right. Lucky for you, we’ve perfected this over many tries. To make your balsamic dressing, you’ll need:
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt
Simply whisk all these ingredients together. Do this until they have combined and there’s even consistency throughout. Real balsamic vinegar is noticeably more viscous than many other types of vinegar, so your marinade should have some viscosity, but it should not be thick and sluggish like molasses.
How to Make Caprese Salad
- Put your chicken in a bowl or container. Pour no more than four tablespoons of this marinade onto your chicken, and stir it around to make sure there’s a nice, even coating of the marinade on the chicken.
- This marinade will suitably lubricate your chicken so that you don’t need to use too much oil in the pan.
- Grill the chicken. Allow your chicken to stand for a few minutes so the juices inside the chicken can settle. Slicing it immediately will allow the flavor to run out of the chicken onto your chopping board.
- Place all the ingredients into a large bowl, pour the remaining dressing over the salad, toss and serve immediately.
More Delicious Summer Salads
If you make this recipe be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! I will be happy to hear from you!
Chicken Avocado Caprese Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
Salad
- 2-3 skinless and boneless chicken fillets
- 5 cups Lollo Bionda lettuce leaves, washed and chopped
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup mini mozzarella cheese balls
- 1/4 cup basil leaves
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine dressing ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Place the chicken fillets into a large shallow bowl and pour 4 tablespoons of the dressing over the chicken. Mix to coat the chicken. Reserve the remaining dressing.
- Spray the grill pan with cooking oil spray and heat over medium-high heat. Once it is hot, grill the chicken on each side until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and allow to rest.
- Slice the chicken.
- Place the chopped lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, avocado slices and chicken into a large serving bowl.
- Garnish with basil leaves, drizzle with the remaining dressing and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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So fresh and colorful! The combo of chicken, avocado, and mozzarella was perfect for a summer dinner.
Thank you, Laura! We’re glad you enjoyed it. This salad really is sunshine on a plate.